The Princeton union. [volume] (Princeton, Minn.) 1876-1976, 1916-04-27

equations and farm life should be
made profitable and attractive as an
inducement to keep the young men
upon the farm. The tendency in this
country during the last fifty years has
been towards undue increase of CITY
population. At the close of the
Civil war substantially ~ per cent
of the population of the country lived
upon, and procured their livelihood
from, the farm; today less than IS
per cent do so. This undoubtedly has
come through the marvellous opportun-
tiles in business during period of ex-
pansion and growth in this country,
the equal Of which history does not re-
cord. One of the dangers in this coun-
try today is overcrowding the cities
with millions of people, some of them
reduced to the verge of poverty, while
we have rich country only partially
developed inviting our people to ru-
raj occupations that yield safe and
sure return of industry. The degen-
Grafton which follows poverty in the
concentrated centers Of population is
a terrible drain upon the vitality Of
the nation. This drain has to be made
good from the best blood, brain and
sinew of the land. No country re-
mains great through the centuries
whose people are not independent pro-
prietors in their business and in cul-
tivating the land. The roots of great
civilization start from the soil. The
country where the people own. their
own farms and cultivate them, where
the industries are open to everyone, is
the country which stands the strain of
world competition. There is no surer
road to national degeneration and de-
struction than to take from the people
the inducements or opportunity to be
the proprietors of the land. In our
country every inducement to maintain
the independence Of the farmer is of
the highest Importance. During the
last decade from 1900 to 1910, the av-
erage of farms operated by owners
increased only 7.6 per cent, while the
average Of farms operated by tenants
Increased 1871 per cent. It is one of
the bad signs of the time. The con-
gress should be alive to this subject
believe there is no system of land
tenure which is more degenerating to
a people in the long run of years than
that of landlordism. You cannot build
great nation upon a dependent peo-
pie. 1t has been the curse of England
and one of the greatest problems she
has had to face during the last twenty
years. 1t brought Ireland to the verge
OF revolution. The government
should aid in every way it legitimate1y
can to increase the productiveness of
the farm and improve the system of
agriculture and to make farm life at
tractive, for unless they are both at
tractive and profitable they will not
hold the ambitious rising generation.
|
AS l look back over forty years since
left the farm, I realize what
tremendous improvements and strides
of advancement have been made by the
farmers in this state. They have
better houses and barns, finer stock,
better cultivation, more modern i'm
provements, with the telephone, rural
free delivery and other conveniences
which have made farm life vastly
more attractive than it was in the
early days Of the settlement of the
state.
am not one of those lawyers who
undertake to tell the farmers how to
run their farms; but these general
principles should appeal to every citi-
zen, as they are in the interest of the
greatest industry in this country.
X X X
Trusts and Combinations.-I cannot
in this speech more than very
briefly state my position upon this
subject to which I have de-
voted great many years of
study. was counsel for the govern
ment in the cases against the Paper
Trust, the Standard Oil Trust and the
Union Pacific-Southern Pacific merg-
er. In the Standard Oil case the power
of the government to regulate large
industrial corporations or combina-
tions engaged in interstate commerce
was definitely established. The abuses
then practiced, including unfair and op-
pressive methods Of competition, the
driving out and crushing of competitors
and like abus es, were declared illegal:
and agreements fixing prices, limiting
,output and sitting competition were de-
clared unlawful and enjoined. Not
only this, but all the defendant Stand
ard Oil Companies, their officers,