The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1911-04-11
BEST NATIONAL DEIENSES.

M VI kIS |
Nation.
To the Officers n Members of the
Farmers Union:
Just how much attention the extra
session Of the new Congress, now CON
vened, is TO pay to the American
farmer depends upon-the American
farmer.
AS | remarked in a statement last
week, a vast amount of harmless flu
rore Will be expended in the effort to
make the farmer believe tina his CON
gresham is doing something sUDstan-
tial.
Whether the promise mis- IN per-
Torrance will be determined by the
extent which YOU are from Missouri"
and let YOU congressman and sera-
tor see it.
From the barrel-head orator up to
the highest statesman, it is generally
admitted that the farmer is the back
bone Of the nation.
You ought to know it Of your own
intelligence, not to mention the many
times you've been told it in Fourth
Of July orations and in congressional
campaigns and Misunderstanding trips.
The man whose labor adds nine
billions Of dollars annually to the
wealth OF the nation is given one Fed
eral Department, scant appropriations,
while other departments and bureaus
devoted to other industries and TO
business generally multiply ZACH year
their demands upon the treasury.
There is no justice in this system.
What is more important, there is lit
tie cOmmOn enSe.
1t will pay the nation to cultivate
the farmer. not only with rhetoric, but
with sympathetic Investigation and
substantial attention..
The Roosevelt Country Life Com
mission illustrates feebly my meaning.
=. go. -~oDi,, offoVt - 49, foJf n;
r%ection. But, despite, the praise iaV-
ished upon the farmer by congress-
men. Congress did not even ap7rOpri-
ate enough money to print h COM
missions report. That document was
pigeon-holed, and is being printed on
ly through private endevor.
The Government ought to find out,
first, how to help the farmer; the
point at which he most urgently needs
a~ssistance-and then give the assist
ance.
Confessedly, armies and navies are
necessities in this century of interna-
tion2l plicatjons.
But the best sort of national de-
lenses would be found in the patriot
ism Of the farmers OF this country, a
patriotism that would be OF more avail
against foreign menace Or civic evil
than all the d~readnoughts we could
afford or the armies we could mus
ter.
Fortunately, the American farmer
does not set a price on his patriotism.
Every war in which this country has
engaged establishes that fact.
But it is wise for the nation. in
times of peace. to make TOck-r1bbed
the patriotism Of the most sustaining
element by naaifesting toward 1t an
attitude of plain justice.
Go through the budgets annually
passed upon by Congress. and Just see
how relatively slight is the attention
paid the farmer.
1t. will be argued. Of course, that
the farmer, as u citizen, pronts from
the appropriation directed toWard
other channels by this Government.
That is only partially true.
Such a view is short-dighted. II
loses sight of the fact that the larger
part Of the funds going to make UP
these budgets comes from and must
continue to come from the farmer. It
is. therefore. only the rudimeniS OF
equity and common sense
that a larger share OF these funds
should be intclligentiy expended In the
farmers behalf.
Take only one ~ntsance The Gov
eminent spends hundreds of thou
sands every year in telling the world
how large Or how small the COTTON
and other crops are to be.
How much does 1t spend I'm finding
out for the farmer such worldwide
data on demand. mill-stocks. present
and probable consumption as would
enable him TO market his crop to tTf
best advantage?
How much does it spend in encour
aging him to install practical systems
of collection and distribution. sucn az
would return incalculable dividends to
the nation?
The present entail policy to-
ward the farmer is dribbling, pld-
ding.
1t encourages the armer TO increase
his WELD. with the probability OF get
ting a lower price, but doesn't spen6
money to show him how to get a JUS
price. for that yield. to make his home
!, life more c%ongenial, to make life il
the Ountr more worth while ant