Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1918-04-05

The farmer everywhere loves
peace. The American farmer espe-
cially loves peace. Since the dawn
of history, the farmer has been the
man who suffered most from war.
All that he possesses lies out of doors
in plain sight, and is spoil of war
his house, his grain, his live stock.
He knows that he pays the price of
war Gin steer and gear and stack,
and that the flames that light the
skies in the rear of every invading
army are consuming the things that
yesterday represented his life work,
and the life labors of past genera
tons of farmers-the little coral
islands of comfort and wealth that
decades of toll on the farm builds
up.
But the farmer everywhere is a
Tarrior when war is the only thing
Which will make him free-either a
warrior or serf. He can not rally
to the colors as quickly as can the
jewellers in the cities, because 1t
takes longer to send to the farms
than to the cities the fiery cross of
the call to arms. 1t takes longer to
call the farmers from the fields than
the city jewellers from the shops; for
many do not hear the first blast Of
the trumpet, and others do not at
first understand its meaning because
they have not had the time to talk
the matter over with their acquain-
tances on the street corners, In the
stores, on the cars, in the clubs, and
at other gatherings. and instead of
reading half a dozen extras day,
the farmer may read weekly papers
only instead of dailies, and must
have more time in sudden emer-
gency to make up his mind.
The work of the fields, the care Of
the live stock. and the mud and slush
of the long road to town are all OBJ
:stacles to that sudden rush Of news
which sometimes carries the cities
away in mad outbursts of excite
ment.
Not Aroused by Rumor.
1t Is impossible to set the farm
ers of the United States on fire by
means of any sudden spark of rumor
or to blow a chance catch of flame
among them into a conflagration with
any hand bellows of artificial agita-
ton; but when the farmers do ignite
they burn with a slow. hot fire, which
nothing can put out. They are some
times the last to heat up. but they
stay hot, and in long fight they are
always found sturdily carrying the
battle across No Mans Land to the
foe in the last grim struggle. They
fight the slow rear-guard action that
covers retreat in disaster, and their
stubborn vclor always helps to turn
the tide toward victory in the final
triumph. The American farmer will
give all that he has and all that he
Is to win this great war against war,
this enormous struggle to win again
the victory which we fondly believed
we had twice won In the past.
The war was at first hard to I'M
derstand. No armed foe invaded the
United States. The night skies were
not redeemed by the burning byres
and farmsteads of America. No raid
ing parties harried us of our cattle
hnr 10r n q
our women 1t seemed to many OF
us that we were not at war, the thing
was so far off, and 1t came to us in
so unfamiliar guise. We did not
then know that monster has arisen
with a thousand arms, who could
reach across the seas and could take
from us three-fourths of everything
we grew without our being aware of
It and could follow up his robbery
with invasion, subjugation. and ma
tional death We did not at first
realize this, but finally we saw that
1t was so.
If the Imperial German govern
ment had made and enforced an
order that no American farmer
should leave his own land. that he
could not haul load of grain OF
drive a head of stock to tOwn-if. In
fact, the kaiser had laid an interdict
on all intercourse between farm and
farm and between farm and town, he
would have done only little more
than he accomplished by his inter
dict against American farmers use
of the sea. What was the order
against which we rebelled when We
went into this war? Look at thu
condition of the American farmer II
the latter part of 1914 and the frs
half of 1915 and see.
When the war broke out, through
terror and surprise and panic WI
gave up for a while the use of tn
sea as a highway. To a great exten
we gave 1t up. And so long as w
gave it up we, the farmers of Amer
soo u,a~a ruipod know an low,