East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current, 1913-07-24

to be our inalienable right by our
forefathers. The experiment of de-
mocracy has been carried far enough
to establish these facts-that for the
development or strength self-reliance
and resourcefulness within the indi-
vidual there is no other form of gov
ernment comparable to our own. But,
secondly, that democracy demands not
only a higt standard of citizenship,
but poise and balance among the
social forces of the republic.
at is with the maintenance of this
balance that this commission is con-
cerned and l hold that this day of
celebration of the foundation of our
democracy is fitting occasion to de-
mand your attention to a problem
that lies at the roots of our national
life. The balance to be maintained
within our republic is between the
radical and the conservative.
speak tonight in favor of the sane
conservative, the backbone of the ma
ton, the American farmer.
The movement in which this COM
mission is engaged seeks added
strength for our farmers. You will
say that they are strong That is true
but there have come changes in the
! organization of civilization today
which have strengthened labor, but
which our farmers have not adopted
1t is the principle of cooperation.
Among capitalists 1t is called
| combination. Among laborers union
ism. For the farmers we speak of it
as cooperation. 1t is the same thing
in principle-the welding together of
weaker units for the creation of a
stronger whole. You know that the
wheelwright and the weaver have
been eliminated forever by the
stronger force of combined capital
You no longer think of the laboring
man as an individual. l do not mean
that the laborlng man has lost his
individualsm. / think that he has
increased it as he has bettered his
economic situation. But he uses the
force of that individualism to but
tress his organization. He has met
your combination with his unionism
and God knows what would have be-
come of him If he had not.
Now the farmers have not yet
learned this lesson of cooperation.
! l have spoken of the farmer as the
sane conservative of the nation. That
| is true and will always be true in
( the broader sense of the man upon
| the soil. So today within our democ-
Iacy we have the radical elements of
! the urban population rapidly gaining
/ in strength through organization
/ while our conservative rural forces re-
! main yoked to the hollow form of an
ancient individualism, that is not indi-
vidualism if you measure by initiative
but which is only disorganization OBJ
viously our democracy cannot main
tain that balance essential to its ex-
istence If our rural forces continue
in this state of disorganization as op.
posed to the astounding organization
: of the forces of capital and labor
The strength which our farmers have
is largely strength of the past W.
have been always an agricultural ma
ton and we have today sufficien
strength within our rural population
to balance the nation. But no socia
force can stand still. 1t must pro
gress or retrogress. And in compar
ison with the radical urban forces tn
rural forces of America are losinI
ground. 1t is well upon this Inde
pendence Day. to weigh this question
Perhaps a consideration of the his
tory of past republics. of the Romal
republic, that fell from the overweight
of urban power and military glor
will help us Eternal vigilance 70
the preservation of our democracy l.
demanded of us and in this vigilanc
not the least attention should be Civ
en- to the maintenance of that balac,
OF social forces that will make ou
progress a sane and safe progress.
So you see, gentlemen. that tn,
problem with which this commission
is dealing is a social one. In its de
tails it seems only study of dr.
forms; 1t seeks social and commercial
means to better the farmer. 1t seeks
first to better the financial standing
of our farmers. 1t seeks to increase
the control of the producers over the
marketing of their products. II
seeks to strengthen the position of the
farmers as buyers. All of these mat
ters. however. are but the means tc
an end. That end is to weld the far
mers of our country into a coallesced
! force. The plan to strengthen them
financially and commercially is based
1 upon cooperation, combination, coal
lesion and their consolidation then
must increase their power as a So
! cial force within the democracy. You
cannot live without your nation and
your nation needs this increased
strength within its rural forces or will
need it sorely before many years have
Passed. Whether or not you see It
now, this problem is of direct and vi
tai importance to you, to every Am