The Fargo forum and daily republican. [volume] (Fargo, N.D.) 1894-1957, 1917-04-16

GaMnmN Rich, head of the federal re-
serve bank of Minneapolis, speaking
at the bankers foodstuffs conference
held here Sunday, spoke as follows:
| Three extremely important problems
confront us. The first is to make the
1917 crop in the northwest a record
| breaker in acreage; the second is tt
| mobilize labor and establish the ma
| chinery through which it can be dis
tributed to the farmers as they need
it; and the third, and in some respects
the most important, is to finance the
farmer and promptly provide the
money which he will need in carrying
out the program of increased and in
tensified production.
Need Well Balanced Crop.
To merely obtain a much larger acre
age is not enough. We must have a
better balanced acreage, and while en-
couraging a larger planting Of wheat
barley, rye and other grain crops, we
must at the same time give careful
attention to corn and forage crops, and
provide as we'll for a large potato
crop, and for. increased supplies Of
beans and other garden products. The
problem Of the meat supply is ex-
tremeIy important. We must have
more hogs, and the corn and forage
crops on which to fatten. them, and We
must have more sheep and cattle. This
means that we must conserve and pro-
tect our breeding stock during this
period, when high prices make 1t a
great temptation to sell, and increase
it in view of the demands which We
know will come in the future.
Many Nations Short of Crop.
The world is running short of food.
Men have withdrawn from agricultur-
al occupations by the hundred thous-
ands. The Argentine crop is failure;
the Australian crop is 30 per ce0t
short. The winter wheat crop in this
country has been severely damaged.
Not only the United States, but the
world looks to these great grain grow
ing areas in the American northwest
as it's bulwark and protection.
Our country is astir from end to end.
No one can doubt the seriousness Of
the American people as they now en-
ter upon their preparations to do their
part in this great struggle for the
preservation of democracy and liber-
ty. We thrilled with pride when we
knew that that brave young Texan
carried our ag on his bayonet as he
entered a charge the other day, and we
are glad when we know that the Stars
and Stripes have been broken out
with the flags of our allies in the air
service on the western front in France.
In this, it is not the spectacular that
appeals to us. These things are the
first small evidences that we are be-
ginning to do our part. Patriotism
exists in this country. Let no man
doubt it. What we demand now is
the opportunity to show it. AS prac-
teal Americans, whether bankers,
business men, farmers Or wage earn
ers, we want to know where to serve
and how. For those of us who are
gathered here, the question of where
lies our patriotic duty is not dlffcult.
It is to here and now organize our en-
ergies and our resources in support OF
agriculture in this district to such a.
degree and in such way that we
may know that not SO long as men and
money and land are here, will grim
and pitiless hunger stalk abroad in
the land, as has been the case where
even the energies of one of the most
efficient and one of the most thorough
governments in the world have not
been sufficient to conserve and main
tain a food supply adequate to the de-
mands of its people.
Farmers Patriotic.
I have been asked whether in this
will not feel that by raising more
wheat, corn and oats, he is simply in
viting lower prices in the fall. Why
should we doubt the patriotism of the
farmers? Thirty years ago 1 was
pioneer in Pembina in this state, and
l have known the northwestern farm
ers during all of this period, and dur
ing most of it very intimately. There
will be no thought in the farmers
mind of limiting his production be-
cause of the price situation If we can
carry the message to him that the
United States government and the
people of this country look to him
to fully discharge his patriotic duty
in providing the ample food supplies
that we must have from the crop of
1917. In the planting and cultivating
of these crops, the farmers services
to his country will be just as import
ant as the services of the man who
carries a rife, or the services of those
brave and daring Americans, who
aboard scout destroyers and light
cruisers, are now spreading network
over the west Atlantic.
Facing Big Problems.
But what we need to realize most