Barton County democrat., 1914-01-02
OFFICIAL COUNTY PAPER
WILSON CONSIDERS FARMERS.

In his message to Congress, Presi
dent Wilson discusses the currenc.
measure and asks a square deal TO
the American Farmer. He says:
/ turn to matters of domestic con-
ceTn. You already have under cen
Sideraticn a bin for the reform O.
OUT system of banking and currency
for which the country waits with i'm
patience, as for something fundamen,
TAD to its whole business life anC
necessary to set credit free from ar
hitrary and artificial restraints.
present to you, in addition, the
urgent necessity that special provis-
zion be made also for facilitating the
credits needed by the farmers o.
he country. The currency bill does
the farmers a great service. 1t puts
them upon an equal footing with 9TH
'@r business men and masters of enter.
prise, as it should; and upon its pas.
sage they will find themselves quit
q many Of the difficulties which at
othis time hamper them in the field
a credit. The farmers Of course ask
and should be given no special priv
Dege, such as extending to them the
credit Of the government itself. What
they need and should obtain is legis-
: Ation which will make their own abuu.
dant and substantial credit resources
available as a foundation for Joint
concerted local action in their own
g behalf i'm getting the capital they
must use.
It 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. l 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
tie crowded market place and the
cRngor Of the factory, but it is from
the quiet interspaces of the open val
teyS and the free hillsides that we
draw the sources Of life and prosper
tty, from the farm and the ranch, the
q. forest and the mine. Without these,
every street would be silent, every
office deserted, every factory fallen
into 'disrepair And yet, the farmer
does not stand upon the same footing
With the forester and the miner in
the market of credit. He is the ser
want of the seasons. Nature deter
mines 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-
peuds upon the season when HIS crop
natures, lies at the gates Of the mar
ket where his products are sold. An6
The security he gives is of charac.-
ter not known in the brokers office
or as familiarly as it might be upon
the counter OF the banker.
The farmers and the government
Viii henceforth work together as real
paTtnarS In this field, where we now
oegtn to see our way very clearly and
where many intelligent plans are al.
ready being put into execution. But
~o muSt uOt dl10W ourselves to de-
pe1d upon extraordinary expedients.
We must add the means by which the
farmer may make his credit constant.
y and easily available and command
when he will the. capital by which to
support and expand his business. We
hg behind many other great coun-
tries Of the modern world in ATTEMPT
Ing to do this. Systems Of rural cred
it have been studied and developed
On the other side Of the water while
we left our farmers to shift for them.
selves in the ordinary money market.