210 THE MONTHLY BULLETIN. 



distaste that lies in every norma] human being against the creation of a 

 preferred or special class. The creation of a state marketing system 

 makes of the farming community a preferred class. 



The best manhood and womanhood of America are to be found on 

 our farms and they dislike having a government tell them that they are 

 inefficient and must be assisted in taking care of themselves. When 

 the government, therefore, assumes to create special laws preferring 

 the agricultural class, it says to that class in effect, "You can not suc- 

 ceed, and unless you are taken into the lap of the government you will 

 fail." In my judgment all that the intelligent, red-blooded farmers in 

 the United States desire is a white man's chance to come into their own, 

 and this can be given them by a proper adjustment of laws and condi- 

 tions which are in no sense paternalistic but which will give him the 

 opportunity of securing the kind of money to which the character of 

 his security entitles him and which will enable him to handle his 

 products with intelligence instead of with blindness. 



Some of us might ask how it is we know that the tug of war between 

 the radicals and the conservatives is not going on with equality as to the 

 strength of the pull. We find the evidence of this in the last United 

 States census which shows that the home owners of the farms are 

 decreasing and the land renters increasing. In 1910, as' shown by the 

 census, fully 36 per cent of our farms were run by renters and the 

 percentage is probably now nearer the fifty mark, and when it does 

 reach that mark, the government and the nation had best look out, for 

 that is the condition which caused the downfall of the Roman Empire. 

 We cannot, therefore, my friends, stand still in this respect. We must 

 either progress or go backward. We cannot stand still. 



The history of the development of the human race proves that such 

 development can not stagnate. 



It was not my intention nor my province to speak to you as I have 

 spoken upon the subject of the scientific or economic distribution of 

 farm products in its entirety, but I could not refrain, after what I 

 heard here yesterday, from giving you a few thoughts upon the two 

 greatest economic problems that are confronting the American people 

 today, namely, the economic distribution of farm products and rural 

 credits. 



With respect to the hitter. I might call your attention to the fact that 

 we have upon the statute books of the nation today a law which will give 

 the farmer cheap money on the amortization plan. You are familiar 

 with that plan and know that under it the borrower gradually reduces 

 the principal each year as he pays the interest on the loan so that at the 

 end of a long term of years for which the loan runs and during which 

 he pays interest only, he owes nothing. The law is not a perfect one, 

 but in its fundamentals it is based upon the landschaft system of. 

 Germany which has stood the test ever since the days of Frederick the 

 Great. The best thing you can do for the communities which you 

 represent is to do your part in seeing to it that your community is 

 placed in position to avail itself of the benefits of this law. 



I trust, also, that I may be permitted to say a word regarding the 

 law under which California has created a state marketing commission. 

 Personally, 1 believe that the law which created this commission is not 



