The states-graphic. (Brownsville, Tenn.) 1???-1984, 1918-02-22
WILSON ASKS FARM
ERS TO SPEED UP

crops. his is the pfObltM lHdt
now presented to US, and all authori
ties agree that victory in the wa
hangs on the solution of this problem
President Wilson sent a message
the farmers conference, in session a
Urbana, H., in which he appealed t
the farmers take the matter RICH
up and prepare to Guido even thei
great record of last year. 1--WE are i
the presence of a great task which de
mands supreme sacrifice and endeavo
Of everyone of US" he said.
The allied nations are leagued to
gether to prevent small groups Of mil
itaristic tyrants from dominating tn
rest of the world. "0ur national lif,
and our whole economic development
will pass under the sinister influence
of foreign control if we do not win,
he gave warning He added that the
final outcome of the war would de.
pend ION the achievements Of this
wear" and that this is the time we
must make our eliminating effort, OF
go down.
The president said that our govern
ment was already doing more for the
farmers than any other government in
the world It's total budget for agri-
culture is 46 millions and it has a staff
of $4,000 men-many of them experts.
Then there are 60 state and federal
experiment stations and colleges, with
10000 teachers and $4,000 students.
He pointed also to the "bank legisla
ton OF the last three years which has
given the farmers access to the great
lendable capital Of the country" The
agricultural department now has 81
100000 available for securing reliable
seed for distribution to the farmers,
and it is asking S6,0O0,00O more, he
said.
He admitted that "the labor problem
is one of great difficulty" Farmers
had not been exempted as a class from
the draft, but the authorizes were dis
posed to favor them as far as possible
in view of the necessity Of producing
the maximum crops. The aim would
not be to take from the farms the
workers on whom the main reliance is
placed for keeping things going-the
"key" men. Our farmers, he showed,
do not do the intensive labor that the
farmers Of the old wcrld do, but by
shortcut methods and labor-saving
machines they produce four times as
much as their European rivals do
with the very same amount of
capital and labor, he stated,
Last spring our farmers planted Z
million acres more than ever before
and they produced record breaking
yields. Last fall winter wheat acre
age of AZ million acres was planted,
and this was a million acres above any
previous record. They must keep right
s&n, he said, and Guido all former
achievements.
He reminded them that it was the
farmers who fired the first shots of
the Revolutionary war, at Lexington,
and he felt sure the farmers of this
generation would not be found want
ing in the great test that is now COM
ing. In fixing prices of staples the
government, he said, had to take into
account the interests not only Of the
producers but also of the consumers
and mankind at large, and it was not
possible to adopt one-sided policy
The wheat crop Of 1917 was about
$50 million bushels. The government
hopes to see this increased this year
by 200 million bushels, or even to a
round billion. If this wheat is not
sown and harvested in the growing sea
son it will do no good to complain Of
shortage next winter, and the allies
will be as far from victory as ever.
But ground will not pillow itself,
nor will wheat sow itself; there is an
irreducible labor element involved in
every stage Of the production and this
is the great ''if." It is proposed to re-
lease the college and high-school stu
dents and put them on the farms-but |
this kind Of help does not altogether
fill the bill. There is also a plan to
furlough a quarter-million soldiers at |
harvest time and let them help save
the crops.
In a number of states measures
are being taken for the CONSUMPTION of
labor for the farms, on authority from
the governor. The idea is to gather
up the bar-room, pool-room and movie
theatre loafers and set them to work
on different kind Of loafng, produc-
ing loaves Of bread. However, the far
mers do not take kindly to the idea of
relying on such incompetents and de-
generates to carry on the hard work of
farming, where skill and industry are
The workers have mostly left or
are leaving the farms, and no one can
blame them, for the shipyards, facto-
ries and government bureaus are Of
fering them wages several times as
high as the farmers can afford to pay
them. The government allows the
Industrial wokers to keep raising their
wages and reducing their working
hours, and at the same time it expects
The farmers to put in unlimited labor
md then take minimum pay for it.
Just now the farmers Of the south
ire calling on the government to sup