The weekly Iberian., 1917-05-05
April 26, 1917.

| AAas AZ' Il
fhe Iberian,
New Iberia, La.
Dear Mr.. Millard:-Tn this great
time, when every citizen must dc
his part, the President has made
ite chief appeal to the men who
live on the land. He is right in
doing so. for the safety of our
coultry just now is in the hands
of our farmers. What | mean is
not merely our safety and the
safety of our Allies in the matter
of food. l mean that the safety
of the United States against for
eign invasion hangs on the deci.
sion 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 can.
not whip the French and English
armies and the English navy
while England has food. But it
il still possible that the German
submarines may be able to keep
food enough from reaching Eng
land to starve her into submission.
If the submarines wir, the first
item In the Kaiser's terms Of
peace will be the English fleet.
With the English feet in hls pos
session, the Kaiser will be master
of the world.
What will happen to us then7
Every man who stops to think
knows the answer. We shall have
money, food, labor, land,-every
thing that is desirable In the
world except the power to protect
what We have. Experts estimate
that it will take US nine months to
get ready to meet a German army
Of even $50. 900 men, with modern
artillery. Under such circum-
stances, would the Germans treat
US better than they have already
treated Belgium and Francei
E7en If 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 Amer
,can food. But if they do not,
only one course can make US safe,
and that is to grow food enough
on our farm for ourselves and ou,
Allies, and to put ships enough
on the sea to carry the food, iD
spite of the submarines, to the
men who are fighting our fight
II the war lasts beyond this
summer, it will be the American
farmer who will win or lose the
war, who will overcome militarism
aud autocracy, or allow them to
spread and control the world, our
selves included.
This is no fanciful picture, but
sober fact. Many a man will
make light Of it until he comes to
think 1t over, but venture to say
that few will treat it lightly after
careful thought. 1t IS no more i'm
possible than the great War itself
appeared to be, ouly few days
before II began.
1t is true that we can greatly in
crease the available feod supply
out Of grain now used in making
liquors, and by reducing house
hold waste. But when these two
things are done, and done thor.
oughly, they will not be enough.
The final decision will still rest 10
the hands of the men who raise
our food in the first place.
The clear duty of the Nation is
to guarantee the farmers a fair
price for their crops when grown,
aud a reasonable supply of labor
at harvest. The clear duty of the
farmer is to raise food enough TO
win this war for 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.
Sincerely yours.