Dakota farmers' leader. (Canton, S.D.) 1890-19??, 1913-12-05

ly 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 to
do this. Systems of rural credit have
been studied and developed 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 n
rural district to see the result. the
handicap and embarrassment which
have been put upon those who pro
duce our food.
Conscious Of this backwardness and
neglect on our part, the congress re-
Gently authorized the creation Of a
special commission to study the vari-
Gus systems Of rural credit which
have been put into operation in Eur
ope and this commission is already
prepared to report. Its report ought
to make it easier for us to determine
what methods will be best suited to
our own farmers. I hope and believe
that the committees of the senate and
house will address themselves to this
matter with the most fruitful results,
and | believe hat the studies Il re-
Gently formed plans of h 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 anyOn to dog
Matte upon SO great and many-sided
a question. but ! feel confident that
common counsel will produce the re-
suits we must all desire.
Stop Private Monopoly.
Turn from the farm to the world of
business which centers in the city and
in the factory, and l think that all
thoughtful observers will agree that
the immediate service we owe the
business communities of the country
is to prevent private monopoly more
e%ffectually than it has yet been pre-
vented. think it will be easily agreed
that we should let the Sherman anti
trust law stand, unaltered, as it is,
but that we should as much as posi-
bic reduce the area of that debatable
ground by further and o explicit
legislation; and should also supple
ment that great act by legislation
which will not only clarity it but also
facilitate its administration n make
it fairer to all concerned. No doubt
we shall all wish, and the country will
expect, this to be the central subject
Of our deliberations during the pres
ent session; but it is a subject so
many-sided and so deserving of care
full and discriminating discussion that
I shall take the liberty of addressing
you Upon it in a special message at a
later date than this. 1t is of capital
importance that the business men Of
this country should be relieved of all
uncertainties of law with regard to
their enterprises and investments and
a clear path indicated which they can
travel without anxiety. 1t is as i'm
portant that they should be relieved
of embarrassment and set free to
prosper as that private monopoly
should be destroyed. The ways Of
action should be thrown wide open.
I turn to a subject which hope
can be handled promptly and with
out serious controversy of any kind.
I mean the method of selecting nomi-
lees for the presidency of the United
States ! feel confident that
do not misinterpret the wishes
or the expectations of the
country when I urge the prompt
enactment of legislation which will
provide for primary elections through
out the country at which the voters Of
the several parties may choose their
nominees for the presidency without
the intervention of nominating con-
ventiOns. | venture the suggestion
that this legislation should provide
for the retention of party conventions,
but only for the purpose of declaring
and accepting the verdict of the pri-
maries and formulating the platforms
of the parties; and l suggest that
these conventions should consist not
of delegates chosen for the single pur-
pose, but Of the nominees for con-
gT5s5, the nominees for vacant seats
in the senate of the United States, the
senators whose terms have not yet
closed, the national committees
and the candidates for the presidency
themselves, in order that platforms
may be framed by those responsible
to the people for carrying them into
effect.
Obligations to Territories.
These are all matters of vital do
nestle concern, and besides them, out
side the charmed circle of our own
national life in which our affections
command US, as well as our con-
sciences, there stand out our obliga-
tons toward. u territories over sea.
Here we are trustees. Porto Rico,
Hawaii, the Philippines, are ours, once
regarded as mere possessions, are no
longer to be selfishly exploited: they
are part Of the domain of public con-
science and of serviceable and enlight-
ened craftsmanship. We must admin
lister them for the people who live in
them and with the same sense of re-
spOnSibility to them as toward our
own people in our domestic affairs. No
doubt we shall successfully enough
bind Porto Rico and the Hawaiian is
lands to ourselves by ties of justice
and affection, but the performance of
our duty toward the Philippines is a
more difficult and debatable matter.
We can satisfy the obligations Of gen