Licking Valley courier., 1921-01-13

him at all. He could see the great
Chicago corporation that poured
money into his vaults, but he could
not see the farmers just beyond who
made the great corporations deposits
possible. That man was sure
enough city man, and so may be par
doned for his myopia, but have
known-and so have yOu-shrewd
business men in small towns who
could not see any farther than he
could
1t is time for both town and coun-
try to realize their true relationship
to each other, and the true signifi-
canoe of their cooperation or their
failure to cooperate. Not until both
do this can either become exactly the
sort of place it should be. Country
and town should grow into and blend
with each other, not only physically,
in the meeting and blending of streets
with roads and ''lots" with fields,
hut in thought and feeling and bust
ness activities. Whoever seeks to
draw a dividing line between them, es-
pecially whoever seeks to set them in
opposition, is doing each disfavor.
This, then, is what the country's
fostering relationship means to the
business man Of the towns. The
question remains: What is he going
to do about it? How is he to go Il
bout promoting the prosperity Of the
farming community about him, and
so the prosperity Of his town and him
self?
There are many ways. Some Of
them have been more or less tried.
out by progressive. townsmen with.
more or less satisfactory results.
Some of them are yet to be tried.
AS not infreQuently happens, the
most striking plans of promoting farm
prosperity were first to be tried. 1t
Is a much more striking thing, as a
rule, to appropriate money to tell far
mers how to farm than it is to work
out means of helping to sell their pro-
duce. 1t sounds bigger and is less
trOuble-but it is worth a lot less.
The banks that used to buy big bunch
es of subscriptions to farm papers to
give free to the farmers Of their cOun'
ties thought they were doing some
thing big to help those farmers. They
were-faith in farm papers is the
first article in my creed-but, really
there is no more reason why banks
should buy. papers for farmers thar
why farmers should buy papers fol
bankers, and it is sadly doubted Il
most Of the farmers thus favored hat
Il due appreciation of or received thu
full profit from the papers they re
ceived without paying for. The
cities taht support farm bureaus t.
give instruction on farming thinl
they are doing great things to pro
mote agriculture. They are doing
something, and some very capable mcl
are employed; but it is much to III
questioned If the farmers great nee(
to day is more instruction as to how
to farm. If it is, he has abundan
sources from which to get it, ant
certainly the towns can do better b!
him than to add to the already vol
umious advice that Is being givinl
him. When the town realiZes--a
town after town is. realizing--that
its prosperity is indissolubly bound NJ
in that of the country about II, th
first thought in most cases seems {,
have been, 10 do something for til,
country, to give the farmers some
thing that would he good for them.
There Is no call for towns, i'm tllei
effort to promote country prosperity
to give farmers anything-eXcept
spare deal and understanding cooper
alton. These are the things that tn,
country needs of the town today, ant
the things it must have.
Let us particularize little. Coun
try town merchants, country tow
editors, country town people general,
are often much disturbed over. tn,
tendency of farmers to buy goods from
mail-order houses, instead of from the
town merchant. One or two smal
town papers which see rather reg
ulary never tire OF preaching the doe
trine Of Keep your dollar n
homew This preaching, of course, /,
inspired by the town merchants
There is no use to expose the falacy
of this catch-word about keeping tn,
dollar at home. II is evident. Du
let MS look a minute at this Who'll,
business of out-of-tdwn buying. If
went to one of these merchants and
told him that he must buy certF
article at one place VIII; he co
1t at another place fcT no
would demand a rea,