St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1913-11-26

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to be for the good of the farmer, but
which are more likely to do harm
IL not speedily changed. Whatever
is accomplished must be the work
of the rural people themselves, and
EDIT
not that of a crowd of 'uplifters
and experts from the city.
That the time has come when the
government should exercise a rig
orous control of the telephone and
telegraph companies in the interests
of the people.
That roads should be improved,
but not for the purpose of making
them cross country speedways.
That while much that is now be-
ing written and said about rural
credits is impractical 'slush" due to
ignorance, rural credits is a subject
of vital Importance to American
farmers and great care should be
taken to see to it that no undesir-
able or burdensome system be fas-
tened upon them.
That bankers and certain large
financial interests are manifes&ing
great interest in improving agricul-
ture and are contributing of their
monopoly-gotten if not ill gotten
6dAh0 III NndS PuA POOC- nlS VIII
cious meddling is becoming obnoxi-
Gus. Self-respecting farmers ask
at the hands of the bankers only the
same privileges and considera-
ton shown other business men.
Notwithstanding the plain hint
that "oficious meddling' is not
wanted, we take the liberty of COM
menting somewhat on these declara-
tons. 1t is evident the grangers do
not approve of efforts of any one
outside of ''the rural people them
selves" to improve rural conditions,
whether it be improvement of rural
life, credits or methods of agricul-
ture. Immense sums of money have
been expended, much honest and
well inteDtioned work has been
done and much intelligence has been
exerted in behalf of rural life and
now the national grange says hands
off, ''let US run our own business"
We will not attempt to maintain that
the grange is entirely wrong in this
but we note they demand that the
telephone and telegraph companies
be no longer allowed to manage their
own business.
They say roads should be improv-
ed but not for the benefit of a class
that uses them very extensively.
The great combinations should not
be allowed to fix the price of the
commodities they distribute and sell
but the farmer should make the
price Of what he produces and sells.
Without making any defence of the
combinations we would suggest that
the rights of the two classes are
somewhat similar.
When development and improve
ment is left to 1.-The rural people
themselves" what are the results?
First we find that less than twelve
per cent of the arabic land of the
country is producing maximum re-
suits and over sixty per cent of it
is not even well titled. Churches
and schools are deterioratfng and
roads are little if any improved.
Young men and women who possess
the most ability and are capable of
the most development are attracted
to other locations and their home
communities are left to stagnate and
slowly drop out of the procession.
The work of the Windsor county Y.
NJ. G. A. committee that has been of
incalculable benefit to the rural life
of that section has been done by
outsiders. BY far the larger proper
ion of the funds that made a>coun-
ty agent possible in this county have
been furnished entirely independent
of the farmers themselves.
We might enumerate many more
hings done for the purpose of ben
efitting "the rural people them
selves by outside influences. Some
of it is for the selfish purpose of
beneftting the farmer and thus in
creasing their own prosperity but
much of it is as truly a work of
love, a commendable effort to per-
form real public service. We regret
to see it so harshly condemned by
such an influential body as the Nat
ional Grange. 1t does not give so
great a promise of real development
as cooperation with outside forces
could. We hope that more mature
consideration of these matters will
develop a more tolerant spirit in this
body possessing great power for
good but which has not yet given
evidence of the ability of producing
the greatest good entirely indie
pendent of the other forces that
would cooperate with them