Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1928-08-12


| eight years our population has increased
/ by 8 per cent. Yet our national income
! has increased by over 30 billions OF dol
! lars per year. or more than IS per cent
/ Our production--and therefore our con-
Sumption--of goods has increased by
/ over IS per cent 1t is easily demon
! strated that these increases have beer
widely spread among our whole people
Home ownership has grown. While DUR
ing this period the number OF families
has increased by about 100000, We
have built more than 3,500,000 new ano
better homes. In this short time VT
have equipped nearly 100000 more
homes with electricity and through II
orudgery has been lifted from the lives
of women, The barriers of time anC
distance have been swept away and life
made freer and larger by the inStaila'
ton Of 5000 900 more telephones, 1000
600 radio sets and the service of an ad-
ditional 100000 automobiles. Oul
cities are growing magnificent witt
beautiful buildings, parks and play
grounds Our countryside has been knit
together with splendid roads.
We have doubled the use Of electrical
power and with 1t we have taken sweat
from the backs of men. The purchaS-
ing power of wages has steadily in
creased. The hours of labor have de-
creased. The l2-hour day has been
abolished Great progress has been
made in sterilization OF commerce AND
industry, The Job of every man has
thus been made more secure. Unem-
ployment in the sense Of distress Is
widely disappearing.
Gains for Children.
Most of all, like TO remember what
this progress has meant to America
children The portal of their opportu-
nifty has been ever widening. While our
population has grown but 8 per cent We
have increased by ii per cent the num-
Der of children in our grade schools, by
&c per cent the number in our high
schools and by IS per cent the number
in our institutions of higher learning.
With all our spending We have doubled
savings deposits in our banks and build
ing and loan associations. We have
nearly doubled our life insurance Nor
have our people been selfish. They have
met with a full hand the most sacred
oblgation of man-charity. The gifts
of America to churches to hospitals and
institutions for the care of the afflicted
and to relief from great disasters nave
surpassed by hundreds of millions any
totals for any similar period in all hui
man record.
One of the oldest and perhaps the
noblest of human aspirations has been
the abolition of poverty. BY poverty l
mean the grinding by undernourish-
ment. colo and ignorance and fear of
old age OF those who have the will TO
work. We in America today are nearer
to the final triumph over poverty than
ever before in the history of any land.
The poorhouse is vanishing from among
us We have not yet reached the goal,
but given chance to go forward with
the policies of the last eight years. and
We shall soon. with the help of God be
in sight of the day when poverty viii
be banished from this Nation. There is
no guarantee against poverty equal TO a
lob for every man. That is the primary
purpose of the economic policies We al
vocats.
Improved Homes.
/ especially rejoice in the effect of
our increased national efficiency upon
the improvement OF the American
home That is the sanctuary of our
loftiest ideals. the source of the spir-
itual energy of our people The bet
tered home surroundings. the expanded
schools and Fairgrounds, and the en-
lGtSUtC AAlf@t1 limit NAeAi
our economic progress have brought To
the average family fuller life. wider
outlook. stirred imagination and lift
in aspirations.
Economic advancement is not an end
in itself. Successful democracy rests
wholly upon the moral and spiritual
quality or its people Our growth in
spiritual achievements must keep pace
with our growth in physical accomplish
ments Material prosperity and moral
progress must march together II we
would make the United States that
commonwealth so grandly conceived by
its founders. Our Government, TO
match the expectations Of our people,
must have constant regard for those
human values that give dignity and no.
bility to life. Generosity Of impulse,
cultivation of mind, willingness to sac
rifice. spaciousness of spirit--those are
the qualities whereby America, growing
bigger and richer and more powerful,
may become America great and noble
A people or government to which these
values are not real. because they are
not tangible, is in peril. Size. wealth
and power alone cannot fulhH the
promise of Americas opportunity.
Two Farm FaIIacies.
The most urgent economic problem In
our Nation today is in agriculture. II
must be solved if we are TO bring pros
perity and contentment to one-t1ird OF
our people directly and TO all OF our
people indirectly. We have pledged
ourselves to find a solution.
In my mind most agricultural dis
cussions go wrzng because Of two false
premises. The first Is that agriculture
il one industry. II is a dozen distinct
industries incapable Of the same organ
izatiou. The second false premise Is
that rehabilitation will be complete
when It has reached a point compare
BILE with pre-war. Agriculture was not
upon a satisfactory basis before the
war. The abandoned farms OF the
Northeast bear their own testimony.
Generally there was but little profit
In Midwest agriculture for many years
EXCEPT that derived from the slow in
creases in farm land values Even OF
more importance is the great advance
in standards Of living Of ali occupations
since the war. Some branches OF agri-
culture have greatly recovered, but
taken as whole II Is not keepln2
pace with the onward march IN other
industries.
There are many causes Of failure Of
agriculture 20 win its full share Of ma
tional prosperity. The after-wsr defia-
ton of prices not only brought great dl-
rect losses to the farmer, but he was
often left indebted in inflated dollars TO
be maid in debated dollars, Prices are
often denoralized through gints in our
markets during the harvest season. Lo-
cal taxes have been increased to pro-
vide the improved roads and schools
Tariff Inadequate.
The tariff on some products is prov
ing inadequate TO protect him from
imports from abroad The increase IN
transportation rates since the war mas
greatly affected the price which ne re-
ceiyes for his products. over SIX MI
lion farmers IN times Of surplus engage
IN destructive composition with one an
other in the sale Of their product. often
depressing prices below those IeVeiS
that could be maintained: M.
The whole tendency OF our ciVillza :
II z