Kingsbury County independent. (DeSmet, Kingsbury County, S.D.) 1894-1929, 1910-02-25
SUMMARY OF REPORT
OF THE COMMISSION

The report of the commission describes
with some fulness the existing conditions
Of farm life and points out the causes that
may have led to it's present lack OF organ
ization. 1t suggests methods for the re-
direction of rural society, for arresting
the drift to the city, for maintaining the
development of an organized rural life
that will promote the prosperity of the
whole nation.
Broadly speaking, agriculture in the
ditions In many of the great farming re-
gions are improving. Country homes gen.
orally are improving in comfort, attrac-
tiVeness and healthfulness. Many insti-
t~utions. organizations and movements are
actively contributing to the increasing
welfare of the open country.
There has never been a time when the
American farmer was as well off as he is
today, when not only his earning power,
but the comforts and advantages he may
secure are considered. There has been a
complete and fundamental change in our
whole economic system within the past
century.
Yet it is true, Notwithstanding all this
progress as measured by historical stand
ards, that agriculture is not commercially
as profitable as it is entitled to be for the
labor and energy that the farmer expends
and the risks that he assumes, and that
the social conditions in the open country
are far short of their possibilities.
Rural society is lacking chiefly in a
knowledge on the part of the farmers of
the exact agricultural conditions and pos
sibilities of their regions. resulting in the
widespread depletion of soils with the i'm
furious effect on rural life: in proper
training for country life in the schools: in
good highway facilities, and In organiZa-
ton for buying and selling
There Is an absence of any adequate
system Of agricultural credit, a shortage
of labor, often complicated by intemper-
ance among workmen, a lack of institu-
lions and incentives that tie the laboring
man IN the Cnil. tho life IF the ia RIM uynfgl-
an is burdensome n narrow: there is
need of adequate supervision of public
health.
Farmer Handicapped.
The farmer is handicapped by the spec
ulative holding OF lands, monopolistic con-
troll OF streams and forests, waste of our
natural resources, and restraint OF trade
Some of the remedies for the conditions
set forth lie with the NATIONAL government,
some of them with the states and commu-
mites in their corporate capacities, some
with voluntary organizations, and some
with individuals acting alone.
All organized forces both In town and
| country should understand that there are
country phases as well as city phases of
our civilization, and that one phase needs
help as much as the other. All these
agencies should realize their responsibility
to society. Many existing Organizations
and Institutions might become practically
cooperative or mutual in spirit, as for
example. all agricultural societies. II
braries and churches. All the orgapiza-
tons standing for rural progress should
be federated In states and nation.
There are several great forces. or p-.a
| ciples, which must be utilized In the en-
deavor to solve the country life question.
There must be a vast enlargement of
voluntary. organized effort among farm
ers themselves. 1t is indispensable that
farmers shall work together for their
common interests and for the national
welfare. If they do not do this, no gov
ernmental activity, no legislation, not
even better schools. will greatly avail
The forces n institutions that make fol
morality and spiritual ideals among rural
people must be e~nergized.
There must be not only a fuller scheme
of public education. but a new kind OF
education adapted TO the real needs of the
farming people. The country schools are
: TO be so redirected hat they shall edu-