Evening star., 1925-12-07

ant. 1t still partakeS OF that nature
in most countries. But in America the
farm has long since ceased to be aSSo-
ciated with a mode of life that could
be called rustic. 1t has become a
great industrial enterprise. requiring
broad knowledge in it's management,
a technical skill in its labor, intricate
machinery in its processes, and
trained merchandising in it's market
ings Agriculture In America has been
raised to the rank of q profession. 1t
does not draw any artificial support
from industry or from the Govern
ment. 1t rests squarely on a founda-
ton of its own. 1t Is independent.
Rests on Own Worth.
The place which agriculture holds
today in this country, superior to that
which it ever held before In time of
peace in this or any other land, is by
reason Of its very eminence one of in
creasing exaCtions and difficulties. 1t
does not require much talent or any
great foresight to live on an inferior
scale, limited and impoverished, nor
does it evoke much eulogy, but to
maintain freedom and independence,
to rise in the economic scale to the
ownership and profitable management
Of a great property amid all the perilS
of our competitive life. requires a high
degree Of industry and ability. Those
who achieve that position in a com.
munity will always be entitled to the
highest commendation. Whatever
other obstacles the American people
have had to meet and overcome, Of
every station in life, they have never
permitted themselves to be hampered
by condition of dependence. AS
what they have had was secured not
by favor or by bounty, but by their
own efforts, no one else has had any
power TO deprive them Of it. Unin-
numbered by any special artificial
support, they have stood secure on
their own foundation. America Is not
without a true nobility, but it is not
supported by privilege. 1t rests on
worth.
1T is our farm life that is particu-
larly representative Of this standard
of American citizenship. 1t is made
up of many different types and races;
it includes many different modes of
thought and living. Stretching from
the North. with its months Of frost,
to the Gulf, with its perpetual Sum
mer, it embraces a wide variety of
production. But it is all a partaker
of the same high measure of achieve
ment and character. 1t rises in it's
importance above the products of the
land and puts a stamp Of its own
upon the quality of our people. 1t is
not merely for a supply of food that
we look to the farms. but as never
failing source. If others become eX-
hausted, from which we can always re-
pleniSh the manhood and womanhood
of the Nation. 1t is for this reason
that our whole country entertainS the
greatest solicitude for the welfare of
the people who make up our agricul-
I0~, -
their continued success and progress
can not be overestimated. 1t affects
not only the material prosperity but
reaches beyond that into the moral
and spiritual life of America.
Living From the Soil.
at was the people of this stamp
and character who were mainly instru-
mental in founding American institu-
tions. 1t was we'll on into the nine
teenth century before the great in
dustrial development of our country
began. In the old days there We're
some professional men and there were
the clergy who exercised in a high
degree an inspired leadership not only
in the religious and educational but
to a marked extent in the political life
of their day. But the people We're
of the farm. Their living came from
the soil Their sturdy industry, their
determination to be free. resulted in
no small part from their occupation
and mode of life. Wherever there is
a farm there is the greatest oppor-
tunity for a true home. 1t was the
loyalty and perseverance bred of the
home life of the American farmer that
supported Washington through seven
years of conflict and provided the
necessary self-restraint to translate
his victory into the abiding institu-
tions of freedom. 1t is the spirit of
those homes that our country must
forever cherish.
World Tide for Liberty.
But the gratitude of America, and
I think of the whole world, is due not
only to the embattled farmers" who
stood at Concord bridge and fired the
shot heard round the world but to
those tillers of the soil Of the great
prairie States, prophets and pioneers
of freedom, who rose to power in time
to make it possible for Lincoln to
save the Union. and also to the in
formed, improved. and well-equipped
agriculture Of our own day. which,
while giving generously of their own
manhood and womanhood, put forth
those stupendous efforts which pro-
vided food. cotton, wool and otheI
materials that turned the tide for the
cause of liberty in the great war. 1t
is the existence Of this superb power,
both of resources and of people, which
has its home in the great open coun.
try, that has made possible not only
the independence and freedom of our
own land and the extension Of liberty
throughout the world, but has fur
niShed the foundation on which has
been built the great expansion in the
industrial and commercial life of the
Nation. Our craftsmanship can be
dedicated to no more worthy purpose
than the perpetuation Of this high
standard of American farm life.
All of these results would appear
to lead to the inevitable conclusion
that to a very large extent the un-
derlying support to the strength and
character and greatness of America
has been furnished by the strength
and character and greatness of its
agriculture. Our country has been de-
veloped under the influence of new
spirit. In the early beginnings of
organized society the main form of
wealth which was plentiful consisted
of land. 1t was almost the sole
source Of production. Always in
theory, and usually in practice, all
land belonged to the Crown. It was
the custom for the ruler to bestow
upon his retainers not only landed
estates, but to provide in addition the
serfs who were attached to the soil,
in order that they might supply the
necessary labor for it's productivity.
The workers in the field were held in
servitude, while their masters usual
ly lived away from the land, some
times in their castles, sometimes in
towns and cities. This was the es-
tablished condition all over the Old
World. The posiiotn Of the country
thus became stationary. 1t was in
the cities and towns, where opportu-
itV came for exchange of ideas and