Wausau pilot. [volume] (Wausau, Wis.) 1896-1940, 1914-01-06
HELPS RURAL LIFE.
SECRETARY HoUSToN'S PLAN is
RouSING INTEREST ALL
OVER COUNTRY.
FARMERS WIVES ARE AlDlNa
Fifty Thousand Have Sent Suggestions
on Improving Conditions and These
Are Being Applied by Depart
ment OF Agriculture.
BY GEORGE CLINTON.

Are Being Applied by Depart
ment Of Agriculture.
BY GEORGE CLINTON.
Washington.-Wives Of the farmers
of the land to the number of $4,000
have responded by letter to the re-
quest OF the agricultural department
that they tell of home life in the coun-
try and make suggestions as to what
the department can do to improve
conditions, and to make the rural life
more attractive for all the members
OF the household Secretary Houston
Is taking deep interest In the an
sweFs which have come to the de-
partment's query and he has read
scores of then, personally. while the
others have been read for study pur-
poses by officials high in the depart
ment.
Recently the secretary of agricui-
ture lei it be known through the pub
licity bureau that he wished TO make
his department useful. not only to the
farmer. but to the others of the house
4
write and they responded quickly and
readily and in nearly every case, in
teiligently, 1t is the intention of the
governments agricultural officials to
prepare and send out bulletins of in
struction and information to the ru-
raj housewives of the country telling
them how they can lignten their la
bors. shorten their hours of work,
make their homes attractive, save
money and make money and after
doing it all End that they have left
time for rest, reading and bodily
recreation
1t is probable that IN the future
when proof is forthcoming that the
women of the country districts have
profited by the printed advice and In
struction of Mr.. Houston and his fell
low officials, credit generally will be
| given to the department or agrlcul-
! ture for it's progressive endeavor
Part of the credit viii belong there.
but the greater part of it will belong
to the army of American women who.
acting as individuals, have sent TO the
government helpful suggestions coun-
sci and advice based in large part on
their own experience and on Il cir de-
sire to make that experience OF serv-
| ice to other women who may not
have had It.
| Exchange of Advice.
| Already the farmers wives OF the
! country have received from the gov
ernments advisory bureau housekeep-
| ing, food-preparing, fruit-preserving
and other instructions which on the
| face of things seems to mark Secre'
| tary Houston as a teacher of high
standing in the domestic arts. Ii Is
probable that the secretary of agricul-
ture will be the first one to put the
credit where it belongs. The women
have done It, Advice from Alabama
today is being applied to California
and advice from California is being
| applied IL Alabama, and put any other
two states In the places OF those
named and the same thing holds true.
| Before long it is the intention of
the department to prepare plans for
The construction and proper arrange
ment of farm houses. They will vary
in detail geographically" The same
plans will not serve for a Florida
! farmhouse that will serve for one in
Oregon. Convenience and comfort
will be consulted with view to the
adaptation of the house to the special
needs of the family OF "a farmer.
Is Currency Law Prize or Blank?
| Now that the currency bill has
become a law, the natural and
perhaps apprehensiye question be-
comes. is it to work good or i'll to
the banking and the general bust
ness interests of the country? Does
one seem to put the plane of intelli-
| gence low when he says that, with
the exception OF half a dozen senators
and representatives who have spoken
directly to the point, no one can be
found in the capital city, outside OF
those who speak enthusiastically SIM
| ply because they are partisans, will
| ing to give a specific answer to the
| question concerning the business re-
;ults of the new currency law?
/ The solemn truth is that apparently
no man understands currency 70 its
roots. Finance is a question which
has been the subject of controversy
/ for hundreds. yes, even thousands OF
years There are as many views on
! the proper way TO make sound cur
| renry as there are men able TO express
any view at all OF the witnesses who
appeared before the committees sit
/ ting in consid Grafton OF the currency
measure. only one or two were willing
| to prophesy actual disaster as the re-
| suit of the passage of the bill and only
few are willing to declare as GER
! tainty that specific benefit would come
! from it's enactment During the debate
| on the tariff bill which is now the law
there were plenty of Republicans in
both houses willing to prophesy dis
aster to the business interests OF the
| country because of the cut in customs.
| The tariff was a familiar subject.
Few Even Pretend to Know.
During the debates on the currency
| bill, many of the Republicans sat
| speechless.' Others, drawer. spoke
their minds, but those who thus spoke
! were few in number Why was there
reticence on currency and glibness Oh
| the tariff? The reason is as simple as
primer. There are not more than
ten men in the house and senate who
understand currency matters and all
except the ten who understand, or
Gaelic Tongue.