LOOKING FOBWAKD 405 



of the hundredth meridian is competent to 

 furnish a living for a family of workers, if the 

 workers be intelligent as well as industrious. 

 Farm lands are each year being brought closer 

 to markets by steam and electric roads ; tele- 

 phone and telegraphic wires give immediate ser- 

 vice ; and the daily distribution of mails brings 

 the producer into close touch with the consumer. 

 The day of isolation and seclusion has passed, 

 and the farmer is a personal factor in the mar- 

 ket. He is learning the advantages of coopera- 

 tion, both in producing and in disposing of his 

 w r ares; he has paid off his mortgage and has 

 money in the bank ; he is a power in politics, 

 and by far the most dependable element in the 

 state. Like the wrestler of old, who gained new 

 strength whenever his foot touched the ground, 

 our country gains fresh vigor from every man who 

 takes to the soil. 



In preaching a hejira to the country, I do not 

 forget the interests of the children. Let no one 

 dread country life for the young until they come 

 to the full pith and stature of maturity ; for 

 their chances of doing things worth doing in the 

 world are four to one against those of children 

 who are city-bred. Four-fifths of the men and 

 women who do great things are country-bred. 

 This is out of all proportion to the birth-rate as 

 between country and city, and one is at a loss to 

 account for the disproportion, unless it is to be 

 credited to environment. Is it due to pure air 



