THE NEW ERA IN POLITICS 271 



being out of harmony with our traditions, they are 

 of the veiy essence of that freedom that lies at the 

 heart of our achievements in industry, in commerce, 

 and in the whole economic field. Free land explains 

 the first three centuries of our life. Free access to 

 opportunity is the one big factor that has changed 

 the immigrant peasant of Ireland, Scotland, Scandi- 

 navia, Italy, or Germany into the free-minded 

 American citizen. And it is in those fields of en- 

 deavor where freedom is still preserved that Ameri- 

 can ingenuity and American skill have made the 

 most remarkable advances. 



And agriculture waits on a programme of freedom 

 — freedom of access to the land, freedom of access 

 to transportation and marketing and cheap and 

 adequate credit. With these assured we can safely 

 rely on the desires of men to take them to the land, 

 as it has for thousands of years, in every country 

 and in every clime, when opportunity was open to 

 them. 



