The news scimitar. (Memphis, Tenn.) 1907-1926, 1918-12-13

M speaker OF ule mousse slt
m.
m~entation among idealists and socio-
logical leaders.
We have been talking a long time
about stopping the flow OF the people
from the country to the city. Possibly
high prices for food may cause a re-
versal of the tide Of movement and
city people may seek the country for
its profits as heretofore country peo-
Pile have sought the city for the eNcep-
tiOnal and spectacular profits n the
luxurious life that the cities offer.
After all, in the long range OF eX-
perienCe, nothing so surely and so just
~ balances occupation, industry ana
gain as the free play of human forces
and human aspirations. In war times,
as a matter of national necessity, we
may be compelled to resort to the artt-
fees of price regulation on the n
hand or price stimulation on the other,
hut in normal times the surest and
the safest regulator Of inequality ID
self -interest and lf-prOteCtion In full
liberty of personal activity n free
choice. In such times the only ~justifi-S
cation for the exercise of governmental
powers OF control is in restraint of
monopoly or combinations of men to
Cypress their fellows.
Precise Program Not Feasible.
For the reasons I have indicated, it
is not feasible to suggest a precise
program for Texas farming in 1919.
Developments IN Europe during the
next 80 days will indicate more clear
ly the relative needs for each food
product. 1t may be that we shall re-
quire rather less wheat and more corn
than was contemplated when we were
expecting another full year Of war. It
| ~ he Chat me will nnnH Tnthnts mora
cotton than has been produced in the
last three years, but as to that much
will depend Upon the rehabilitation of
armies, the reconstruction and repair
of cotton-consuming countries. For
tunately. there Is ample time between
now and the spring planting to gather
additional information,
As | have indicated, there Is clear
need in Europe for increased supplies
of meats and fats. This demand prom
Uses a fair return upon live stock pro-
duction. and live stock production, Of
see how it is possible for any farmer
to go astray in providing for the maxi
mum live stock production that will
fit in with a we'll balanced program Of
diversified agriculture, because such
live stock production utilizes much that
would otherwise go to waste and. at
the same time, every energy will be
given to restoring the herds depleted
by slaughter and removal on account
of the two years drought.
The matter of greatest interest to a
body of this kind in an agricultural
state like Texas, it seems to me, is the
apparent prospect that intelligence and
industry in farming will bring crafty
ing returns for many years to come. |
find in this thought more consolation,
more compensation, so to speak, for
the war losses of life and treasure
than in anN ntbpr nSnnrt pf tho VrAat
tragedy. ! give due credit to com
merce n to manufacture for many
blessings of comfort and service. But
there Is much unnecessary expense in
getting products from the farm to the
table, n there is much unfair COM
mercial dealing which exploits both
the producer and the consumer. | hold
that the producer of food and raiment
Is entitled to at least equal rewards
with those who finance, convert and
distribute the products of his labor. |
raise here a moral, as well as an
economic. question in the interest OF
the consuming mass on the one hand
and the producing mass on the other.
| do not expect the millennium; |
do not believe the fires Of this fur
mace have burned away all the dross
of human nature. | am not confident
that wars will cease altogether, for !
believe that these sons of Adam will
find new causes Of quarrel from age
to age. 1t may not take the form Of
war with cannon and gas, but we may
not hope to escape strife Of one kind
or another,
The best insurance against war or
other forms of strife between peoples
or nations is a prosperous, c%ontented
and cultured rural population. Cities
are artificial, useful, to be sure, In SO
far as they serve to convert or dis
| trtbntp the com moditipG pf DpppqgitV pr
comfort, but none the less artificial,
and therefore productive Of more or
less friction in the body polite and
body social, and of undue selfishness
in the rivalries Of personal and COM
munal achievement. Cities thrive by
taking toll; the country thrives by
producing wealth. Between taking toll
and producing wealth there is a vast
difference OF Psychology which affects
a vast difference In the state of mind
and leads, through the disproportionate
development of cities, to an abnormal
sense of relation to life and society.
Without further analysis, it may suf-
flee to point out that at the moment
the strife or the disordered countries
of Europe finds its principal activities
in the cities; there is little riotinG
among the producers of Russia and
comparatively none at all among the
more enlightened and prosperous pro-
dlcers Of Austria and Germany. Greed
and avarice find their most favorable
culture in commercial and manufacture
ing exploitation; the happiness OF la
Dor finds its highest development in
the creative processes Of the sell where
the miracles of plant and animal life
daily remind the farmer that he Is a
part Of nature and an instrument in
the hands of nature's God. You can
not make an anarchist of a prosperous,
homecoming farmer.
| believe with my whole mind that
the safety Of this republic lies in the
material, social n spiritual health of
its rural places. ! believe that the
next few years promise prosperity to
agriculture, and ] rejoice in this pros
pect both because it will bring a Just
reward to the prime creators of llfe's
necessities and comforts. and because
1t will develop and maintain a needful
influence of poise and understanding
to counterfeit or to temper the fever
ish sociological and industrial adven-
lures advancing under the delusion that
the whole natural order of society in
the world has been upset and that
some magic OF law can evolve plenty
without labor and liberty without re-
sponsibility.
In the freedom of my Texas citizen
ship ! trust / will be excused for depart