102 THE FARMER AND THE NEW DAY 



to direct the flow of its waters for good rather than for 

 evil. The mere effort to work together for common 

 ends of itself gathers people together for cooperating 

 effort. The history of every well directed farmers' 

 organization or public agency proves the value of a 

 policy. The next step is simply to gain the larger co- 

 operation in place of the partial. 



A Policy Undesirable. There will be those who 

 will go so far as to say that a real policy is undesirable, 

 and they will point to autocratic Germany. They 

 claim that a nation cannot have a real policy and ac- 

 tually carry it out unless it exercises autocratic power, 

 a thing not only impossible in America, but even if it 

 were feasible, would be mischievous because it would 

 make automatons of farmers. Here again we must 

 reach the middle ground of common sense and prac- 

 ticability. When we leave the shores of the present 

 chaos of unregarded effort, in agriculture, we do not 

 necessarily seek the haven of enforced militaristic regu- 

 lation of individual endeavor. We rather seek to en- 

 list the intelligence, the self-interest and the patriotism 

 of the farmers, and the agencies which they have cre- 

 ated, in behalf of a well-planned, economic, cooperat- 

 ing, stimulating campaign for improved conditions. 



A Policy Essential. We see no escape from the 

 conclusion that the time is upon us when we must make 

 some sort of policy for agriculture. The need of it 

 was apparent in many minds even before the war, but 

 the New Day makes an imperative demand that so- 

 ciety shall plan for its future good and plan carefully 

 and intelligently and immediately. It would be tragic 

 were our American farmers and rural agencies to fail 

 to learn the most obvious lessons of the war. 



Whom to Consider. It is exceedingly important in 



