The Farmington times. (Farmington, St. Francois County, Mo.) 1905-1926, 1918-06-28
WHAT KANSAS DID

Men frcm towns and cities-"soft
town men," if you pleasure har.
vesting the wheat crop of tie West
| and Middle West.
OF course it couldn't be DONE"
Tho professional pessimists peraistenz
ly proved very conclusively that it was
Impossible end altogether ridiculous to
even ai,ompt it. "Town riff-raff and
soft, office pen pushers for the farms!
They sneered "Why, the farmers won't
stanh il andt the town people can't
stand it! Dear! Dear! What all
inefficient government! Why doesn't
Washington press button, or some
thing, and send plenty of permanent
experienced form labor to the farm
ers 2"
But, strangely enough, the farmers
did stand for il and strangely enough
the worn weakling5 did stand tie hard
work. Perhaps they hadn't read the,
lamentations of the Cant-Do-It- Crowd
and didn't know they were foredoomed
to failure. Perhaps they were more
interested in whippin gthe Kaiser than
in rearing reasons why they were sure
to fall down on the job. Perhaps,
being plain, every day Americans who
are SO abcurd as to have assurance
that they can do anything they just
went ahead with confident collness
and did it! Really, it is too bad flor
the Huns) that these Kansans couldn't
listen TO the righteousness of the
Impossible Spuad--so willing to show
that it couldn't be done! What pity
to hurt Hindcnburg's feelings by do
ing it, even if it was impossible!
The latter part of May Kansas be-
gan to put into effect on a wholesale
basis the program which for many
months the United States Department
of Agriculture had been urging in
every community-that town men go
to work in agricultural territory ad-
jacent to them during emergency
| farm-labor needs of cultivation or
harvest. Kansas started an intensive
campaign for the enrolment of town
and city volunteers for harvest labor.
Kansas made ready to shut up shop
during the harvest period. Kansas
prepared to subordinate every activ-
ity, for a few weeks, to the one SUI
preme job of saving the big wheat
crop. From every town and city in
the State men, women and boys, in
such numbers as were necessary,
went to the fields; the men to work as
, harvest hands, the women to cook for
the volunteer army or harvesters, the
boys to fit in wherever they could
best serve. This Kansas harvest army
,, of nearly 100000 men did the job. All
the outside help that could be secured
was used, of course, but by far the
largest part of the help came from
right at home-the "soft town men"
who just simply couldn't it, and who
wouldn't be tolerated by the farmers!
And, in just the same, way, the
,, war-winning wheat crops will be har-
vested in Nebraska and Minnesota and
North Dakota and South Dakota! In
! just the same way, when necessary
! and where necessary, crops will be
, saved in every State. Of course 1t
,, can't be done! For that we have the
!, word of many eminent critics of the
United States Department of Agricul-
, ture and the Government in general
No doubt the Kaiser himself has said
so, and surely the Clown Prince will
sustain the statement if further au-
!, thority be necessary. 1t just can't be
done. But the simple weddings of
Kansas seem to pay more attention to
straight-from- e-Shoulder, get-there-
or.bust American common-sense than
they do to Prussianish "can't do it,
: clap-trap and to skyscraper editors of
literary journals de luxe who write
= prettily phrased editorials giving pie
= thoras of peevish reasons why failure
4 is certain. Kansas seems to like TO do
better than to listen to why it is i'm
possible to do. Kansas just goes
= ahead and harvests the wheat any
e how!
Your State will do likewise! True
it can't be done! The faint-hearted
= and the Hun-hearted will tell you sc
Y IN nvnru hand-sn do i'll