134 APPENDIX 



ducts exported in the year approximated $145,000,000 

 (£29,000,000) against $181,000,000 (£36,200,000) in 

 1908 and $209,000,000 (£41, 800,000) in 1906. 



" Breadstuffs exported in 191 2, while showing a larger 

 total than in 1911, are far below those of earlier years, 

 the total for the calendar year 19 12 approximating 

 5165,000,000 (£33,000,000), against $215,000,000 

 (£43,000,000) in 1007 and $277,000,000 (£55,400,000) in 

 1901." 



In 1900, to put the comparison on the basis of the 

 Census figures, breadstuffs and foodstuffs constituted 

 40 per cent, and io-8 per cent, of total exports, and in 

 1910 21-5 per cent, and 7-6 per cent. 



But enough has been said to establish the importance 

 of the rural reform movement. If American civilisation 

 is not to become onesided, if commercial and social 

 development is to be orderly, the tendency towards 

 excessive urbanism must be checked, and the produc- 

 tivity of the soil must be enhanced. It is illogical that 

 the United States should already be confronted with the 

 problems of an overcrowded industrial State ; that their 

 towns should be filled with an indigested, underpaid, 

 and restless proletariat, while their farms are short of 

 labour and the acreage of unimproved land runs into 

 hundreds of thousands. Nor is the public any longer 

 unaware of the dangers and inconveniences of the situa- 

 tion. There has been a widespread tendency during the 

 past year to shift the blame for high prices from the 

 tariff to the farm, and contemporary industrial unrest 

 has made of " excessive urbanism " a national bogey. 

 Unfortunately, as will be shown in another article, the 

 movement has yet to crystallise into a definite and 

 accepted plan. 



II— THE FARMER'S POSITION 



The proofs given in the previous article of the stagnancy 

 of American agriculture must, to many people, appear 



