Charlevoix county herald. (East Jordan, Mich.) 189?-1953, 1914-07-25

rivers ana lakes giving us a veritable
network of beautiful streams and
ponds. All this is poetry. Let us
cherish this inherent loneliness of the
place where we live as our dearest
possession. Let us hold back the hand
of man from violating it. What does
1T profit us if we gain the whole world
and lose our own souls. What does il
profit us if we gain great wealth; but
are condemned to live in the ugliness
of prison? If it were not blasphemy
to say il, | might secure the co-opera-
zion of the practically minded by de-
claring that the time may come when
Western Michigan, like Switzerland,
can capitalize its scenery and make it
IS weaithiest industry.
But let us move on. We find that
our cities are awakening to the con-
seriousness that they are surrounded
by farming communities. Napoleon
said That armies creep upon their bel
lies. Cities do the same 1t be-
hooves them to look after and care
for the source of the satisfaction of
their hunger. AS surely as tax is
placed upon the working men of a city
by the inefficiency of the farm, just so
surely is that tax transferred to the
factory or else it is absorbed by the
working men in the form of lower
standard of living. And so with sell
fish altruism we extend the helping
hand to the farm. You know the An
archist claims there is no such thing
as virtue No man ever did anything
yet but because he would rather do
the thing which he did do than the
thing which he did not do.
Be that as it may, this farm move
ment eminating from the cities, is
splendid movement. 1t is an ideal Of
which Western Michigan may be
proud. We have taken up the good
roads movement. That must come
first. That is the basis of all sub
sequent achievements. There is 40
good in raising big crops if we can't
haul them to market. Good roads be-
ing accomplished, the next thing is
the farm expert Many of our cities
have already progressed that far.
Hand in hand with the farm expert
goes proper system of farm credit.
For instance the expert says more
cattle, more cattle means a silo. More
cattle and silo means money. Where
is it coming from? But after good
roads and the farm expert comes a
third step that few of us have yet
thought of. 1t is the making of farm
life more attractive so that the boys
and girls will stay on the farm. We
must improve the rural schools. We
must make the farm home as conven-
lent for the farm wife as the city
home is for the city wife. We must
take plenty of social relaxation into
the lives of the young people on the
farm. Dances and Libraries and music
and moving pictures must be taken
out to the Grange halls. Gentlemen.
| have a covert idea that when this is
done not only will the working man
enjoy his rasher of bacon in the morn
ing at a reasonable price, but the
brothers of the city will be less filled
with their victims and further as par
ularly pertinent just now, those pc
riodic times of boom and depression
with which this country is cursed, will
be considerably abated.
But let us come now to our cities.
Cities constitute the progressive ele
ment in our national life; farms the
great balancing power. The farms
conserve what the cities achieve. We
lOOh " the NOlt Vi the TuIdl ulSlIlClS
to curb the ultra-radical proposals of
the city. On the other hand when the
farmers child is sick he takes the
child TO the city and there the last |
word in science comes to its aid.
Of the many ideals at work in our
cities and guiding them into fairer
seas-we can dwell upon but two. |
OF the efforts of the cities to secure |
new industries, of their struggles to
pave and beautify the streets, to add
vertise themselves, to secure conven- |
tons, to improve their governments |
we can say nothing but must leave
these to your full knowledge. Let me
call your attention very briefly to two
ideals which possibly are more funda-
mental than any others-in the light |
of which a city may gain imperish
able renown. | refer to health and ed
ucation.
The efficiency of England, and |
think the unbiased judgment of the
world, would probably pronounce Eng
land the greatest nation since Rome
the efficiency of England is due to her
health. The mind of England is a well
balanced mind housed in a healthy,
sportloving body. Now our cities are
coming to recognize that disease is an
economic crime. Disease in a work
man cutting short his productivity, |.
disease in the workman's family, sap
ping his mind with worry and his
pocketbook with expense, these are
horrible examples of the lack of or
ganization in the city and among the
medical fraternity. The time is COM
ing when instead of city health Of
fcer who locks the barn door after
the horse is stolen, we shall have a
sanitary engineer, who will pre-occu-
py the places of disease with health |
AS far as the medical fraternity is
they are woefully unequip-
ped to serve the community. | do |
not mean that they are unequipped in |
knowledge and intelligence, but in the
necessary for their work
and in the organization necessary to
make the apparatus and their knowl-
edge available. How many doctors
offices in Western Michigan are capa-
bile of making a cystoscopic, bacteria
logical or X-ray examination? The
hour has now struck when the doctors