Evening star., 1928-11-25
BY DIR. JEREMIAH w. JENKS.


strides forward that have been made
in this decade. The fearful ravages of
war have been largely overcome in all
Europe, and in America, as We know.
the time has been one of unexampled
progress. In this article We shall con-
slider the progress only OF the United
States. where the economic evidences
are most important; but 1t is probable
that the progress has been no less in
most of the European states, inasmuch
as they have had so much more to
overcome.
II, in hasty sketch Of the growth
Of industry during the last few years,
we can discover the handspring, the
inner cause. Of that marvellous growth,
we shall have unlocked the secret for
! which all Europe-all the world-has
been asking Many delegations Of the
keenest economists and business men
of all classes. the most acute observers
, of economic phenomena, have come to
! the United States to learn the cause or
! the series of causes Of our prosperity.
They have wished to wrest from us
the secret Of our wonderful growth in
order that they may have similar
! experience. The progress of the world,
! they feel is dependent upon the result
of their researches, for they wish to
f
idly as possible to the standards which
/ America has set. They realize. too, as
| we must realize, that these standards
| which have been set by America are
| not fixed standards by any means.
/ They merely mark certain stages in our
| progress, and they are bound to go on
| still farther toward goals which none Of
us can now see-in fact, toward goals
which We cannot as yet even imagine.
Fail to Realize Causes. i
| There is no reason why We should
try to hinder these Europeans IN their
search. for we ourselves have not yet
quite realized the causes of our pros
perity. If in helping them discover the
causes we can also help ourselves, the
result will be for the good of all
| We may we'll begin with agriculture,
for two reasons: First, because agricul-
| ture is supposed to have been in a state
of serious depression and our farmers
have in many instances been complain
ing of the seriousness OF their state. 1t
has been generally conceded that their
condition has not been so prosperous as
| the conditions of the other types of in
duStrial workers.
Second, because farming is the basic
| industry, as we'll as the one that en-
ploys the greatest number of our peo-
| pie. If we can find the cause of our
development in agriculture (for there
has been a real development here) We
shall get a rather clear indication of
the causes affecting the majority Of our
population.
| Some 10 years ago my wife was visit
ing a farm in Iowa. At II o'clock in
! the morning she sfound the farmer ex-
| tremely impatient because he had not
received the Chicago morning paper
containing crop reports with the prices
of corn, wheat, hogs and his other
| products. This shows how awake farm
ers were even then, how keen were
their ideas on keeping up to date in
order that they might market their
crops to the best advantage.
A year or two later was at farm
of some 600 acres In Nebraska, and was
told by the manager-an extremely able
young woman by the way-that because
had bought something like 100 head OF
young cattle In order that she might
| fatten them and thus get better price
| for her corn in the market.
A few weeks ago was at farm In
! New York. The family and one of
the neighbor'S grown-up sons spent
| part Of the evening listening to Gov.
Smiths speech in Philadelphia and to
| some Of the best music in New York.
The farmer told me how he could get
the weather reports as well as the
market reports every morning over the
! radio, thus enabling him to keep up to
| the minute on all questions Of the day.
| The farmer Is no longer isolated. He
is part of our great industrial life.
More Machinery Used.
Within the last ten years also there
| has been a greatly increased use Of
machinery on farms, so that one man
| today can do as much or more than
! three or four men ten years ago.
| There are farmers cooperative aSSo-
| Citations by which, through his own VOL
| untary action, the farmer can market
his crops to much better advantage
| than earlier. The extent of this infiu-
1 ence can be measured from the fact
| that within the last ten years some of
these consultations, while declining in
number. have increased their business
by more than 5000 per cent. and many
OF them by well over 800 per cent.
! The agricultural colleges throughout
the country, OF which more than 10000
students were studying in 1926. have
! added greatly to the knowledge of farm
| soils. farm fertilizers, farm animals and
| the best methods of breeding all kinds
! of animals, from chickens to cattle.
Advanced scientific knowledge has been
largely instrumental in checking many
| of the diseases Of hogs. cattle and sheep
and blights on vegetable products, thus
| saving hundreds of millions of dollars.
The modern farmer Is no longer igno-
rant of science.
These modern farmers are up-to-
date and are the true heirs Of their
ancestors on the farm, for 1t was
their pioneering work which developed
| the self-reliance, sturdineSs. individ-
uality and progressiveness that have
made the American farmer what he is
Lumber Camps Change.
A year ago had occasion to visit
great lumber camp. How different it
! was from the lumber camps / had
| known as a boy! My father was a
| lumberman and I remember how in
those days the lumberman's home in
{, the winter was huge log shanty, with
great fireplace in the middle which
| lighted the Shanty. the smoke and
| flames going up through the big open
| ing in the roof. through which the
snow and rain came down. Around the
walls were wooden hunks, three in a
| tier The men had for food salt pork,
potatoes and bread, and molasses for
their pancakes. with tea and coffee and
few vegetables besides. They were
healthy. robust, brave group. with
| axes cant-hooks and cross-cut saws
for their main tools and with horses,
oxen and mules to draw their logs on
bobsleds to the sideways.
Today one goes up into the lumber
camp by railroad or automobile. The
camps are much more like large elec-
trically lighted boarding houses, well
supplied with running water and with
opportunity for privacy and with cot
tages scattered about for the families
OF the superintendents and others In
authority. for the camps are much