The Leon reporter. (Leon, Iowa) 1887-1930, 1915-12-23
CONGRESS, THE FARMER AND
THE REST OF US.

this time. The last congress was alb
Sorbed in legislation for the welfare
of the business man. 1t passed tar
if act, drafted and enacted the best
currency law of modern times, for
INFLATED conservation legislation un-
der which the riches of the national
domain are neither padlocked nor
squandered, created trade commits
sion to which the business men OF
the nation are turning in time OF
trouble, as the recent action of the
lumber men so strikingly proves.
These needs met, the most urgent OF
all our internal problems are the
needs of the farmer, so clearly and
cogently put up by secretary Houston
in his recent report.
The skeptic who cannot see why
the government should worry about
the farmer will do we'll to look at
map of the United States showing
population movements in the last
census decade; there is such one
in the New Missouri State Manual.
Where is the growth of the people
of this nation the slowest? In the
great agricultural states.
Twenty-Five states of the union
grew less than 70 per cent in the last
census decade, ranging from Iowa,
which actually lost 1000 people, or
three-tenths of l per cent, to Louisl-
ana, which barely fell short of the 20
per cent class. In order, from the
slowest growing up, those % states
were: Iowa, Vermont, New Hamp-
shire, Missouri, Maine, Kentucky, In
diana, Tennessee, Maryland, Della
ware, Virginia, Nebraska, Wisconsin,
South Carolina, Ohio, Kansas, Mis-
sissirpi, North Caronna, Alabama,
Georgia, Minnesota, Louisiana.
- Leave out of the account the three
states of northern New England, with
their inhospitable climate, mountain
GUS surface and thin, glacial soils,
and what have you left? Every
state west of the Alleghenies and
east of the Missouri river except Ar
kansas, every seaboard Atlantic
state between New Jersey and Flori-
da, and, in addition, Kansas and
Nebraska west of the Missouri. This
area includes all the great corn grow
ing states except Oklahoma, all the
winter wheat belt west of the Allie
ghenies, all of the cotton belt but
Texas, Arkansas, Oklahoma and a
small area in Florida. In includes
the principal areas producing horses,
mules, hogs, cattle and poultry.
sThese states are as far apart geo
graphically as Minnesota and Missis-
sippi, as different in social makeup
and tradition as South Carolina and
Kansas, as unlike in polite al ideas
as Wisconsin and Delaware. They
are spread over an area 1,5H1 miles
long and 1000 wide. Palms wave
in some of them and Norway pine in
others. They have this one thing in
common, however, every one OF them
depends chiefly on agriculture for it's
prosperity. And every one Of them
failed of growing as fast as tf.e ma
ton grew as whole during The last
census decade.
What is the reason for this state
of things? And how may it be
mended, so that the middle west and
south may prosper in population
growth with the country at large?
The rest of us are dependent on the
farmer to feed us and to furnish the
raw materials for our clothes. With
population increasing in the city and
decaying in the country, what prom
Use is there in the future? What
will be the effect beyond the range
of food and raiment? Can Ameri-
ca afford to lose the Intangible val
ues'' which, in the past, have come
from the Intellectual, moral and
spiritual treasurers gathered on
American farms?
The danger of unpreparedness for
foreign aggression is we'll worth the
attention of the patriot; but it is a
lesser danger than the danger of the
paralysis of the vigor of rural Ameri-
ca. The secretary of agriculture be-
l1eves that certain important needs
of the American farmer can be met
by federal egislation-legislation
which shall aid the farmer precisely
as better currency and trade laws
have aided the business man. The
nature of his proposals will be dis
cussed in later article.-St. Louis
Republic.