The Watertown weekly leader. [volume] (Watertown, Jefferson County, Wis.) 1912-1917, 1917-04-18
GOVERNOR URGES
FARMERS TO HELP
ECONOMIC PREPAREDNESS AND
SAVING OF FOOD ASKED BY
STATE EXECUTIVE.
FIRST WAR PAPER SINCE 1898
In Proclamation to Citizens of Wis
consin Philip Asks Cooperation
in Supplying Nations Share
of Food Products.

Misunderstanding to the good
sense and foresight of the people,
which he considers the foundation of
| all real patriotism, Gov. Emanuel L.
/ PhllIpp has issued proclamation to
| citizens of Wisconsin, urging economic
| preparedness which will be furthered
by the new state council for defense.
The man who tolls with the hoe is
called patriot no less than the man
who fights at the front by the governor
III an epigrammatic sentence which is
| characteristic of the document, the
first state paper dealing with war
/ since 1898.
The present high prices of food is
| mentioned as a condition which will
| continue, and ways and means to meet
this situation are suggested. The
| working force of the state department
| of agriculture is rendered to farmers
of the state to bring about increased
production, to the end that Wisconsin
| shall add as much as possible to the
nations supply of food.
The governor says that it will be a
moral wrong if the state fails to do
| this. Planting of vegetable crops on
vacant lots is urged, and the people
are admonished to save their food sup
ply.
Every group of citizens in the state
is included in the appeal for cooper
| alton
| The proclamation follows:
IN so much as our country is now
engaged in a war with the central
| powers of Europe, the possible magni-
| tude of which we must not under-es-
innate, feel it my duty to call the
attention of the people of the state
OF Wisconsin to the sacrifices that we
must make and the responsibilities
that we must assume in order that we
may fully cooperate with the national
| government in upholding the arms of
our nation. Whatever disagreement
there may have been about the neces-
s1ty or ACCESSIBILITY of engaging in the
war is now thing of the past. War
Is upon us and l call upon every citi-
zen Of the state of Wisconsin to aid
in the preparations that must be made
to meet every emergency and to en-
able our state to do its share in the
support of our government.
Military preparation must of neces-
slty be controlled by the United States
| government. We shall be called upon
TO provide our quota of troops and
feel confident that Wisconsin's sons
will respond to the call of the presi-
dent OF the United States willingly
| and promptly and with the same
spirit of patriotism that has charac-
terlzed our soldiers in the wars of
former years.
Soldiers alone cannot carry on a
war successfully. Battles cannot be
won with empty commissaries. Troops
must be equipped. Armies must be
fed. No soldier can endure the hard
ships of campaign unless he is prop
erly nourished. 1t is with a view of
awakening our civilian population to
full realization of their duty in the
present situation, therefore, that l
address this message to the people of
Wisconsin. The most important prob
lem that confronts us now, and which
must be met in no uncertain way, is
to provide supply of food. The high
cost of living has been a source of
complaint in our industrial centers
for more than two years. The avail
able stocks of food have been grad
Ially depleted until we find ourselves
practically without any surplus in our
own country, and an absolute shortage
seems to exist all over Europe. The
price of some commodities, because
of this shortage, has risen so high as
to place them out of reach of the
! masses of the people.
To add to the seriousness, of the
situation is the fact that the South
American grain crop is a partial fail
ure and that a vast acreage of wheat
in our own country has been winter
killed. In the Canadian northwest
there exists shortage Of labor, which
will materially reduce the acreage of
wheat in that section. The fact that
we shall enlist a large army of able
bodied young men and take them out
| of production, coupled with the further
| feet that large numbers of laboring
men will be required in the factories
| that will produce the munitions and
other supplies for our army, may pro-
duce a similar shortage of labor in
our agricultural districts.
l regard this as a serious situation,
| particularly in view of the fact that
we must feed an army in addition to
our industrial population, and also pro-