Vashon Island news-record. [volume] (Vashon, Wash.) 1919-1954, 1922-02-03

| benefit 10 the rest of the community.
This being the case Of an Industry
that contributes, in the raw material
form alone, about one-thlrd of the ma.
tiona, annual wealth production and
Is the means OF livelihood of about 40
( per cent of the population. II is OBJ
vlous that the subject is one of grave
concern. Not only do the farmers
make up one-half of the nation, but
the well-belng of the other half de-
| ponds upon them.
So long as we have nations, wise
1 POLITICAL economy will aim at large
degree OF national self-suiliciency and
elf-containment. Rome fell when the
food supply was too far removed from
the belly. Like her, we shall destroy
our own agriculture and extend our
! sources Of food dlstantly and precari
ously, II we do not see to 1t that our
farmers are well and fairly paid for
| their services. The farm gives the
nation men MS well as food. Cities
derive their vitality and are forever
renewed from the country, but an I'M
poverlshed countryside exports intelli.
gence and retains unintelligence.
Only the lower grades of mentality
and character will remain on, or seek,
the farm, unless agriculture is capable
of being pursued with contentment and
adequate compensation. Hence, to en-
bitter and impoverlsh the farmer is to
dry up and contaminate the vital
sources Of the nation.
The war showed convincingly how
dependent the nation is on the full
productivity of the farms. Despite
herculean efforts, agricultural produc-
tion kept only few weeks or months
ahead of consumption, and that only
by increasing the acreage Of certain
staple crops at the cost of reducing
that of others. We ought not to for
get that lesson when we ponder on
the farmers problems. They are truly
common problems, and there should
be no attempt to deal with them as
IL they were purely selfish demands
OF clear-cut group, antagonistic to
/ the rest of the community. Rather
should we consider agriculture in the
light of broad national policy, just
as we consider oil, coal, steel, dye
stuffs and so FORTH as slnews of ma
ti0nal strength. Our growing popula-
| lion and higher standard of living
demand Increasing food supplies, and
more wool, cotton, hides, and the rest
With the disappearance of free or
cheap fertile land, additional acreage
and increased Yields can come only
from costly effort. This we need not
expect from an impoverished or un-
happy rural population.
1t will not do to take a narrow view
of the rural discomfort, or to appraise
1t from the standpoint of yesterday.
This is peculiarly an age of fux and
change and new deals. Because a
thing always has been so no longer
means that it is righteous, or always
shall be so. More, perhaps than ever
before, there is a widespread feeling
that all human relations can be i'm
proved by taking thought, and that it
Is not becoming for the reasoning ami
NAL to leave his destiny largely to
chance and natural incidence.
Prudent and orderly adjustment of
production and distribution in accord
ance with consumption Is recognized
as wise management in every business
but that of farming. Yet, venture
to say, there is no other Industry in
which It is so important to the pub
lic-to the clty-dweller-tha produc-
ton should be sure, steady, and in
creasing, and that distribution should
be in proportion to the need. The un-
organized farmers naturally act blind
ly and impulslvely and, in conse-
quence, surfeit and dearth, accompa.
MED by dsconcerting prlce-variatlons,
harass the consumer. One year pota-
toes rot in the fields because of excess
production, and there is scarcity of
the things that have been displaced
to make way for the expansion of the
potato acreage; next year the punish
ed farmers mass their fields on some
other crop, and potatoes enter the
class of luxuries; and so on.
Agriculture is the greatest and fun
damentally the most Important Of our
American industries. The cities are
but the branches of the tree of ma
tional life, the roots of which go deep
ly into the land. We all flourish or
decline with the farmer. So, when we
of the cities read of the present uni.
versal distress of the farmers, of n
slump of six billion dollars in the farm
value of their crops In single year.
OF their Inability to meet mortgages or
to pay current bills, and how, seeking
relief from their Ills, they are plan
ming to form pools, inaugurate farm
ers' strikes, and demand legislation
abollshlng grain exchanges, private
cattle markets, and the like, we ought
not hastily to brand them as economic
heretlcs and hlghwaymen and hurl at
them the charge of being seekers of
special privilege. Rather, we should
| ask If their trouble is not ours, and
see what can be done to Improve the
situation. Purely from self-interest,
II for no higher motive, we should
help them. All of us want to get back
permanently to "normalcy;" but is 1t
reasonable to hope for that condition
unless our greatest and most basic In