The Forrest City times., 1911-08-18
HIS /ZRSZ CPO6 Oc RWZOES S

ao run the lack Of opportunities the discrim 'haaon and injustice apparently incident to our present industrial system While the problem of tue poor has always been, and doubtless will al. ways De. With us, that Is no reason why we should accept with complaeency conditions which if hot capapie or being completely reformed, are, at least. capable of considerable correction
 The increase in the cost of living in recent years has given new interest to attempted ex- plantations of existing conditions and various the orles are offered. We told that the increase Ill the amount Of gold production, rather the decrease in the cost of gold production has low cred It's value, and therefore enlarged our meas ure Of value, with a consequent increase in the cost of necessities as well as the uxuries of life without a corresponding increase in wages and saiarles; that combinations and trusts have in- creased the price of their products by arbitrarily fixing the price of the material to the pro- ducer and the price of the finished product to the consumer; that labor unions have increased the cost of the necessaries of life by the increase that they have brought about in wages; and finally, the explanation is offered that supply has not kept pace with demand that consumption has Increased more rapidly than has production
 It is unusual that a general condition is to be attributed to any one cause. That all of these influences are more or less responsible for the present conditions Is probably true. That q per manent correction of the tendency of the price of the necessities of life to increase must be based upon proper relation between supply and de mand, is at once apparent. A demand increas- ing out of proportion 10 the available supply Is sufficient in and of itself to cause an increase in prices. And any correction of the other conditions which may have helped to bring about the in crease in the cost of living must necessarily fail unless there is maintained proper relation be tween consumption and production The fact that in 1909 the value of exports of food stuTs de. creased, as compared with 1908 eighty-seyen mil lions Of dollars while the value of the food stufs Imported into the country increased thirtyseven millions of dollars making charge Of one hun. dred and twenty-four millions of dollars upon the wrong side of our national ledger shows that the consumption of that which produce has been Increasing more than has the production
 To bring about correction of these conditions 1t is apparent at once that there must be an in. crease in production and the question is how is this to be accomplished We must either use to better advantage the soil that Is already in culti- Vation or cultivate that which Is uncutivated. The truth Is, We must do both. Production in this country, compared with other countries shows that We are not using to the best advan. tage the great resources with which nature has endowed Us. The average production of wheat in the Netherlands Is 34 bushels to the acre; in England g; in Germany 2S. Tn France 2O while in the United States il is only IA The same dis parity Is found in fields of properly cultivated compared with those not properly cultivated.
 h recent report it was stated that ap- proximately 40 per cent of the soil that was cut uyated was used in such a way to decrease, rather than increase. It's productivity. The rection of this condition of inadequate production due 10 lack of scientific methods of cultivation must come from the agricultural department of the United States and the agricultural colleges Of the different states From these sources the farm CTS must get the scientific information which will enable them to adopt not only effective methods of agriculture. but effective methods for couserv. ing the productivity Of the soil. The other cor rection must be accomplished by inducing larger portion of our population to engage in the cultivation of the soil
 We can all agree 10 the advisahility of the Back to the Soil" movement. But how to make 1t effective and successful is another and far more diGeGl; problem S-ne lime ago George Ade. the