Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-05-26
A Modern Ben Franklin
Created

delphia bun, he found himself the
president of a farmers bank. He pos
sessed at the same time a madcap dar-
ing and compendious grasp of finance,
but he won the respect of the conserva-
tive bankers with whom he associated.
Twenty years more and he was gov
ernor. He made a record for leaving
the State budget balanced for the first
time in decades, yet he also studied
his own particular hobby-credits for
the farmer. When his term expired he
sailed for Germany, where such credits
had been perfected. Back of his pas
sion for the subject was a childhood
scene. the sort which could have hap
pened nowhere but in America:
II used to straddle fathers horse
and guide along burrows while he
ploWed From time to time we'd put
in by the side of the road and rest sit
ting on the split-rail fence. This morn
ing We were taking a turn there when
what should come driving up but a
real Side-car buggy the last word in
buggy construction at that time and AS
smart. with its spanking pair of horses,
as a RollS-Royce on country road
would be today.
Il was astonished to find that it
pulled up when it came alongside of us.
Out stepped man in linen duster
real top hat and all the trimmings He
called my father Timothy as if they
had known each other for an age. and
he introduced himself as Professor
Munroe of Oberlin College = and
candidate for Congress.
Il didn't think father was nearly cor
dial enough. I nudged his elbow and
, whispered to him to please ask the
professor to dinner. but he didn't. After
a lot of pallavering the professor said
IN I M
{ him.
Fathers Prediction
The professors a nice man. said
my father, and I'll vote for him, but
he's not the man we need. The trouble
with the farmers, my boy, is that they
are just plain fools. They let the viii
lagos take all their political Importance
away. The professor will represent the
townsmen who take our products and
sell them at big profit while We
sometimes can't Scrape together enough
to pay for new stock and tools. Some
day the farmer will wake up: You'll
see 1t. You'll fight for it. You must
make the people we send to Congress
realize that the farmer has got to
have a closer touch with capital"
More than 80 years later Myron T.
Herrick kept faith with his father and
published Rural Credits" the first ex-
haustive book upon the subject which
the two had discussed over their pillow
on the Ohio farm. Since then he had
Travelled through most of Europe
searching for evidence. He had been
the president of farmers banks. He
had been the author of the rural credits
plank in the Republican platform of
1912. It is significant that he accepted
his first appointment as Ambassador to
France only after President Taft had
assured him that he would guarantee
the aid Of the whole diplomatic corps
in gathering material upon foreign
farm relief.
ITS funny. I was so active as a
business man I wasn't keen for diplo-
macy. Often in those days business
men owed so much money that they
didn't dare leave home. I thought I
could afford to take that risk especially
because the appointment was only for
a short time, an unexpired term.
I took the job.
Besides there was something about
France that fascinated me. and this job
appealed TO me personally in way
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