Vilas County news. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1896-1927, 1913-12-10


10 It's whole business life and nooes.
sary 70 set credit free from arbitrary
ana artificial restraints. 1 need not say
now earnestly / hope for its early en-
actment into law.
present to you. in addition, the
urgent necessity that special provision
oe maze also for facilitating the cred
Its needed by the farmers of the coun-
try The pending currency bill does
the farmers great service. 1t puts
them upon an equal footing with 9TH
er business men and masters of en-
terprlse, as it should; and upon its
passage they Will find themselves quit
OF many of the difficulties which now
hamper them in the field of credit
The farmers, of course. ask and
should be given no special privilege,
such as extending to them the credit
or the government itself. What they
need and should obtain is legislation
which will make their own abundant
and substantial credit resources avail
able as foundation for Joint, con-
certed local action in their own be-
half in getting the capital they must
use. 1t is to this we should now adj
dress ourselves.
Allowed to Lag.
1t has, singularly enough, come to
pass that we have allowed the indus
try of our farms to lag behind the
other activities of the country in its
development. | need not stop to tell
hnx 81
the Nation is the production of its
food. Our thoughts may ordinarily
be concentrated upon the cities and
the hives of industry, upon the cries
of the crowded market place and the
clangor of the factory, but it is from
the quiet fnterspaces of the open val
leys and the free hillsides that We
draw the sources of life and of pros
perity, from the farm and the ranch,
from the forest and the mine. With
out these every street would be ST.
lent, every Office deserted, every fac
tory fallen into 'disrepair. And yet
the farmer does not stand upon the
same footing with the forester and the
miner in the market of credit. He is
the servant of the seasons. Nature
determines how long he must wait for
his crops, and will not be hurried in
her processes. He may give his note,
but the season of its maturity depends
upon the season when his crop ma
lures, lies at the gates of the market
where his products are sold And the
security he gives is of character not
known in the brokers' office or SIS IA
miliarly as it might be on the counter
of the banker.
Efficiency in Farming.
The agricultural department OF the
government is seeking to assist as
never before to make farming an effi-
eient business, of wide cooperative eff
fort in quick touch with the markets
for foodstuffs The farmers and the
government will henceforth work to-
gether as real partners in this Held,
where we now begin to see our way
very clearly and where many inteiil-
gent plans are already being put into
execution. The treasury of the Uni
ted States has, by timely and we'll
considered distribution of its depCs-
it's. facilitated the moving of the crops
in the present season and prevented
the scarcity Of available funds too OFT
en- experienced at such times. But
we must not allow ourselves to de-
pend upon extraordinary expedlents.
We must add the means by which the
farmer may make his credit constant
" and easily available and command
when he will the capital by which TO
support and expand his business. we
lag behind many other great countries
of the modern world in attempting 10
do this. Systems of rural credit nave
been studied and developed on the
other side of the water while we lett
our farmers to shift for themselves III
the ordinary money market you
have but to look about you In any
rural district to see the result, the
handicap and embarrassment whlch
have been put upon those who pro-
duce our food.
Study Rural Credit.
Conscious of this backwardness ana
neglect on our part, the congress re-
Gently authorized the creation OF d
sneciaI commission to study the warn
ous systems of rural credit whlcI
have been put into operation IN Eur
ope. and this commission is ALREADY
nrepared to report. Its report ought
To make it easier for us to determlne
what methods will be best suited u
our own farmers.
Let Sherman Law Stand.
r,,rn from the farm to the world OF
BUSINESS which centers in the city and
in the factory, and l think that al
thoughtful observers viii agree sna'
tbe immediate service we owe t2e
business communities of the country
IS to prevent private monopoly more
efrectually than it has yet oeeh pr
vented. | think it will be easily agreeu
that we should let the Sherman anu
trust law stand, unaltered. as 1t Is
with its debatable ground about IT,