NATIONAL AID 



the country, living in calm content and form- 

 ing almost the entire wealth and population of 

 the Union, constitute the truly conservative 

 element in our politics. The men of the city, 

 living in the midst of excitements political, 

 social, monetary and moral too often feed 

 these baneful causes of national ruin, to wit: 

 Speculation, luxury, effeminacy, political cor- 

 ruption and personal ambition. . . . Agricul- 

 ture is the cause and evidence of true living ; 

 for where tillage begins, barbarism ends and 

 the various arts commence. When agriculture 

 prospers, all other interests prosper. When 

 this fails, depression, panic and ruin ensue. 

 . . . The United States is, and must always 

 remain, an agricultural nation." 



While the developments of recent years 

 show very clearly that the United States is 

 something other than an agricultural nation, 

 the manufacturing and strictly commercial in- 

 terests having risen to colossal proportions, 

 yet, in essence, the commissioner was right. 

 America is as dependent as ever upon agricul- 

 ture today, as dependent as it must always 

 remain. The establishment of the Department 

 of Agriculture, though a tardy act, was yet in 



353 



