1890.] PUBLIC DOCUMENT — No. 4. 169 



the community from that of any other industry. By the 

 production of crops and the production of domestic animals 

 all civilized countries are fed, and in the march of improve- 

 ment and discovery we can scarcely hope that any other 

 chief source of food supply will ever be discovered or de- 

 vised. We must believe that in the future, as in all the 

 past ages, the form must supply the daily bread. This fact, 

 of itself, were there no others, would be sufficient reason 

 why a nation without agriculture could not be as strong 

 as a neighbor which produced sufficient food for its own 

 citizens. 



In regard to the other productive industries, and espe- 

 cially in manufactures, this or that object may drop out 

 of use or new articles come in ; changes take place in the 

 method of production as well as in the object produced ; 

 changes may take place in the objects and methods of trade 

 in any community ; but the farm and the farmer must ever 

 remain of the same supreme importance to the community, 

 because they feed the people. 



In times of peace and with modern means of transporta- 

 tion, communities may now be fed from a distance, as was 

 not possible in all the previous ages. Nevertheless, the fact 

 remains that an independent food supply is a prime source of 

 strength. No nation can be permanently strong that has 

 not an assured food supply. It must either produce its nec- 

 essary food upon its own farms, or else it must be not only 

 rich enough to buy it from elsewhere, but also strong enough 

 to defend it from possible enemies while in transit. 



An over-crowded land depending for any considerable 

 portion of its food upon other nations has within it an ele- 

 ment of weakness standing ever as a menace to the stability 

 of the government itself. But one country in the world to- 

 day is prosperous under such conditions, and that is pros- 

 pei'ous only because of its supreme naval strength. This 

 has made it possible for its commerce to continually in- 

 crease, at the very time its agriculture has suffered. But 

 that country has doubtless passed its zenith of relatjve 

 strength, and what will be the future of England is a prob- 

 lem for the future to solve. 



