EIGHTEENTH ANNUAL YEAR BOOK — PART VII 407 



Then there is the question of labor — probably the most serious ques- 

 tion which we face; but we must not permit ourselves to think that we 

 can't meet this situation. We are a strong, resourceful people, and 

 we must meet this situation and produce these crops, and we can do 

 it thru careful organization and thru the mobilization of the labor 

 which we have. I heard Dean Hunt, of California, speak the other day. 

 He has recently been in Canada, spending three weeks there investi- 

 gating their labor conditions. Canada has done a remarkable piece 

 of work in this war. According to Dean Hunt's statement, the United 

 States will have to raise an army of 5,000,000 soldiers and $40,000,000,- 



000 in order to equal the work that has been done by Canada up to the 

 present time, and the Canadians are just going ahead and doing some 

 more big things now. Dean Hunt stated that the Canadian farmers 

 had managed to keep up their production all the time they were doing 

 these other things. I believe that if we organize carefully in this state 

 and get hold of our available labor and create a sentiment which will 

 make it disloyal for anyone not to work who is able to work we will 

 be able to meet this labor 'situation next spring, and that is exactly the 

 thing wo must do. Mr. Hunt said that the Canadians met their labor 

 situation by eliminating non-essential things, and by placing greater 

 emphasis upon essential things; and that is one of the things that we 

 have to do in this country at the present time. 



I have been impressed by the talks that have been made here to- 

 night, but nothing has impressed me more than the emphasis which 

 has been placed upon the responsibility of the home folks. It lias been 

 about eight months since we went to war, last April. At that time the 

 Russian people had overthrown the czar. We had high hopes that 

 those Rurosians would go ahead and do their part to help win the pres- 

 ent conflict; but they have fallen down not because of any dissension 

 in the army, but because they did not get any support back home. The 

 army has been the last of all to break up and capitulate. iWe have 

 recently seen the Italian army forced back on their own home ground, 



1 believs largely because they did not have the necessary supplies in 

 order to stand upon the battle line. In other words, the people back 

 home, for some reason or other, were unable to supply the troops at 

 the front with the necessary help. I suspect that similar conditions 

 might exist in France were it not for the support that the United States 

 and other countries have given them in the way of food and supplies. 

 I am mentioning these things to call your attention to this point. The 

 army of the United States is going to give a good account of itself, 

 and we are going to demand of these young fellows who go to the 

 front the very highest grade of patriotism and bravery; but there 

 is not a particle more responsibility resting upon them than upon the 

 folks at home, and we must organize in order to support them. We 

 are just as morally responsible to sacrifice our own time and pleasure, 

 and our own money, if need be, in order to support these boys, if they 

 are to give a good account of themselves when they get on the western 

 front, and that is the thing we must do. Merely because we live in a 

 free country does not mean that we are going to beat the Prussians, not 



