Saturday news. (Watertown, S.D.) 19??-19??, 1917-12-20

,SSlOnS along the same nneS, ana are e
gree of accuracy those of substan-
ing sections.
COLONEL Lee sTovER.
Colonel Slower, besides being a
business man, is a farmer, operating
several thousand acres, and. breed.
er Of Galloway CATTLE Last We'd
nesday, the day prior to this papers
going to press, he wrote Secretary
Houston, urging the adoption of some
such method as outlined in the last
edition of The Saturday News.
1t is trite saying, said Colonel
Stover to a Saturday News man yes
terday, that An army travels on Its
belly The truth Of it is universally
recognized among military men,
"The trouble with regard to labor
began before this war commenced In
1914 Farmers had already felt the
effects of the scarcity of labor, and as
la result productions, with reference
to the population, had vastly fallen
on, both with respect to small grains
and live stock
This war has added Immensely To
the seriousness of the labor problem
and If our farmer boys-tha lis, the
youag men who are familiar with
4ssfsn work are to be indsscIimsnately
taken to the training quarters and
the battlefronto, production win iii
eyitably he further reduced.
There is an ample sufficiency OF
fallow land in America, plenty Of
tractors, horses, machinery, etc, and
enough man power, i think, to get
the small grain into the ground in
igeasonable time But the trouble
comes when the harvesting season
arrives.
1t is useless, absolutely useless,
even a crime, in view of the urgent
need OF foodstuffs in Europe, Ito pua
seed into the ground unless farmers
have a reasonable assurance that the
crops can be saved, providing the God
Of the Universe favors them with
favorable weather for the producing
of crops. There is plenty of risk, you
understand, in the matter Of rains
too little or too much, at the righl
or the wrong time, the heat, the cold
the frosts ,etc., without adding there
to the uncertainty of the labor sup
ply-afl uncertainty which amounts to
certainly that the supply will be
wholly inadequate il our farmer boys
are taken from the farms.
Again and again we have been
told that the result Of this war de
pends upon the food supply and the
getting Of it to the boys in the
trenches. Production, therefore. must
not be allowed to decrease, while the
building Of ships must be proceeded
with on the basis Of the maximum
output.
IF have correct understanding
of the situation, three chief factors
enter into the outcome Of this war:
foodstuffs, munitions and transporta.
|tion. One is as important as the
other. If we fail in one, we lose the
war They 60 hand in hand. and the
man who produces the foodstuffs is
as important unit In the winning
of the awful struggle as he who car.
Ties gun.
I'VE must remember that we can't
all carry guns. Some OF us must be
be hewers OF wood, while still others
must raise the foodstuffs and others
still must build ships and man them.
He who grows the food, or mans the
ship, or makes She munitions, is help
ing the cause Of worldwide dem0c'
racyas much 50 as he who carries
rifle, the chief difference being that
one is ON the firing line while the
other Is far ia the rear, keeping the
man In the trenches supplied with