Honolulu star-bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1912-2010, 1913-12-08
TEXT OF PRESIDENTS MESSAGE TO CONGRESS

ideHt Wilson in its entirety, at the. op
Tuesday, December 2. In THIS MESA
feel that the request is not needed
- that the members Of that great
house need no urging in this service
to the country.
l present to you. in addition, the
urgent necessity that special provi-
sion be made also for facilitating the
credits needed by the farmers of the
country. The pending currency bill
does the farmers a great sevice. II
puts them upon an equal footing with
other business men and masters Of
enterprise, as II should; and upon its
passage they will find themselves
quit Of many of the difficulties which
now hamper them in the field OF cred
it The farmers, of course, ask and
should be given no special privilege,
such as extending to them the credit
OF the government itself What they
need and should obtain is, legislation
which viii 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 ad.
dress ourselves. ~. '~z.> :.
Farming Allowed to Lag II
- 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
you how fundamental to the life OF
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
changer of the factory, but it is from
the quiet interspaces of the open val
leys and the free fillsides 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 81.
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 It's maturity de-
ponds upon the season when his crop
natures, lies at the gates OF the
market where his products are sold.
And the security he gives Is of q
character not known in the brokers'
Office or as Familiarity as It might be
on the counter OF the banker.
The agricultural department of the.
government Is seeking to assist as
nsyer before to make farming an eff.
Client business, of wide cooperative
effort, in quick touch with the mar
kets for foodstuffs. The farmers and.
the government win henceforth work
together as real partners in this field,
where We now begin to see our way
very clearly and where many intelli.
gent plans are already being put into
execution. The treasury OF the United
States has, by a timely and wellcon-
sidered distribution OF its deposits
facilitated the moving of the crops IN
the present season and prevented the
scarcity Of available funds too often
experienced at such times. But we.
must not allow ourselves to depend
upon extraordinary expedients. 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 coun-
tries OF the modern world In attempt
ing to do this. Systems of rural
credit have been studied and deyel.
oped on the other side of the water
while we left our farmers to shift for
themselves in the ordinary money
market You have but to look about
you in any rural district to see the
result, the handicap and embarrass-
ment which have been put upon those
who produce our food. q
Antitrust Legislation -
Conscious of this backwardness and
neglect on our part, the Congress re.
Gently authorized the creation of
special commission to study the yari.
GUS systems of rural credit which
have been put into operation in Eu-
rope and this commission is already
prepared to report. It's report ought
to make it easier Tor US to determine
what methods will be best suited to
our own farmers hope and believe
that the committees of the senate and
house viii address themselves to this
matter with the most fruitful results,
and believe that the studies and
recently formed plans. OF the depart
ment OF agriculture may be made to
serve them very greatly in their work
OF framing appropriate and adequate
legislation. It would be indiscreet and
presumptuous, in anyone to dogmatize
upon so great ami many sided ques.
ton, but feel confident that common
counsel will product the results we
must all desire.
Turn from the farm to the world
OF business which centers in the city
and in the factory, and | think that
all thoughtful observers will agree
that the immediate service we owe the