The weekly chieftain. [volume] (Vinita, Craig County, Okla.) 1905-1913, 1912-04-19
HUMAN CONSERVATION.

only Tor the sake or his vote.
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HUMAN CONSERVATION
The farmers of the country are be-
ginning to come into their own Only
a short time ago "hayseed" and "rube'
were the only term by which the far
mer was referred to. But today men
of affairs recognize the importance of
the farmer to the nation, and the far
mer is becoming a recognized power.
The Capitalization of the people into
cities, as a result of the development
of the commercial nation, has not
been followed with a sufficient increase
in our form population. The glare of
the cities and the shorter work day,
together with high standard of wage
which prevails in this country, as com
pared with other countries, attracts
to the industries the majority of the
immigrants who come to our shores,
and the farmer and the farms are not
receiving their just proportion of the
Increased population.
Inventors and thinkers are endeavor-
ing to overcome this handicap by i'm
proving the methods of farming, and
farmers everywhere are being encour.
aged to systematic and place their
farms upon a business basis.
This is step in the right direction,
and one which is receiving encourage
ment from the department of agricul-
ture at Washington, down to the small
est organizations of men promoting
the back to the land" movement.
The government is spending mil
lions annually in exploitation of farms
and farming, endeavoring to increase
the efficiency of our present farming
population, but it is doing nothing to
divert immigrants who are best fitted
for this work, from their training in
their native lands, to the farms. And
in this respect the government is lax
in its duty to its adopted children.
The opportunity in the farming in
dustry as compared with others is one
which is bound TO be attractive if un-
derstood by the immigrant
In the city the immigrant, only five
per cent the most intelligent, can ever
hope to own their own jobs. But, on
a farm, at least 80 per cent could
eventually own their own jobs.
If this fact were placed before them
in an intelligent manner, unquestion-
ably the struggles of the average inn
migrant would be minimized and his
energies directed into channels which
would enable hi INTO solve the prob
lens which are so harrassing.
Another thought in this connection
is that among all the publications,
'isms." social organizations, cliques,
and guilds that have been formed, We
have never yet beheld a concerted eff
fort to teach citizenship, simon pure
citizenship. to teach the boy and the
man his duty to society and his duty,
as part of society, to the city, state
and nation.
True. there are isolated cases where
a fe wimmigrants are taught citizen
ship up to point sufficient for them
to obtain their naturalization papers,
but this is generally done from the
selfish motive of some political ma
chine
But the people of this nation, as
people. owe it to the youth of today,
as we'll as the adopted sons from other
nations that a clearly defined policy
of economics and citizenship should
be taught them TO enable them to un-
derstand their relationship to the law
and the laws relationship to them.
Our press complains that the ma
jority of the law breakers of our cities
are not native born. But at the same
time. the press fails to take to task
the community for its laxity in
thought and care for the welfare of its
adopted citizens.
The immigrant learns OF law and
society only when he finds himself.
through ignorance or any other cause,
up to answer for violations of these
laws before the machinery of the law.
This is so expensive and wasteful that
the tax-payAr must recognize the folly
OF this system and divert part OF the
taxation now used in criminal pro
eedure into an educational system
which will admit any and every unin-
formed pind. be it native or alien, to
real understanding OF law and SO
clety. and the relationship OF each to
re other