The Norfolk weekly news-journal. (Norfolk, Neb.) 1900-19??, 1912-02-02
Plan a Great Rural Congress.

days session commencing Feb. 6, ad
dressed fair sized crowd OF Norfolk
business men in the commercial club
rooms last evening. After reviewing
the work Of the commission and out.
lining the work which will be under.
taken at the Norfolk meeting, Mr.
Odell aid:
THE Nebraska Rural Life commits.
sion has seriously tackled the big
problem OF giving farm children n
practical education. The seriousness
Of the task may be appreciated when
1t is known that out OF the several
thousand letters received at the Office
of the commission at Lincoln, 80 per
cent that the rural schools are abso-
lutely failing to train the child for
farm life. This led the department
of public education into cooperation
with the rural life commission to I'M
dertake comprehensive study and
| investigation of the whole school
problem with view to the redirection
Of education toward practical ends.
in pursuance of this plan, the prin-
Cipal feature Of the Norfolk country
life congress will be addresses and
! discussions on the new educationl
movement. For this purpose, the
strongest group Of speakers ever as
sembled on Nebraska platform will
attend"
Speakers Get No Pay.
The program given in Norfolk does
not cost cent to the Norfolk farm
ers or Norfolk people who are assist
ing in putting it on here. Not one OF
the speakers is paid any money for
his work
at is one of the greatest movements
of public spirit ! have ever seen In
my life" said Secretary Odell who
himself is one OF the strongest work
ers for the movement Mr.. Odell mails
| 900 letters out OF his Office at Lin
coin each week and gives most OF his
time to the work of the rural life com
mission without receiving any com
pensation. He is now doing agricul-
tural work and was once on the chau-
tauqua platform doing solo work. He
is a fine baritone singer but declares
he has given up that work to help the
farmer.
Henry Seymour, secretary Of the
state board of valuations, will speak
in Norfolk on the first day of the
meeting and his talks on "Underval-
uations" will bring ont some great
surprises to many who will come to
hear him. According to Secretary
Odell, a secret investigation is going
on in one OF the counties of the state
which will show, when it is complet-
ed that the farmer has been discrim-
mated against in the taxation ques.
ton
while the findings of the expert
accountants in this county have not
yet been made public" he said, Il am
free to say that the expert accountant
who has been working on the investi-
cation for several months has found
that the undervaluations in this one
county are as great as Mr.. Seymour
has found them in the state at large. |
Will Be Public Scandal.
THE personal undervaluations will |
amount to public scandal when they |
are made public and they will be
made part OF the report Of the com
mission when that is printed. The
theory of the commission is that the |
farmer has been Disseminated |
against. but to show this discrimina- |
ton, we must have a comparison, so |
the investigation of the one county is |
made in both the rural and urban dis |
tricts.
"In one county alone, only 1853
bushels OF potatoes were turned in for |
taxation in all OF last year. In one city |
of this county there are two OF the |
largest wholesale commission houses |
in the west. Only twenty-seven bush
els of grass seed amounting to $12 |
were turned in last year in this coun-
ty."
Farm Education Lacking.
In speaking about the educational |
staff investigation, Mr.. Odell declared !
that the records show depopulation |
in the farm communities.
There is only one in 900 OF the |
farm children of the state that ever
gets any agricultural education" he
said.
Records at the state farm show
that the school OF agriculture in IF
teen years has managed to graduate l
in $500 Of the rural state population
out of the 1000 students, including the
six weeks short course in the winter
time and the regular two years course.
"The state university is training five
for the business and professions OF
the city to one student for the farm,
This all shows that if something is
not done very quickly the result will
mean a depopulation of the farms"
Gov. Chester II, Aldrich will be in
Norfolk to address the farmers on
the last day of the rural life meeting.
4 record breaking attendance is eX
pected at this meeting. Mr.. Odell