Saturday news. (Watertown, S.D.) 19??-19??, 1919-04-17

about the farmer a his ~phenonfnal
year upon success In animal and plant
Improvement or the pictures he paints
every q upon the ~la1dscapsg clear
" cur public press IS animated almost
exclusively by Urban interests even lii
cities that 1--WE their very corarlerciaI
existence and financial support to the
a~ssiricultIiral activity de the dniin6eaiaae
.ensirons. "a be surs, sthS statktaahan
'an dtses speculatSr 8now a~oahietdhg
about farming but not about the farm
eli, for their interest is limited to The
mass results in the form OF milliofs of
bushels and does not extend ITO the
Of tkAeir production the welfare
of the producer, or the effect upon the
land. 81
Everybody agrees that this is to be a
different world after the war but no
5taogghsfut man. can faii. to be struck
with the character OF the economic and
social qhastionss that begin to loom
large i'm connection, With ~reconstruc-
ION a routes the new merchant
marine, raw materials. improved facil-
tiles FOR extending credit cooperative
business public Ownership of public
#f1it}lities government oversight of rr-
waite enterprises excess profits inherit
ance taxesJJ .p~t6hibition woman sui.
frage. the perennial problems of the
relations between capital and labor, the
minimum wage, the maximum day. and
time and a half for overtime. Not In
item, not a suggestion, OF anything
Eagriculturaas either as a business or as
"a mode of life, if We may except the
occasional mention 81 the world land
and certain, plans far providing home
steads for the returning soldiers, which
is an army not an agricultural propo.
sition.
For the most part our considerable
list of reconstruction problems may be
reduced ito the, two great questions
that mainly concern the public mind
today; namely, foreign and domestic
trade and the perennial contest be-
tween capital and labor. We forget the
Citizen because we hauo learned to
think politically and socially mainly IN
terms OF n based upon manu-.
facture, under conditions reanirang vast
combinations of capita, concentration
of population, and division of labor
the best conditions that inspire not. only
greed If gain and social unrest bht In
ternaS2 3naI war. Yet u interest lies
here rather than with the peaceful
pursuits of the open country.
It may wea. be said that If there is
a dearth of live problems in the public
mind regarding agriculture, it ss the
fault of the farmers themselves inas.
much as each interest is assumed to be
responsible for promoting Its w af-
fairs. Granted, but ven so the conclu
sion is irresistible that people generally
do not regard agricultural problems as
Of pubic concern, while my chief CON
~tention is that the public even more
than the farmer is interested in the
discovery and h proper solution OF
every problem connected with the pub
lie domain, with the production Of food,
and with the character and condition
Of that portion OF aouf population that
shall live upon the land.
I say that the public is more inter
ested than the farmer in these mat
tiers because The Farmer is actuafdas
"a collection. Of individuals who cantor
the most part extricate themselves
from amy i~ntolerable situation that may
develop; while the country as whole
cannot extricate ITSELF from the con-
sequences Of bad agricultural policies
that easily develep whenmatters Of fun.
ed win food production, homesbuading
and land ownership are left to shift
Tor themselves.
Beginnings Of a National Plan.
But we are net without a start III
the right direction. More than hair d
century ago we began to think nation
ally about agriculture. The impulse
had its origin in our consular service
and in the primitive collecting instinct
whereby seeds and roots OF promising
foreign plants were sent to America
for trial. Out OF this grew the depart.
ment Of agriculture, representing tic
official determination Of America ito do
whatever could be done administrative.
~ tc promote agricultural welfare at
home and marketing facilities abroad.
Agar. Il The darkest aass d eass
Civil War the United States established
the most urlquie educational system
which the world has ever known; hence
this association: and the colleges 1t
represents. Aiming at Increased pro-