Graham guardian., 1917-06-15
Do YOUR BIT
FOR AMERICA

| call upon young men and old
alike and upon the able-bodied
boys of the land to accept and
act upon this to turn in
hosts to the farms and make GER
tain that no pains and no labor
is lacking in this great matter.
| particularly appeal to the
farmers of the South to plant
abundant foodstuffs, as well as
cotton. They can show their
patriotism in no better or more
convincing way than by resisting
the great temptation of the pres
ent price of cotton and helping,
helping upon great scale, to
feed the nation and the peoples
everywhere who are fighting for
their liberties and for our own.
The variety of their crops will be
the visible measure of their COM
prehension of their national duty.
The Government of the United
States and the governments of
the several States stand ready to
cooperate. They will do every
thing possible to assist farmers
in securing an adequate supply
of seed, an adequate force of
laborers when they are most
needed, at harvest time, and the
means of expediting shipments
of fertilizersand farm machinery,
as well as of the crops them
selves when harvested.
The course of trade shall be as
unhampered as it is possible to
make it, and there shall be no
unwarranted manipulation of the
nations food supply by those
who handle it on it's way to the
consumer. This is our oppor-
tunity to demonstrate the effici-
ency of a great democracy. and
we shall not fall short of it!
This let me say to the middle
men of every sort, whether they
are handling our footstuffs or our
raw materials of manufacture or
the products of our mills and
factories: The eyes of the coun-
try will be especially upon you.
This is your opportunity for
signal service, efficient and dis
interested. The country expects
you, as it expects all others, to
forego unusual profits, to or
ganize and expedite shipments of
supplies of every kind, but espe-
cially of food, with an eye to the
service you are rendering and in
the spirit of those who enlist in
the ranks, for their people, not
for themselves. | shall confident
ly expect you to deserve and win
the confidence of people of every
sort and station.
To the men who run the rail-
ways of the country, whether
they be managers or operative
employees, let me say that the
railways are the arteries of the
nations life, and that upon them
rests the immense responsibility
of seeing to it that those arteries
suffer no obstruction of any kind,
no inefficiency or slackened
power.
To the merchant let me suggest
the motto, Small profits and
quick service" and to the ship
builder the thought that the life
of the war depends upon him. The
food and the war supplies must be
carried across the seas, no matter
how many ships are sent to the
bottom. The places of those
that go down must be supplied,
and supplied at once.
To the miner let me say that
he stands where the farmer does
the work of the world waits on
him. If he slackens or fails,
armies and statesmen are help
less. He also is enlisted in the
great service army.
The manufacturer does not
need to be told, | hope, that the
nation looks to him to speed and
perfect every process; and want
only to remind his employees
that their service is absolutely
indispensable and is counted on
by every man who loves the
country and its liberties.
Let me suggest, also, that
every one who creates or cult
Yates a garden helps, and helps
greatly, to solve the problem of
the feeding of the nations; and
that every housewife who prac-
tices strict economy puts herself