New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1920-09-09

"eAy particular interest TO me t(
join with you in this notable exhibition
OF the agricultural industry of your
wonderful state. / come to you with
common interest and very common
concern for the welfare of our country
While it is in my thought to speak to
you specifically concerning agriculture
! want to so convey my thought as to
nave 1t known that I am thinking not
OF the welfare alone Of those engaged
in agriculture but the welfare Of ag-
fortunes of the United States of Amer
lea.
Il very much deplore the present-day
tendency to appeal to the particular
group in American activities. 1t has
become very common practice to
make one~address to those who const-
tute the ranks OF labor. another to
those who make up the great farming
community, and still another to the
In commerce, and to other groups Of
less Importance. There is a very nat
ural and very genuine interest in
each and every one, but the utterance
of political party nominee ought, In
every instance, to be inspired bv a
purpose to serve our common country.
II America is to 60 on and come to
the heights of achievement, we must
OF necessity be all for one and one
for all.
Dollar Wheat Story Explained
is entirely seemly to remind you that
no public man, particularly no public
servant, from the great wheat-raising
State of Ohio, would dare to think,
much less to say, he believed in dollar
wheat amid the price wildness which
the world is contemplating to-day.
speak Of it because we are getting &C.
quainted to-day, and I do not mean to
have any misunderstanding between
you and me, and will not be grossly
and unfairly misrepresented.
II have helped to cut 6O-cent wheat
I have known it to sell at 40 cents.
have followed the cradle and sweated
behind the reaper when binding was q
cross to bear, and I know | spoke the
truth when l said, some years ago, that
Ohio farmers, in the normal days be-
fore the war, rejoiced to raise dollar
wheat. That, statement had no refer
ence to war time, none to the present
Gfter-war period. Conditions, as we'll
as prices, have changed since l made
that perfectly natural and truthful
statement, anu other great and .impor-
tant changes are in contemplation, and
no misrepresentation is necessary to
bring them about.
Conditions Cause Concern
"A good many years ago a Chinese
Philosopher uttered a profound truth
when he said: The wellbeing of a peo-
pie Is like tree. Agriculture is it's
root, manufacture and commerce are
its branches and it's life If the root
is injured the leaves fall, the branches
break and the tree dies
1t may seem strange to many good
people that at this particular time any
one should quote this saying of wise
Old Chinese. Never in all our history
have prices of farm products ruled so
high, measured in dollars, as during
the past four years. Farm land in the
great surplus-producing states has ad-
vanced to unheard-of prices, with
every indication that but for the tight
money conditions it would go still
higher.
apparently the farRers of the land
are enjoying unprecedented prosperity.
Why, then, even by implication. suggest
that something may be wrong with our
agriculture, and that the trouble may
be communicated to our manufac
lures and commerce? People in the
cities are disposed to think that if
there is anything wrong it is in the
cities, where food is. selling at such
high prices, and not in the country,
where the food is produced. But both
farm and city students of national
problems see in the present agricul-
tural situation certain conditions which
give cause for real concern to every
lover Of his country.
Agriculture Discussed
"An intelligent discussion Of our
agriculture at the present time must
take note of what has happened since
the middle of the last century. At
that time fine rural civilization had
been built up east of the Mississippi
River, with Ohio in the heart of the
corn belt and standing in about the
same relation to the agriculture &C that
day that Iowa stands to-day. The agri-
cultural frontier had been pushed
beyond the Mississippi and abundant
food was being raised to support the
growing industrial life Of the East.
Then came the Civil War, and fol-
lowing = the great Western migration
into the fertile, open plains of what
Is now the central West. Through the
homestead law the government gave q
farm of the richest land in the world
to every man who wanted one. Rail-
roads were built, the prairies were
agricultural production Of the United
States increased by 50 per cent. Grains
were produced and sold at the bare
cost of utilizing the soil, and the farm
ers Of the older states to the east
were smothered by this food Of cheap
grain.
THE only thing that could be done
with this superabundance Of food was
to build cities out Of it. And great
cities we did build, not only in the
United States, but across the seas.
Farm Production Aided Cities
"The world has never seen, and prob
ably may never again see, such a
terrific impulse toward city building
OF q vast scale as that which was
given by the overproduction Of farm
products during the latter part of the
nineteenth century and the first few
years Of the twentieth.
what are ordinary dull statistics
will stgikingly illumine tho situation
which ] have been trying to convey.
In the decade from 1900 to .l910 the
city population Of the United States
increased 35 per cent, while the rural
population increased only II per cent.
The number Of farm utilities probably
Increased less, but we do know officially
that the city population increased more
shan three times as rapidly as the
rural population.
1.-The figures are not yet complete
for the decade ending this year, but
Sufficient reports have been published
70 give as very dependable estimate.
Il