Decorah public opinion. (Decorah, Winneshiek County [Iowa]) 1895-1928, 1917-05-02
DUTY OF THE NATION.
Clifford Pinchot Writes About Re-
sponsibility Placed on the
Farmers in the
Following.

IN lHlS great time, WHEN every
citiezen must do his part, the Presi-
dent 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 hands Of
our farmers. What l 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
lforty-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 star
walton will be won or lost in Amer
lea. The Kaiser cannot whip the
French and English armies and the
English navy while England has
food. But it is still possible that the
German submarines may be able to
hSCp loOu CiiOuSh ItOlI lCdCHluS
England to starve her into submits
sion.
If the submarines win, the first
item in the Kaisers terms of peace
will be the English fleet. With the
English fleet in his possession, the
Kaiser will, be master of the world.
What will happen to us then? Ev-
cry man who stops to think knows
the answer. We shall have money,
food, labor, land, everything that
is desirable in the world except the
power to protect what We have. Ex-
perts estimate that it will take us
nine months to get ready to meet a
German army of even 10000 men,
with modern artillery. Under such
circumstances, would the Germans
treat us better than they have alrea-
dy treated Belgium and France?
Even if the armies of our Allies
should crush the German military
power this summer, before the short
age 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 to grow
| food enough on our farms for our
selves AID our Allies, and to put
ships enough on the sea to carry the
food, in spite of the submarines, to
the men who are fighting our fight.
If the war lasts beyond this sum-
mer, it will be the American farmer
who will win or lose the war, who
viii overcome militarism and auto
cracy, or allow them to spread and
control the world, ourselves includ-
ed.
This is no fanciful picture, but
sober fact Many man will make
light of it until he comes to think
it over, but T'venture to say that few
will treat it lightly after careful
thought. 1t is no more impossible
than the great War Itself appeared
to be, only few days before it be-
kgan.
1t is true that we can greatly in
crease the available food supply out
of grain now used in making liquors
and by reducing household waste
But when these two things are done
ald done thoroughly, they will not
be enough. The final 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 tC
guarantee the farmers a fair price fol
their crops when grown, and rea
sonable supply of labor at harvest
The clear duty of the farmer is tC
raise food enough to win this war fol
democracy against Kaiserism.
No such responsibility has ever
rested on any class Of men since the
world began as rests today on the
farmers Of America.