The Fargo forum and daily republican. [volume] (Fargo, N.D.) 1894-1957, 1910-08-24

names that represent financial In
terests, but those interests should no
have right-of- way, and in all enter
pFises and movements in which the
social condition Of the country is In
volved, the agricultural country--th'
open country-should be as wei
represented as the city. The mar
In the open country is apt Il
have certain qualities which the CITY
man has lost. These qualities offse
those which the city man has and ht
himself has not The two should b.
put on equal terms and the country
talent be given the same opportunity
as the city talent to express Itself
and to contribute to the welfare Of
the world in which we live.
The Country Church.
1.-THE country church should be
made true social center, alive tc
every need Of the community, stand
ing for broad individual outlook and
development, taking the lead In work
and in recreation, caring more fo1
conduct than for dogma, more for
ethical spiritual practical bettermeni
LI4dH lOL lHEACly lOAIldl plSLJs Il AS
country fair offers far greater pos
sibilities for continuous and healthy
usefulness than 1t at present affords
The country school should be made a
vital center for economic, social, and
educational cooperation; it is nat
urally fitted to be such a center for
those engaged in commercial farm
ing, for those who live on and by the
small farms they themselves 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 Bailey
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 1t. 1t
i3 our duty and our business TO con-
slider 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,
1t cannot be really satisfactory when
the labor system is so managed that
there is for part of the year 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 la
borers who come out to work in the
country with no permanent interest
in it and with no prospect of steady
employment. 1t is exceedingly diff
cult to make good citizen out of a
man who can't count upon some
steadiness and continuity in the work
which means to him his livelihood.
Economic conditions on the farm
in variety and kind of crop growing
especially as distributed in time, and
in housing for the men-must be so
shaped as to render 1t possible for the
man who labors for the farmer to be
steadily employed under conditions
which fosters his self-respect and
tend for his development.
above all, the conditions af farm
life must always be shaped with a
view to the welfare of the farmers
wife and the farm laborer's wife, quite
as much as to the welfare Of the farm
err and farm laborer. To have the
woman a mere drudge is at least as
bad as to have the man mere
drudge. 1t is every whit as important
to introduce new machines to econo-
mize her labor within the house, as IL
is to introduce machinery to increase
the effectiveness OF his labor outside
the house. / haven't the slightest
sympathy with any movement which
looks to excusing men and women for
the non performance of duty and fixes
attention only on rights and not or
duties. The woman who shirks her
duty as housewife, as mother, is q
contemplate creature; just as the
corresponding man Is contemplate
creature. But the welfare Of the
woman is even more important than
the welfare of the man; for the moth
er is the real Atlas, who bears aloft
In her strong and tender arms the
destiny of the world. She deserves
honor and consideration such as nc
man should receive. She forfeits all
claim to this honor and consideration
If she shirks her duties. But the av-
erage American woman does not shirk
them; and it is a matter of the high
est obligation for us to see that they
are performed under conditions which
make for her welfare and happiness
and for the welfare and happiness oil
the children she brings into the
world"