The Mellette County pioneer. [volume] (Wood, Mellette County, S.D.) 19??-1971, 1920-10-01
Declares Definite National Aqri-
cultural Policy Is Vital to
Country's Welfare.
WOULD PUT END TO PRICE
FIXING or FARM PRODUCTS
In Address Before Minnesota State
Fair Republican Nominee Shows
Profound Understanding Of
Farming and Its Problems.

Minneapolis, (SppciaD.-"rhe time
has come when, as Il nation, we must
determine upon a definite agricultural
policy We must decide whether we
shall undertake 10 make of the United
States a se~lf-sustainirg nation-which
means that we shall grow avithin our
own boundaries all OF the staple food
products needed to maintain the HIGH
est type Of ciyiliZation-or whether
We shall continue TO exploit our agri.
cultural resources for the benefit OF
our industrial and commercial life, and
to leave to poSterity the task Of finding
food enough, by %strong-arm methods,
II necessary, to support the coming
hundreds of millions.
al believe in the self-sustaininu. in.
dependent, seIf-reIiant nation, aqricuI.
turaIly, industrialIy and politically.
We are then the %guarantors of our "
security and are equal to the task"
SO declared Senator Harding In a
mastery address before the Minnesota
State Fair here, in which he revealed
a most profound understanding of
agriculture, its problems and It's rela
ton to the farmer aid the consumer in
the cities. This speech has bccn de.
scribed as the greatest speech on agrl
culture which has ever been made by
q Presidential candidate.
Among other things he said:
"A good many years AGO a Chinese
philosopher uttered a profound truth
when he said: The well being Of a
people is like a tree ; agriculture s its
root, manufacture and commerce are
its branches and its life; if the root
Is injured the leaxes fall, the branches
break and the tree dies
Cause for Concern.
1T may seem strange 10 many good
people that at his particular time any
one should quote this saving Of a wise
old Chinese. Never in. all our history
have prices of farm products ruled
so high, measured in dollars, rs 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 90 still
higher. Apparently tie farmers of the
land are enjoying unprecedented pros
perity. Why then, even by impliCa-
ton, suggest that something may be
wrong with our agriculture. and that
the trouble may be communicated to
our manufactures and commerce? Peo.
pie 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 coun.
try 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"
He then referred in q most interest
ing way to the development of the
great central west and skctched briefly
the settlement Of the great central val
leyS, as follows:
Through the homestead law the
government gave q farm Of the richest
land In the world to every man who
wanted one. Railroads were built, the
prairies were ploWCd up, and almost
overnight the agricultural production
Of the United States increased by
90 per cent. Grains were produced
and sold at the bare cost Of utilizing
the soil, and the farmers of the older
states TO the east were smOthered by
this food Of cheap grain. The only
thing that could be done with this
sunerahundance 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"
He spoke Of the hard conditions
which came upon the farmers Of the
central west as a result of their over
production. and then Of the gradual
Improvement which began about 1905,
when the increased population In the
cities began TO catch NJ with farm pro-
duction, and how this increased de-
mand for food was accelerated by the
great World War.
Speaking of the part played by the
farmer during tie war, he said:
Splendid Part Of Farmers.
1.-THE splendid part played by the
farmers Of the nation during the war
probably never will be understood or
fully appreciated by our people. More
than % per cent of all our fighting
men came from the farms, and after
sending their sons 10 the camps, The
fathers and mothers, with the help Of
tie younger children. turned to and
produced more food than was ever be-
fore produced in the history Of the
world ~ the same time and from the
same area Ot land. Their working
DAVIS were measured not hy the clock,
but by the Sumber Of df~light hours.
They TOOK TO themselves the respon-
sihility o. feeding not only our own
people, hut also our allies across the
sea. In more ways than ono, OIL farm
prs made the war their war, and count
ed no sacrifice too great TO help fight II
through TO q successful finish. The
story Of what they did, written by
some one who understands II, Will
furnish one Of the most glorious chap
tiers In American history. One thing
may say-in every American con-
fict, from the revolution for independ-
ence to the world war for maintained
RIGHTS, the farmer has been 100 per
cent American and ready for every
sacrifice"
He then pointed out some OF the un'