Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1917-05-08
The Duty of Farmers and Nation.

The Duty of Farmers and Nation.
MILFORD, PA, April 26, 1917.
Editor Democrat:
In this great time, when every citizen
must do bis part, the President has
made his chief appeal to the men who
live on the land. He is right in doing
so, for the safety of our country just
now is in the bands of our farmers.
What / mean Is not merely our safety
and the safety of our allies in the matter
of food. mean that the safety of the
United States against foreign invasion
hangs on the decision of the farmers of
the forty, eight states.
The two great weapons in this war are
arms and starvation. The war against
German arms will be won or lost in
France-the war against starvation will
be won or lost in America. The Kaiser
cannot whip the French and English
armies and the English navy while Eng
land has food. But IL is still possible
that the German submarines may be
able to keep food enough from reaching
England to starve her into submission.
II the submarines win, the first item
in the Kaiser's terms of peace will be
the English feet. With the English
feet in his possession, the Kaiser will be
master of the world.
What will happen to Us then? Every
man who stops 70 think knows the an
swer. We shall have money, food, labor,
land,-everything that is desirable in
the world except the power to protect
what we have. Experts estimate that IL
will take US nine months to get ready to
meet German army of even 150, 900
men, with modern artillery. Under
such circumstances, would the Ger
mans treat US better than they have al
ready treated Belgium and France?
Even II the armies OF our Allies should
crush the German military power this
summer, before the shortage of food can
reach the point OF want, the world would
still need vast quantities Of American
food But if they do not, only one course
can make US safe, and that Is 10 grow
food enough on our farms for ourselves
and our Allies, and 10 put ships enough
on the sea TO carry the food, in spite of
the submarines, 10 the men who are
fighting our fight.
II the war lasts beyond this summer,
or loses the war, who will overcome mill
tarism and sutocrscy, or allow them to
spread and control the world, ourselves
included.
This is no fsnciful picture, but sober
fact. Many a man will make light of II
until he comes to think it over, but
venture 20 say that few will treat it lig ht-
ly after careful thought. 1t Is no more
impossible than the great war itself sp-
peared to be, only few days before IL
began.
1t is true that we can greatly increase
the available food supply out OF grain
now used in making liquors, and by re-
ducing household waste. But when
these two things are done, and done
thoroughly, they will not be enough.
The fiusl decision will still rest in the
hands of the men who raise our food in
the first place.
The clear duty of the Nation is to
guarantee the farmers q fair price for
their crops when grown, and q reasonable
supply Of labor at harvest. The clear
duty of the farmer Is to raise food
enough 10 win this war for democracy
against Kaiserism.
No such responsibility has ever rested
on any class of men since the world be-
gan as rests to-day on the farmers OF
America.
Sincerely yours,
CLIFFORD PINCHoT.