Askov American. [volume] (Askov, Pine County, Minn.) 1914-current, 1932-05-12
J. O. Christensen of st. Paul,
DaUells ON Current Topics IN
AskOv Address.

Speaking on social and economic
questions, the depression, its causes,
militarism, and other current topics,
j. o. Christensen, principal of the
School of Agriculture, st. Paul, was
accorded close attention in his Askov
talk Sunday evening before the Young
Peoples Society at the Assembly hall.
L. Byron Olsen, president of the
society, introduced the speaker and
said that commodity prices had taken
slump since 1881 but those affect
ing the farmer had taken the greatest
slump, the general drop being 1870
while farm products went down 300.
Depression is Financial and Moral.
Mr.. Christianson said these are
times of unrest, the depression is not
only financial but moral, affecting the
church and home. The moral depres-
sion came even before the financial
disruption. The tendency of many
parents is to resign from the bring
ing up and training of their children.
The first five years of/the child are
the most important, and if anybody
is to adopt child that should prefer
ably be done before the child is one
year old. Some of the bringing up
of the child can be left to the school
but the important part-the beginning
is in the home. Perhaps from 800
to 1910 of it can be left to the school.
The thin veneer of artificiality, hypo-
crisy, and sham can be detected as
quickly or even more quickly by the
younger folks, said the speaker. The
older folks should set good example
rather than to tell the young folks
what to do. Attending church is bet
ter than to tell the young folks that
they ought to go there. Then there
are such good attributes as truthful
ness, to talk fearlessly and be cour-
ageous, to maintain good established
order, and so on. The speaker criti-
cised the type of politicians who take
no stand on anything, who can talk
for hours without committing them
selves, just making nice pleasing i'm
pressions and arousing no antagon-
ISM
Mr. ChristiansOn said that effort
had been made to picture federal ap-
preparation for the agricultural de-
partment at Washington as being the
biggest amount appropriated to any
department, when as a matter of fact
the total cost of that department was
less than one per cent of all federal
appropriations. 1t should also be re-
membered that road aids of 100000
600 and other federal aids go through
the agricultural department, said the
speaker. An article last August in
the Forum magazine entitled 1.-The
Great Dirt Conspiracy" written by
Mr.. Pitkin, in which he criticised the
farmer for not adopting big business
methods, was criticised by Mr. Chris
tiansOn who said that we do not want
to do away with the farm home,
reduce farmers to serfs and adopt cor
poration farming.
Denmark had its agricultural strug-
gle in the years following 1864, said
the speaker, and the establishment
of the Grundtvig folk high schools for
the masses aided greatly in this work.
The farmers sons and daughters were
given good schooling and the type
of education which gave greater reali-
cation and appreciation of life's val
ues-a desire to live and let live.
Equality Fight is Old One.
The fight for equality for agricul-
ture that is being waged today is the
same fight that has taken place in
six other stages of civilization, said
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