Weekly journal-miner., 1910-08-31

himself and for his wife and his sons and daughters. Our people as a whole should realize the infinite pos abilities of life in the country; and every effort should be made to make these possibilities more possible. From the beginning of time it has been the man raised in the cOuntry-and usually the man born in the cOun- try-who has been most apt to rem der the services which every nation most needs. Turning to the list of American statesmen, it is extraordin- ary to see how large a proportion started as farm boys. But it is rather sad to see that in recent years most of these same boys have ended their lives as men living in cities.
 ''It often happens that the good conditions of the past can be regain ed, not by going back, but by going forward. We cannot reereate what is dead; we cannot stop the march of events but we can direct this march, and out of the new eondi- tions develop something better than the past knew. Henry Clay was a farmer who lived all his life in the countryI Washington was a farmer who lived and died in the country; and we of this nation ought to make it our business to see that the condi- tions are made such that farm life in the future snail not only develop men of the stamp of Washington and Henry Clay, but shall be so at- tractive that these men may continue as farmers; for remember that Wash ington and Henry Clay were success ful farmers. I hope that things will So shape themselves that the farmer can have a great career and yet end his life as a farmer; so that the city man will look forward to living in the country rather than the country man living in the city.
 "Farmers should learn how to combine effectively, as has been done in industry. I am particularly glad to speak to the Grange, for I heart fly believe in farmers organizations; and we should all welcome every step taken towards an increasing CO., operation among farmers. The i'm pOrtance of such movements cannot be overestimated; and through such intelligent joint action it will be possible to improve the market just as much as the farm.
 Country life should be as attract i've as city life, and the country people should insist upon having their full representation when it comes to dealing with all great public ques- tions. In other words, country folks should demand that they work on equal terms with city folks in all sho = share in the memberships of eommis- sions and councils; in short, of all the organized bodies for laying plans for great enterprises effecting all the people. I am glad to see on such bodies the names that represent if naneial interests, but those interests should not have the right of way, and in all enterprises and movements in which the social condition of the country is involved, the agricultural country-the open country-should be as well represented as the city. The man from the open country is apt to have certain qualities which the city man has lost These qualities offset those which the city man has and he himself has not. The two should be put on equal terms, and the country talent be given the same opportunity as the city talent to ex- press itself and to contribute to the welfare of the world in which we live.
 "The country church should be made true social center, alive to every need of the community, stand ing for a broad individual outlook and development, taking the lead in work and in recreation, caring more for conduct than for dogma, more for ethical, spiritual, practical better ment than for merely formal piety. The country fair offers far greater possibilities for continuous and heal thy usefulness than it at present af- lords. The country school should be made a vital center for economic, social, and educational cooperation; it is naturally fitted to be such center for those engaged in conner cial farming, for those who live on and by the small farms they them selves own. The problem of the farm is really the problem of the family that lives on the farm. On all these questions there is need of intelligent study, such as marks the books of Professor Daley of Cornell and of Horace Plunkett's book on the Rural Life Problems of the United States
 zone feature of the problem should be recognized by the farmer at once, and an effort made to deal with it. It is our duty and our business to consider the farm laborer exactly as we consider the farmer. No country life can be satisfactory when the owners of farms tend, for whatever reason, to go away to live in cities instead of working their farms; and, moreover, it cannot be really satis- factory when the labor system is so managed that there is for part of the year a demand for labor which cannot be met, and during another part of the year no demand for labor at all, so that the farmers tend to rely on migratory labOrers who come out to work in the country with no permanent interest in it and with no DrOsDect of steady emDlOVment Tt is