The Bemidji daily pioneer. [volume] (Bemidji, Minn.) 1904-1971, 1920-09-29
WOULD PUT END TO PRICE
zz !: FIXING OF FARM PRODUCTS
IN Address Before Minnesota State
3 Fair Republican Nominee Shows
S$% Profound Understanding Of
E Farming and It's Problems.

EfQTOQuct6 neeQeO to MAINTAIN the nlSu-
seat type Of civilization whether
we shall continue to exploit our agri-
cultural resources for the benefit Of
sour Industrial and commercial life, and
stR5eave to posterity the task Of finding
6G6od enough, by strong-arm methods,
III necessary, to support the coming
hundreds Of millions.
-*SS3SS"I believe In the seIf-sustaInlno, In
dependent, self-reIiant nation, aqricul-
turaily, 'ndustriaIIy and politically.
! We are then the guarantors Of our own
security and are equal to the task"
SO declared Senator Harding In q
mastery address before the Minnesota
State Fair here, in which he revealed
- most profound understanding OF
agriculture, its problems and its rela
rtion to the farmer and the consumer IN
the cities. This speech has been de-
,scribed as the greatest speech on agri'
culture which has ever been made by
q Presidential candidate.
= Among other things he said:
IA good many years ago a Chinese
philosopher uttered a profound truth
when he said: The well-being Of a
people Is like tree; agriculture Is its
root, manufacture and commerce are
Its branches and Its life: II the root
As injured the leaves fall, the branches
break and the tree dies
Ia. - Cause for Concern.
zs''1t may seem strange to many good
people that at this particular time any
one should quote this saying Of a wise
old Chinese Never In all our history
have prices Of farm products ruled
80 high, measured In dollars, as during
The past four years. Farm land in the
great surplus-producing states has ad-
yanced4 to- unheard of prices, with
every Indication that, but for the tight
+ money conditions, 1t would-go still,
higher. Apparently the farmers Of the
land. are enjoying unprecedented pros
perity. Why then, even by tmplica-
stion, suggest that something may be
wrong with our agriculture, and that
the trouble may be communicated to
our manufactures and commerce7 '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 most interest,"
Ing way to the development OF the
great central west and sketched briefly
- - n%vM1 col
leys. as follows:
'Through the homestead law the
government gave farm Of the richest
land inf the world to every man who
wanted one Railroads were built, the
,pralries~ were p1owedl up, and almost
overnight the agricultural production
Il the United States increased by
80 Der cent. Grains were produced
aud sold at the bare cost Of utilizing
tho SOFT, and the farmers Of the older
states oathe east were smothered by
this flood Of cheap grain. The only
thing thar could be done with this
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 result of their over
production, and then of the gradual
improvement which began about 1905,
when. the increased population in the
sri+ies began to catch up with farm pro-
duction, and how, this increased de-
smand for. food was accelerated by the
great World War
- Speaking OF the part played by the
farmer during the war, he said:
Splendid Part Of Farmers. =
: ''The2 splendid part played by the
farmers of the nation during the war
probably never win be understood or
fully appreciated by our people: More
than rs, per cent Of all our fghtlng
s1nen- came from the farms, and after
sending their sons to the camps, the
fathers and mothers, with the help OF
the younger children, turned to and
produced more food than was ever be-
fore produced in the history OF the
world IN the same time and from the
same area Of land. Their working
days were measured not by the clock,
but by the number Of daylight hours.
They took to themselves the respon~
sibiuty of feeding not only our own
rp2ople. but also our allies across the
iSea In more ways than one. our farm
lers made the war their war. and count
ed no sacrifice too great to help fight 1t
through to successful finish. The
story of what they did, written by
some one who understands it. will
furnish one Of the most glorious chap
tiers In American history. One thing
may say-m every American con-
f1ict, from the revolution for independ-
erce 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.