Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1917-06-28
STATE WILL GAIN
BECAUSE OF WAR
ECONOMIC GROWTH WILL sE
SHOWN WHICH WILL BE
BRED BY NECESSITY. g.
.5
ssss.e7s - ,seSSasT
SACRIFICES ARE TO COUNT.
While Soldiers Are Fighting in the
Trenches Others May Show
Patriotism Worth While -
So at Home. s

Madison, Wis.-Although the State
Council of Defense was created he
cause Of the war and goes out of ex
1stence when that crisis which is fac
Ing the nation is over, the work it is
doing will have an unestimable eco
nomic value to the state.
If the plans of the council are car
rIed out, and with, the co-operation
which is being given freely by the
people there is no doubt of it, Wis.
consin will gain over night because
of the necessity for economic advance.
ment what she could not have gained
In the ordinary process in years.
All Citizens Must Aid.
No matter how progressive a state
may be-and Wisconsin has borne a
reputation of being a progressive
state-material growth comes slowly.
Half the people, or perhaps less than
half, are striving always to do more
today than they did yesterday, and
with still greater hopes for tomorrow.
The others, no matter how much they
appreciate the results, are apt to &C
cept conditions as they are
The work Of the state council of de-
tense along economic lines will be
undertaken now because the nation
needs food, and the state must do its
share. The fact that bread is as nee.
essary as bullets to win a war will
be better realized If the conflict is of
long duration.
If Wisconsin Eases its acreage
so that 1t ca only feed it's own
cItlzens at de prices but also
send food to the east and across the
water, it will be doing a service as
valuable in its way as the sending OF
soldiers to fight in the trenches.
To bring this about the state coun
Gil is appealing to the producers t
grow more and is trying to enlist
more volunteers in the army of produ
GERS. The reports to the state de
partment of agriculture have beer
promising. More potatoes, more
beans and more acres of nearly ever,
thing grown in the ground already ii
assured for 1917. The planting sea
son being nearly over, the next prob
lem will be the harvest. With thou
sands of men out of the state, labor
also is a problem.
1918 Problem Is Next.
The state council has departments
devoted to all these phases Of the sit
uation.
When the crops Of 1917 are harvest
ed, then comes the work for 1918. 1t
is with this problem that the state
council will work during the winter
months.
So much for the present. After the
war, when Wisconsin goes back to the
business of producing it's own needs
and once more enters into competition
with other states for the markets of
which is the best prepared will lead
all others. The growth which came
over night because conditions demand
ed 1t will not be lost. Wisconsin will
have increased millions of dollars in
producing We lth. Thousands of acres
of land will be. under the pillow which
might not have been for a decade or
more. The output Of the factories,
increased to meet war conditions. will
continue because manufacturers will
have learned how to economic on
time and material
After the war, much as 1t will cost
the state, the lessons of sacrifice will
show their worth.