The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1913-12-04

D
| tolerable life in the lands Immediately
to the south of us. Even if the
usurper hsd succeeded in his pur-
| poses, in despite of the constitution of
the Republic and the rights of its
! people, he would have set up moth
! ing but a precarious and hateful
power, which could have lasted but
a little while, and whose eventual
| downfall would have left the country
in a mere deployable condition than
/ ever. But he has not succeeded. He
! has forfeited the respect and the
moral support even Of those who were
at one time willing to see him sue
coed. Little by little he has been
completely isolated. By a little every
day his power and prestige are
! crumbling and the collapse is not
far away. We shall not, believe, be
obliged to alter our policy OF watch
tul waiting And then, when the end
| comes, We shall hope to see constitu-
tional order restored in distressed
Mexico by the concert and energy of
such OF her leaders as prefer the
liberty of their people to their own
ambitions.
turn to matters Of domestic con
Germ. You already have under CON
sideration a bill for the reform of
our system of banking and currency,
for which the country waits with i'm
patience, as for something funda-
mental to its whole business life and
necessary TO set credit free from ar
0itrary and artificial restraits.
need not say how earnestly | hope
for its early enactment into law. |
take leave to beg that the whole
energy and attention of the Senate be
concentrated upon it till the matter
is successfully disposed of And yet
I feel that the request is not needed
that the Members of that great
House need no urging in this service
to the country.
present to you, in addition, the
urgent necessity that special provision
be made also for facilitating the
credits needed by the farmers of the
country. The pending currency bill
does the farmers great service. 1t
puts them upon an equal footing with
other business men and masters of
enterprise, as it 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 no special privilege.
such as extending to them the credit
of the Government itself What they
need and should obtain is legislation
which will make their own abundant
and substantial credit resources
available as a foundation for joint,
concerted local action in their own
behalf in getting the capital they
must use 1t is to this we should now
address ourselves.
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
clangor of the factory, but it is from
the quiet interspaces of the open val
| leys 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 silent,
every office deserted, every factory
fallen into disrepair And yet the far
mer 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 its maturity de-
/ ponds upon the season when his crop
| natures, lies at the gates of the mar
| ket where his products are sOldA And
/ the security he gives is of 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
/ never before to make farming an eff.
cient business, of wide cooperative
effort, in quick touch with the mar
/ kets 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 intel
ligeut plans are already being put
United States has, by a timely and
well-considered distribution of its de
posits, facilitated the moving of the
crops in the present season and pre-
vented the scarcity of available funds
too often experienced at such times
But we must not allow ourselves tC
depend upon extraordinary expedi
ents. We must add the means by
J which the farmer may make his credit
constantly and easily available and
command when he will the capital by
which to support and expand his bust
ness. 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 tc
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 embar
rassment which have been put upor
those who produce our food.
Conscious of this backwardness
and neglect on our part, the Con