The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1917-04-30
UP TO FARMERS
 OF NATION, SAYS
 C|FF0RD P|NCH0T
Declares Great Responsibil-
 itv Rests on Their ShOul- ders Now
Dear MT. Tucker:-

In this great time, when every ci- tizen must do his 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 hands of our farmers. What l mean is not l merely our safety and the safety of our Allies in the matter of food mean that the safety of the United States against forcing invasion hangs on the decision of the farmers of the forty-eight states.
 l 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 vation will be won or lost in America The Kaiser cannot whip the French and English armies and the English navy while England has food. But ii ! is still possible that the German sub- ] marines may be able to keep food enough from reaching England to starve her into submission.
 If the submarines win, the first item in the Kaiser's terms of peace
 will be the English fleet. With the English fleet in his possession, the Kaiser will be the master of the world.
 What will happen to us them? 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 l power to protect what we have. Ex- perts estimate that it will take us
 nine months to get ready to meet 8 1 German army or even 150,000 men | with modern artillery. Under such circumstances, would the Germans
 treat us better than they have already | treated Belgium and France?
 l Even if the armies of our Allie: should crush the German military power this summer, before the short
 age of food can reach the point o
 want, the world would still need vas quantities of American food. But i they do not, only, one course car make us safe, and that is to grow | food enough on our farms for our
 selves and our Allies, and to put ship!
 enough on the sea to carry the food
 in spite of the sumarines, to the mel who are fighting our fight.
 If the war lasts beyond this summer
 it will be the American farmer wht
 will win or lose the war, who vii overcome militarism and autocracy
 or allow them to spread and contro l the world, ourselves included.
 l This is no fanciful picture, but so Der fact. Many a man will make ligh
 of it until he comes to think it over | but I venture to say that few vii | treat it lightly after careful thought
 It is no more impossible than the grea
 war itself appeared to be, only few I days before it began.
 I It is true that we can greatly in I crease the available food supply ou of grain now used in making liquors
 and by reducing household waste
 But when these two things are done and done thorouhgly, they will not b. enough. The final decision will stil
 rest in the hands of the men wht
 raise our food in the first place.
 The clear duty of the Nation is tt guarantee the farmers a fair price fol
 their crops when grown, and a reas
 enable supply of labor at harvest. Th'
 clear duty of the farmer is to raise food enough to win this war for denf
 ocracy against Kaiserism.
 No such responsibility has evel
 rested on any class of men since tn.
 world began as rests today on tht farmers of America.
 ! Sincerely yours,
 l CLIFFORD PINCHOT