The Washington herald., 1921-05-01

oNIow is the time for all good people to
IN get out and dig, harrow and plant"
saith the Vice President Of these United
States.
Calvin Coolidge is essentially a son Of
the sell. Looking out Of the windows OF his
apartment in the Willard Hotel in Wash
ington, over the greenswsrd Of the White
House lawn and the Mall, he Is thinking in
terms Of the farm this fine early spring.
His mind travels back to the pastures Of
boyhood up in Vermont.
my grandfather and his father before
him thought It a disgrace to engage in any
thing but agriculture. reminisced the Vice
President. You see, my folks were all
rooted in the soil, so to speak"
whereupon Mr.. Coolidge related an inter
esting story. Grandfather Coolidge was 50
intent on having his family stick to the
plow and the reaper that he endeavored
to bind his heirs to the Coolidge acres in
the Green Mountain State.
Grandfather Coolidge lived close to
Mother Earth said the Vice President,
pressing q hand lightly over his high fore
head. ''It was his intention that the
Coolidges should stick to the family acres
In his will he decreed that the old farm
should be handed down to my father provided
be would stick to its soil. The document
provided that the farm should be handed
along from generation to generation. Ny
father is to leave it to me; /, in turn, am
to leave it my boys. In this way he hoped
20 keep US all on the farm"
Ten years after the Pilgrims landed from
the Maybower, John Coolidge and his wife.
Mary, settled at WATERFOWL, q pioneer COM
mGnity on the Charles River. 1t Is related
that in lTs0 the grandfather Of the Vice
President migrated northward, choosing his
acres in the hill country back of the Con-
necticut River. There four generations OF
Coolidges have been raised to the plow.
Three generations stuck to the soil. The
fourth-John Calvin, who later dropped the
John for plain Calvin-was the first to break
away.
"How do you reconcile your present posi-
tion with the desires Of your grandfatherr''
vas the question I propounded.
The farm boy, but now Calvin Coolidge,
Vice President, moving in the circles Of
the worlds leaders, grinned.
did you ever notice. in Jour study OF
American biographies, how 90 many Of our
leaders sprang from the farmf'- was his
graceful sidestep, faceiously couched. Look
at the list of Presidents from George Wash
ington down through Abraham Lincoln to the
present. Not only Presidents, but Vice
Presidents, statesmen and others. The
American farm seems 10 have been . pretty
good breeder of American Leaders"
Then you don't. think you have been
recreant to the wishes Of your forebearsF
eountered. ..
''Not all Of rs can be farmers" was his
dry rejoinder.
lNHEN one goes to interview Gal Coolidge
w he must perforce 20 well prined with
susstions Of all kinds. The answers are
shout ons-tenth Of one per cent Of the inter-
view, % frugal il the Hon. Cal with his
language.
Would you infer that for the future w
may expect to find our Presidents and ma
uonal leaders coming from the cities rather
than from the farms, considering the shift
In population from the rural districts to the
white lights Of the cities within recent
yearsF' was ventured.
WHO can tell?" was the Cic.ronian 70.
ply. Time alone will show that. We car
only speak accurately Of the past In thi.
connection.' ..- g.. 3D..
But when 1t comes to discussing the
American farm, the present and future
status Of agriculture, the Vice President can
be pried loose from his tacituraity. In fact
the longer he lives in Washington as Vic,
President Of the United States the furthe,
he retreats from the embrace of the Sphinx,
10 WHICH he ~ 50 long chung. Il may b
the company he Is keeping; at any rate, the
Hon. Cal ID thawing out In the limelight Of
this fine spring sun.
A to the farm problen-cheer up! The
back-to-t the-farm problem shortly % 70 solve
ITSELF without the aid Of the sociologie and
economic specialists who have been carpins
On The Impending Decline Of Asrarian
America" ons gains that fnapressisn aftss
talking with the Hon. Coolidge. &
Don't know hat there d sueh thing
10 he farm problem. aftsr an" ssys the
impsrturhsbls Calvin.