Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1921-03-08
The Problem Of the Farm.

In a. campaign speech at st. Paul.
Minnesota on September s, last, Mr..
Harding, then a candidate for the
presidency, to which office he has
since been elected, gave utterance TO-
the following:
. The time has come when as a naIiorl
we must determine on q definite agrl-
cultural policy. We must dcclde Mle.no u, =
er we shall undertake. to make the
United States a self sustaining nation
or whether we shall continue to exploit
our agricultural resources for the oene-
At of our industrial and commercial me
and leave to- posterity the task Oh ma
ing food enough, by strong arm meEn-
DDS if necessary"
There are many people in this coun~
try to whom the foregoing has no
meaning whatever. There arei others
who understand the full significance OIL
what the president said; but who at
the time looked UPON it only as piece
of shrewd demagogy intended to inter-
est and catch the large agricultural
vote of Minnesota and the middle west
'who consider that it no longer has any
significance. To millions of others this
utterance is a beacon of hope that the
new president has clear realization OF Il
policy that cannot fail to make for the
highest perfection to which human
ideals may aspire.
We. have but small respect Tor the IN
tellieence or the fairness of the man
who thinks that the financial and eco
nomic conditions that apply to farm
life are what they ought to. be-. win
the man who so thinks there, is some
thing wrong either with his ability 10
see the right, or seeing the right, MS
desire to see the right prevail.
Both commercial and' industrial ac-
tiyity are essential to the we'll
national life: but neither of them could
exist without agricultural activity, ana
if argument were necessary Ito the es-
tablishment of the proposition, this tact
alone would justify the farmer III
claiming the right to as high a stand
ard of living us is enjoyed by MS CO.
workers.
If there are any who are PraHcii
enough to attempt the g:bclittllng OF the
issue we arc seeking to emphasize, we
rcspcctfully refer them to the develop
ments OF the past four or five years. I'LL
connection with present conditions
With the breaking out OF the "oIl''
war, and even before America went ILL.,
it was clear TO every one with eHous" !"
knowledge TO know that the twenty
four hour day is made up Of light ana
darkness. that the deciding essen'ial
would be food and that food would nave
to come from America Upon the ell
trance Of America this fact was en-
phasizcd Il hundred fold.
F;ycn If American farmers had oeen
left entirely alone, they would have met
The situation to the fullest; but what
did we see? The administration immc-
diatcly began Offering all kinds of III
duccments for greater production, some
of thr,n wise and some Of them fdollSh'
hut all Of them in the general dlrcctioi'
of according TO the farmers for thcir
efforts. the compensation to which thes
had ALWAYS been entitled, but when
had previously been withheld.
And LOW since the great CRISIS Has
passed--n crisis that was saved pv lhe
farme,-the farmer is the first really
esscutEnl produccr to be put back in tho
tolls from which he had been lefll!o''-
'riy released
AS we see It, this matter of justice to
the tfarmcr--concedng to HIM lulI
eu,iaJiisY:with' those who are engaged IN
romnlsrce and industry-is not SO much
a poll aical question: as it is an economy
ic and financial question, and about '1{. ING