Evening star., 1933-04-09

n self. two men bear the brunt
"A of the administrators fight to
! 4 \ lift American agriculture out OF
/ depression-Henry A. Wallace,
the new Secretary of Agriculture, and
Henry Morgenthau, jr. Mr.. Morgen-
thau will be known as the governor OF
the farm credit administration as re-
suit of President Roosevelt's order OF
two weeks ago abolishing the Farm
Board and providing for merger OF
the Federal farm loan agencies into
single organization.
Though the work of Mr.. Wallace and
Mr. Morgenthau must of necessity be
co-ordinated, each will cover a dis
tinct field.
As the lineup looks in its present
, stages, Mr. Wallace will deal with that
controversial aspect of the farm prob
lem known as farm relief-the means
by which the farmers purchasing power
can be brought up at least to its pre-
war level. Mr.. Morgenthau will handle
the less controversial but not less i'm
portant business of administering farm
credits.
Let me qualify that last statement.
Any one who watched the recent bat
tie against mortgage foreclosures in the
Middle West would hardly say that
farm credit Is a matter beyond con-
troversy. Mr. Morgenthaus job will be
to put it beyond controversy-to make
credit for agriculture so flexible, simple
and adequate that it will not be a cause
of bitterness and contention. Mr.. Wal
lace, on the other hand, must deal with
questions which, short of the millen-
MUM, probably never will be beyond
controversy. even though compromise
is agreed on for given program.
Father Envoy to Turkey.
A tall, rather thin man. this Henry
Morgenthau. jr., with long face, a
high bald forehead, gray eyes, specta-
cles; not a man of marked mannerisms
or rugged exterior; rather, in appear
ance, the scholar, the professional man,
quiet. intelligent. firm, capable. ap-
proachable. Forty-two years old, he
was born within block of his present
home across the way from the Museum
OF Natural History almost In the mid
die of New York City. His father was
President Wilson's Ambassador to Tur-
key-an authority on the Near East,
an eminent lawyer, a man with liberal
social views. founder of the Bronx
House Settlement.
Morgenthau, jr., did not follow in
his fathers legal and ambassadorial
footsteps. Social work he was inter-
ested in-for time he served with Miss
Lillian D. Wald in the Henry Street
Settlement and in the Bronx House.
But there was queer quirk in him;
even as a youngster his inclination was
away from the CITY,, countryward Back
In Germany his ancestors had been
farmers. Perhaps there was some old
buried urge that made him think of
farming as the best of all pursuits
With the choice of any profession or
any school open to him, he chose to 60
to Cornell and study agriculture
It might be noted here that the same
sort of thing cropped out in his sister,
Mrs. Helen Fox. She Is an enthusiastic
and skillful gardener, with more than
one garden book to her credit-the lat
est an alluring book on raising and
using the old-fashioned herbs on which
our grandmothers set store.
Built a Thriving Farm.
When young Morgenthaus health
broke down he made bee line for a
Texas ranch, where he stayed until he
got well; but the farm bug only dug
deeper under his skin, like Texas
chlgger. He set out on pilgrimage to
see what farms were like here, there
and everywhere, with view to getting
himself snugly set on one of them. The
upshot Of it was that the Hudson Valley
looked about as good as anywhere, and
there was New York at the door for
market He bought three old farms
back of Fishkill Hook, 400 acres in
all, rich bottom land, almost every field
watered with spring or brook. It was on
a mud road, and in spring the holes
went all the way through to China. He
spent a couple of years filling them up
with all the picturesque old stone fences.
Today the place is thriving farm
yes, it throve even in the black year
1892. Two farms, rather-one devoted
to fruit one to dairying. There are
some $50 acres in apple orchards, one
half now in bearing, mostly Mcintosh;
a few peaches. In 1882 the apple crop
was $4,000 bushels-fine fruit, well
grown, well handled, sold in New York
for the best the market would fetch.
With pardonable pride Mr.. Morgen-
thau says: THE cold figures on our
income tax return show that we made
only on fruit. which Is my end of the
game along with my Yankee manager,
Jim Bailey, but on the dairy, which I
let out on shares to Arthur Hoose. We
have 100 head, registered Holsteins and
registered Jerseys. Built up the herd
slowly, with only half dozen good
cows to start with Say, I wish you
could see that prize Holstein bull of ours
-Fishhn Sir May Hengerveld Dekol. A
wonderful animal-he increased the
production Of his daughters over their
dams by 80 per cent-and haven't
heard of anything better than that, not
in this State, anyway"
Eleven years ago Mr.. Morgenthau
bought the American Agriculturist. one
of the Oldest farm papers in the United
States-founded in 1912, in fact. This
he publishes in Poughkeepsie, the near
est big town to his farm, and he has
built up the circulation from 100000 to
100000, almost entirely in the New York
milkshed II that cluster of States and
parts of States from which rivers of milk
flow daily into the metropolis.
Roosevelt Watches.
Franklin Delano Roosevelt meanwhile
had watched the farm. the paper and
the man himself with interest. Mr..
Morgenthau has not played the political
game, but he was Immediately drafted
to head a non-partisan agricultural ad-
visory commission when Mr. Roosevelt
became Governor. Two major pieces Of
legislation in the interest of rural COM
munities can be chalked up to the credit
of that commission.
First they reapportioned State aid for
dirt roads. Previously State aid had been
given on the basis of the assessed valua-
ton of property. Suburban communities
nearest the city, with the highest
assessed valuation, got the most help.
The Morgenthau commission changed
that Today, if the community spends
$50 on a dirt road the State matches it
with $50-with the result that poorer
communities get just twice as much help
as they had before. The same principle
was applied to State aid for rural
schools.
Secondly, the commission put through
legislation to discontinue county as
sessments for paved highways entirely
hitherto the counties had had to con-