Clinch Valley news. [volume] (Jeffersonville, Va.) 18??-2019, 1918-03-08

themselves to the task of solving it,
so far as it is possible to solve it.
Farmers have not been exempted
from the draft. | know they would
not wish to be. ] take it for granted
they would not wish to be put in the
| they wouldclas by themselvesppppp
class by themselves in this respect.
But the attention of the War De-
partmcnt has been very seriously
conferred upon the task of interfering
with the labor on the farm as little
as possible and under the new draft
regulations | believe that the farm
crs of the country will find that their
supply of labor is very much less Sc
| rlously drawn upon than it was under
I the first and initial draft, made be-
fore we had our present full expe-
rlcnce IN these perpleXing matters.
The supply of labor in I'll industries
| is matter we must look TO and are
J looking to with diligent care
And let me say that the stimulation
of the agencies | have enumerated
has been responded to by the farm
ers in splendid fashion. dare say
that you are aware that the farmers
of this country are as efficient as any
other farmers in the world. They do
not produce more per acre than the
farmers in Europe. 1t is not ne
cessary that they should do so. 1t
would perhaps be bad economy for
them to undertake it. But they do
produce by two or three or four times
more per man. per unit of labor and
| capital, than the farmers of any Eu-
rop,ean country. They are more alert
and use more labor-saving devices
than any other farmers in the world.
And their response to the demands
OF the present emergency has been in
every way remarkable. Last spring
their planting exceeded by twelve
million acres the largest planting of
any previous year, and the yields
| from the crops were rd-brcaking
yields. In the fall of 1917 wheat
acreage of 42,l70,000 was planted,
which was one million larger than for
any preceding year, three millions
greater than the next largest, and
seven millions greater than the pre-
cedlng five year average.
But | ought to say to you that it
IS not only necessary that these
nvhievements should be repeated, but
that they should be exceeded. | know
what this advice involves. 1t involv-
es not only labor but sacrifice, the
palnstaking application of every bit
OF scientific knowledge and every
tested practice that is available 1t
means the utmost economy, even to
the point where the pinch comes. II
means the kind OF concentration and
self sacrifice which is involved in the
field of battle .tsci. there the object
always looms greater than the ind-
vidual. And yet the government will
heip and help in every way that it is
possible. The impression which pre-
vails IN come quarters that while the
Government has sought to fix the
| prices OF food-stuffs, it has not sought
to fix other prices which determine
the expenses of the farmer. is Il mis-
taken one. AS matter of fact. the
Government has actively and success
fully Regulated the prices of MANY
| fundamental materials underlying ali
The industries of the country, and has
regulated them not only for the pur-
chases OF the Government but also
Tor the purchases of the general pub
nc, and | have every reason to be-
ieve that the Congress will extend
the powers OF the Government i'm this
| important, and even essential, matter
| SO that the tendency to profiteering
| which is showing itself i'm too manv
| i'itS DS SilCCllNClN CUccKOu,
In liking the prices of foodstuffs the
| Government has sincerely tried to
keep the interests of the farmer as
much in mind as the interests of
the communities which are to be serv
ed, put 1t is serving mankind as we'll
as the farmer and everything in these
times of war takes on the rigid as
pect of duty.
will not appeal to YOU to continue
and renew and increase your efforts
| do not believe that it is necessary
TO- do so. believe that you will do it
without any word or apeal from mo
Because you understand as well as
do the needs and opportunities of
this great hour when the fortunes of
mankind everywhere seem about to be
determined and when America has
the greatest opportunity she has ev-
or had to make good her own freedom
ana IN making it good TO lend Il help
ing hand to men struggling for their
freedom everywhere. You remember
| that 1t was the farmers from whom
the hrst shots at Lexington, that set
ailame the revolution that made
America free. | hope and believe that
,he farmers of America will willing
" and conSpicuously stand by to win
this war also. The toll the intelli-
gence, the energy, the foresight, the
self-sacrilicc and devotion of the far
mers of America will, believe, bring
to triumphant conclusion this great
last war for the emancipation Of the
men from the control of arbitrary
government and the sclfishness of
class Legislation and control, and then.
when the end has come, we may look
each other in the face and be glad
that we are Americans and have had
the privilege to play such n part.
AMERICAN AND GERMAN Eff
FICIENCY.