The Holly chieftain., 1923-12-13

| by the reorganization Of the freight
rate structure which could reduce
charges on his production. To make
this fully effective there ought to be
railroad consultations. Cheaper fer
tilizers must be provided.
He must have organization. HIS
customer with whom he exchanges
products of the farm for those Of In
dustry is organized labor Is organized.
business Is organized, and there Is no
way for agriculture to meet this un-
less 1t. too. is organized. The acre
age of wheat is too large. Unless we
can meet the world market at profit.
we must stop raising for export. Or
ganization would help to reduce acre
age. Systems OF cooperative market
ing created by the farmers themselves.
supervised by competent management.
without doubt would be of assistance.
but they cannot wholly solve the prob
lem. Our agricultural schools ought
to have thorough courses in the theory
Of organization and cooperative mar
ketlng.
| Diversilcatlon Is necessary. Those
farmers who raise their living on their
land are not greatly in distress. Such
! loans us are wisely needed to assist
buying stock and other materials to
start In this direction should be
| financed through a government agency
as temporary and emergency expedl-
ent.
The remaining difficulty Is the dis
position of exportable wheat. l do
not favor the permanent Interference
OF the government in this problem.
That probably would increase the trou-
BILE by increasing production. But 1t
seems feasible to provide government
assistance to exports, and authority
should be given the War Finance cor
poration to grant. in its discretion. the
most liberal terms of payment for fats
and grains exported 70. the direct
benefit of the farm.
| Muscle Shoals.
The government Is undertaking to
develop a great water-power project
known as Muscle Shoals, on which 1t
has expended many million dollars.
Thc work Is still going on. Subject
to the right to retake in time Of war,
recommend that this property with
u location for auxiliary steam plant
! and rights of way be sold. This would
end the present burden Of expense and
should return to the treasury the larg-
est price possible to secure.
4 Reclamation.
BY reason of many contributing
causes, occupants Of our reclamation
projects are in financial difficulties.
which in some cases are acute. Re
lief should be granted by definite au-
thority of law empowering the secre-
tary of the interior in his discretion
to suspend, readjust, and reassess all
charges against water users. This
whole question Is being considered by
experts. You will have the advantage
they may develop. This situation, In
volving government investment Of
more than S135,0OOOOO, and affecting
more than 10000 water users, is seri-
GUS. While relief which Is necessary
should be granted. yet contracts with
the government which can be met
should be met. The established gem
eral policy of these projects should
not be abandoned for any private con-
troll.
Highways and Forests.
Highways and reforestation should
continue to have the Interest and sup
port of the government. Everyone Is
anxious for good highways. 1 have
made liberal proposal In the budget
for the continuing payment to the
states by the federal government of
its share for this necessary public
Improvement. No expenditure Of pub
lie money contributes so much to the
national wealth as for building good
roads.
Reforestatlon has an Importance far
above the attention 1t usually secures.
A special committee of the senate Is
investigating this need, and | Shall well
come constructive policy based on
their report.
1t is 100 years since our country
announced the Monroe doctrine. This
principle has been ever since, and Is
now, one OF the main foundations of
our foreign relations. 1t must be
maintained But in maintaining 1t we
must not be forgetful that a great
change has taken place. We are no
longer u weak nation. thinking mainly
of defense, dreading foreign imposl-
ton. We are great and powerful.
New powers bring new responsible
ties, Our duty then was 10 protect our
selves. Added to that, our duty now Is
to help give stability to the world. We
want idealIsm. We want that vision
which lifts men and nations above
themselves. These are virtues by rea-
son of their own merit. But they must
not be clustered; they must not be
impractical they must not be inefrec-
tive
The world has had enough Of the
u Il Gx.hn nf