The daily sentinel., 1913-12-02
PRESIDENT WILSON OUTLINES PLANS FOR new
FREEDOM IN ANNUAL MESSAGE TO CONGRESS

country. The pending currency bill
does the farmers a great service. 1t
puts them upon an equal footing with
other business men and masters OF
enterprise, as il 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 10 special privi-
lege, such as extending to them the
credit of the government itself. What
they need and should obtain is legis-
lation which will make their own
abundant and substantial credit re-
sources available as foundation for
joint. concerted local action in their
own behalf in getting the capital they
must use. IL is TO this we should now
address ourselves.
Help the Farmer.
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 it's
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 interspaces of the open
valleys 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
factory fallan iptn desnair And vet
the farmer does not stand upon the
same footing with the forester and
the miner in the market of credit.
4 He is the servant of the seasons. Ma
ture 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 ma
turity depends upon the season when
his crop natures, like at the gates
of the market where the products are
sold. And the security he givies is of
character not known in the bro
ker's office or as familiarly as 1t
might be on the counter of the ban
ker.
| The agricultural department of the
government is seeking to assist as
never before to make farming an ef-
ficient business, of wide cooperative
effort. in quick touch with the mar
lets for foodstuffs. The farmers
and the government will henceforth
work together as real partners in this
| field, where we now begin to see our
way very clearly and where many
Intelligent plans are already being
put into execution. The treasury or
the United States has. by timely
and well-considered distribution of
l faatltfatad tho nnVtnO nf
1.-THE crops in the present season ana
prevented the scarcity Of available
| funds too often experienced at sucn
times. But we must not allow our
selves to depend upon extraordinary
expedients. We must add the means
by which the farmer may make his
credit constantly and easily available
and command when he will the cap
ital by which to support and expand
his business. We lag behind many
other great countries of the modern
world in attempting to do this. Sys-
tens OF rural credit have been stud.
led and developed on the other side
of the water while we left our far
mers to shift for themselves in the
ordinary money market. You nave
but to look about you in any rural
district to see the result, the handi-
cap and embarrassment which have
been put upon those who produce our
| food
Conscious of this backwardness
and neglect on our part, the Con-
| gress recently authorized the crea-
! ton of a special commission TO STUDY
the various systems of rural credit
which have been put into operation
in Europe, and this commission Is
already prepared to report. lts re-
port ought to make 1t easier for US
hest suited to our own farmers. l
| to determine what methods Will be
hone and believe that the committees
of the senate and house will address
/ themselves to this matter with the
most fruitful results. and l believe
that the studies and recently FORMED
plans of the department OF agrlcui-
| ture may be made to serve them very
greatly in their work of framing ap-
propriate and adequate legislation.
/ II would be indiscreet and presum-
tuous in anyone to dogmatize upon
so great and many-sided question.
but | feel confident that common
counsel will produce the results we
must all desire.
Prevent Monopoly.
| Turn from the farm to the worio
of business which centers in the city
and 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
effectually than it has yet been pre-
vented. / think it will be easily
agreed that We should let the Sher-
man antitrust law stand. unaltered.
as it is, with its debatabie grouna
about Il but that we should as much
as possible reduce the area of that
debatable ground by further and
more explicit legislation; and should
also supplement that great act by
legislation which will not only clarity
il but also facilitate lts admihistIa-
tion and make it fairer to all con-
cerned. No doubt We shall all wish,
and the country will expect, this to
be the central subject Of our deliber-
ations during the present session; but