MARKET METHODS AND PROBLEMS 565 



brought the price down to $25, then to $20, then to $15, then to $10, 

 and just now to $7 . 50 a ton. Now, multiply these instances as they 

 occur on the farms of the North, and of the South, and of the East, 

 and of the West, and what are we doing ? We are squeezing out the 

 life and the spirit of this nation, the better things that go to make a 

 republic, that go to make a great and mighty nation. 



Were the founders of the Republic here, the fathers of the Revo- 

 lution, were they to see our conduct in this respect, they would not 

 hesitate to denominate this as political hypocrisy. We are simply 

 selling our birthright for a mess of pottage. Before we may make 

 our country a strong and enduring political entity we must make 

 strong the conservative element in the United States, the producer, 

 so that he may be a match, an equal match, in the political tug of 

 war with the city progressive, the consumer, the city radical. This, 

 and this alone, will make a strong and enduring Republic. If we leave 

 this undone, then all the warships and all the navy and all the army, 

 however grand and strong, will not save the Republic. But if we 

 balance equally the strength of the country conservative with the city 

 progressive we make a great nation, not great in bombast, but great 

 in reality. That is the secret of the strength of Germany. 



MR. SMITH: As I understand it, then, the object is to procure an 

 equitable distribution of agricultural products through well-directed 

 intelligence to employ the best means for the placing of the surplus 

 crops in the localities where they are needed. 



MR. LUBIN: Yes; intelligent and equitable distribution. 



MR. SMITH: I think I now understand what you mean. 



