Jamestown weekly alert. [volume] (Jamestown, Stutsman County, D.T. [N.D.]) 1882-1925, 1920-10-07
SENATOR KELLOGG
DISCUSSES ISSUES
REGARDS FARMING
Demand. Full Protection Of
Farmers in Tariff Revision
and Condemns Canadian
Reciprocity on Farm Prod
uctS. s

uctS. 1 s
Senator Frank b. Kellog % 1
Minnesota, in a speech at A.,
Mimi. outlined the oppV = OF
the Republican party to X. dian
reciprocity on farm produces and
it's disapproval Of President Will
sons policy respecting the fixing on
prices on grain.
Frequent applause interrupted
the senator as he touched on agri-
cultural issues and the League OF
Nations and at the close of his ad-
dress of more than an hour the au-
dience arose and remained stand
ing and applauding as tribute to
rs Senator Kellogg told his au-
dience that the destiny Of the ma
toin depends on the maintenance of
the farm industry. He showed the
necessity. of efficient transportation
by rail and road. He pronounced
government control and ownership
of the railroads an extravagant
failure. He demanded full protec-
tion OF American farmers in tariff
revision.
Strike Popular Chord
The senator struck a popular
chord with his farmer auditors
when he denounced Canadian reci-
procity. He scored President Will
sons policy on the fixing Of prices
for agricultural products while
prices were not fixed on commodi-
ties which the farmer must buy.
He urged market betterment and
cooperative associations.
n~A~ % ~ AYn
ti0na the senator denounced Article
x: and demanded that the United
States surrender to no League Of
mestic problems. Reciting the case
Of Poland, he pointed out the fail
ure Of the League to function in its
first trial. Then he turned to the
agricultural section of his speech
I'm these days." Senator Kellogg
said, II hear much about the Con-
stitution not protecting the poor
man. was brought up on farm
in Olmsted county. do not think
any one ever was poored than L.
The Constitution protected me then
and It protects me now
Canadian reciprocity has; "al-
ways meant increased imports from
Canadian farmers in competition
with American farmers and know
of no reason why the American
farmer should be Disseminated
against and deprived of the protec-
-tion5 OF his home market, - he said
in his review of the reasons for op-
position to any concessions regard
ing reciprocity with Canada.
I'm 1912, before the Underwood
tariff bill was passed by Democra-
tic Congress-. only 47.47 per cent
of the products of Canada came in
to the United States free of duty.
In 1914, the very next year after
the passage of this bill, S0.97 per
cent came in free, and in 1919 a
total Of 1878 per cent
While this country desires food
stuffs at as low price as possible,
yet, it is not desirable to have it at
the expense of the farmer, who op-
~erates the greatest, industry in the
land, he went on to explain tn his
attack on reciprocity. ~
Tells Why Rome Declined
1T is time the nation awakened
to an appreciation of the fact that
the prosperity and happiness of the
people, the perpetuity Of our insti-
tutfOns, and the survival of our CIV
\ ilization depend on the independ-
ence, the proprietorship,i and the
) predominance in industry of the
farmers Of the country. This may
seem to you a mere platitude, but
am convinced that If the suprem-
acy of this nation is to continue
among the nations of the world,
these facts must be impressed in
delibly on the minds of our public
men, and the best brain of the ma
tton must concentrate on the solu-
ton of agricultural problems. The
condition of the. world today and
the teachings of the past admonish
us that this is true.
THE destruction Of the Roman
empire was caused by the decline of
her agricultural population and her
dependence on slave labor of the
East. Conditions in Russia, Poland,
Austria and other places in Europe
reflect the break down of the agri-
cultural industry; the break down
OF transportation methods in this
and other countries has placed
these foreign peoples in terrible
I situation. :,
with ali our facilities of modern
civilization and the opportunities
that offer themselves yet agricul-
tufAt enterprises In the United
States are decreasing in ratio to
the other industries and the percen-
tage Of the people who are obtain
ing their living from agriculture is
decreasing at an alarming rate in
comparison with the rest Of the
population"
f. Farming on. Decline
Senator Kellogg then gave sta
,tistics showing that at the close of
the Civil war Is per cent Of the
people lived and had their occupa-
tions on the farm but that today
less than IS per cent of the people
are engaged in agriculture, the
reason being that occupations in
the urban centers are more prof.
table. This cannot entirely be REM
edied by Legislation, but the gov
ernment can and should do certain
things to encourage farming.
81 can but briefly mention in
this addfesa 4 few Of the things