The Appeal., 1911-08-19
MS |ZRST CPO3
F0Z1TlES ~

not from the lack of opportunities or the dscrim.
NATION and injustice apparently incident to our
po'en' Industrial system. While the problem of
tne poor mas always been, and doubtless will al
ways be- With u.s. that is no reason why we should
"ccept win complacency conditions which, il
ot o"paole OF being completely reformed, are,
at least, capable of considerable correction
Inc increase In the cost of living in recent
years has given interest to attempted ex-
Plahatlons or existing conditions and various the
orleS are oGered. We are told that the increase
III tne amount OF gold production or rather the
decrease IN the cost of gold production, has low
ered us value and, therefore, enlarged our meas
ure or value, with a consequent increase in the
cost or necessities we'll as the luxuries of life
without corresponding increase in wages and
salarles; that combinations and trusts have in
creased the price of their products by arbitrarily
nxlng the price of the raw 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
hnaly, the explanation Is offered that supply has
not kept pace with demand; that consumption has
increased more rapidly than has production
1t is unusual that 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 a 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-
ing out of proportion to 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 a proper relation be-
tween consumption and production. The fact that
IN 1909 the value Of our exports of food-stuffs de-
creased, as compared with 1908, eighty-seven mil
lions OF dollars while the value of the food-stuffs
imported into the country increased thirty-seven
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 We produce has been
increasing more than has the production
10 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 already in culti-
walton, or cultivate that which is now uncultivated
The truth is, we must do both Production in
this country. as compared with other countries
shows that We are not using to the best advan.
tage the great resources with which nature has
endowed The average production of wheat
in the Netherlands is "a bushels to the acre; in
England. 32 in Germany. 2S in France. 20, while
in the United States it is only Ia. The same dis
parity Is found in fields of corn properly cultivated
compared with those not properly cultivated.
In recent report it was stated that ap-
proximately 40 per cent of the soil that was cul-
'iVaIeu was USED IN Sucn way as TO decrease,
rather than Increase, it's productivity. The
rectlon OF this condition of inadequate production,
due to 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
ers must get the scientific information which will
enable them to adopt not only effective methods
OF agriculture but effective methods for conserv-
ing the productivity Of the SOIL The other cor
recton must be accomplished by inducing a
larger portion of our population to engage in the
cultivation of the soil
We can all agree as to the advisability Of the
Back to the SoiP movement But how to make
it effective and successful is another and far more
Sitsculr problem. Some time ago George Ade the