Omaha daily bee., 1922-01-10

By PAUL GREER.


western point Of view-ca Il cuturs, or civza-
ton. or anything you like--are sptNo be over
looked IN the turmoil that surrounds us In our
every day task OF getting living. The meetings
of organized agriculture that were held in Lin
coin las, week dealt very lightly with politics
and Is much with social questions rs with
economic ones These were farmers aud farm
ers' wives. but what links them with the city
people OF the plains area is that they have the
same cultural interests.
Lie is not entirely matter of dollars and
cents. Neighboriiness aud personal contact in
Auence people to look at things in the same way.
II is an old saying that Massachusetts is = state
OF mind; this is muck more true OF the middle
west az whole. The region centering about
Nebraska and Iowa is the largest culture area
. in America. The greater part OF the people in
this section are farmers.
They are pretty closely organized now, not
so much through any concerted plan OF q po-
litical or even economic nature, but more be-
cause they have common way OF looking at
things. The way we live shapes the way we
think. Most of the people in the towns had their
origin on the farm and there is constant filter
ing back and forth. There ought not be, and
there will not be, any long neighborhood feud
between town and country in Nebraska.
One farmer at these meetings at the agricul-
tural college made the point that talk of cx-
terminating the mddleman was not as fierce as
it sounds. for the village merchant is often the
farmers son-in-law. What can be eliminated is
superAaous handling processes. The men in the
livestock and grain handling trade, another
speaker pointed out were boys off the farm.
There is little hatred. although the farmers are
determined to train their boys to handle their
products for the benefit OF the rural population
rather than as an isolated function having no re.
sponsibility to either consumer or producer, and
no aim beyond profit
Certain things characterize the middle western
race. Itis not eaten into by skepticism. is moro
sure OF itself and its splendid future than peoples
of more artificial way Of life and thought.
acteristics of this midland country. Farmers, or
those who were reared on farm, do not laugh
when they read of cunning violations OF the
liquor laws. They are decent minded in this
way.
For their children they have greater hopes
than most When they speak OF education it is
not merely on book learning or the requirement
of large fund of information. Intelligence
without character they distrust and dislike Their
children must they say, be taught to think OF
their responsibilities to their community and
their fellow men. What criticism is heard of
the country schools is not Of their expense, but
of their falling short of this ideal Along such
lines Of thought the country people are tar ahead
of their city relatives, who tend much more to
sitting back and letting their paid officers do their
thinking for them.
Middle western sentiment calls for public
regulation OF those influences which may pro-
duce evil 1t is profoundly reliant on the infiu-
ence of environment on human character. 1t is
distrustful at the same time of the theory that if
the home is all it should be, no harm can come
from the outside. An old Bohemian farmer
spoke critically of the failure to obtain censor
ship OF moving pictures and OF the failure OF the
towns to keep themselves morally clean. my.
boy" he said, "can be in the cornfeld at 3
O'Clock, and in the dance hall or on the streets
OF the nearest town by 7. ihe country people
are almost as much concerned by what goes on
in the towns as are the residents there.
So much for the close relationship between
all classes in the middle west. Ultimately town
and farm will be more closely knit by. local in
dustries that will give industrial employment to
labor when work is slack on the farm. Instead
Of opposing each other, these two units, town and
country, supplement and complement each
other
Together they constitute almost separate
land and race, with traditions, ideas and ideals
differing widely from those of other parts of the
nation. Already we are building our own litera-
ture, and the beginnings of our drama may be
found in the pageants by which are portrayed
and dramatized the story OF the years and the
men and women who came before to this from
tier
In the towns are some who sorrowfully admit.
or who say scornfully Of others, that they are
not as we'll educated or as clever as they should
be or they would be in New York or the east in
stead Of staying in the middle west There is no
one on the farm who feels that way. This pride
in the middle west, this quality Of refusing to
apologize for its being different from the east or
south or Pacific coast should be encouraged.
Local pride is full of accomplishment while
good deal of purely national pride consists OF
boasting.
At one Of these farmers meetings in Lincoln
a man from the western part Of the state spoke
Of the possibility of state bloc rather than All
agriculture bloc, operating not only in congress,
but as force in every part of national life.
This was recognition OF the fact that the peo-
pie of the middle west will rise or fall together,
that they have distinct point Of view and cul-
ture ali their own Such considerations have,
perhaps, some bearing on politics. but much
more on the cultural and social sides OF life
more even than on the economic, although there
can be no real rise in culture without leisure
for the men and women who are making the
civilization and leisure connotes certain free
dom from pressing stories about money.
Com promise Conference