No. 6. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 443 



work, he says, ''The time will come when more men will do this; the 

 time will come when men's tliou<j;lits will be turned away from de- 

 structive war and will be turned to lns;lier tliin<Ts, when man shall 

 offer his brother not bullets and ba^'onets, but richer fruits, better 

 grains and fairer flowers." 



"RURAL CREDITS." 



By HON. RALPH TV. MOSS, Ce7iire Point, Ind., Member of the National 



Congress 



Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen: T wish to express frankly the pleas- 

 ure which your very courteous invitation gives me. Tfeel it .in 

 honor to be permitted to discuss some of the j?reat problems which 

 lie before us. Rut this sense of esteem is enhanced to any Western 

 man when his invitation comes from one of our parent states in the 

 Union. I come far enouc^h from the West to have been born amid 

 Pioneer conditions. T have seen the splendid farm civilization of our 

 State sprinjr into existence. We have improved our hijjhways: 

 builded modern residences: founded churches, universities and 

 schools: and our lands have risen in value nearly to the level of Euro- 

 pean countries. Thus,, in a sjeneration, we have ofrown wealthy and 

 have surrounded our families with all the comforts and many of the 

 luxuries of life. Many factors have contributed to this wonderful 

 growth and progress; but chief among them (and the only one I will 

 name tonight) has been the aid and assistance which has been given 

 us by the states east of the Allegheny Mountains. 

 ^ The first farm journals which came into our homes were pub- 

 lished in your cities; the best blood in our domestic flocks came from 

 your herds; our orchards grew from your nurseries; our gardens were 

 planted with your seeds; and the improved yield of our field crops 

 was due to the improvement which your masters had wrought iti 

 our seed grains. Thus we owe to you our political liberty as a na- 

 tion and our present splendid position in American agriculture. 



I use the term "splendid position" advisedly and with due con- 

 sideration. I have come tonight to urge certain legislative meas- 

 ures which, in my opinion, will enable us to strengthen our economic 

 position as a nation by perfecting a better organization among farm- 

 ers; but in our zeal as propagandists for these new measures I trust 

 we may not forget the many exceptional advantages which we now 

 enjoy. I have often asserted and feel free to repeat tonight, that 

 farmers in the United States now enjoy greater advantages than any 

 generation of men since Abraham pastured his flocks on a thousand 



