ADDRESS j OF D. F. HOUSTON Secretary of Agriculture BEFORE THE Governors' Conference, Annapolis, Md. December 16, 1918 UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE CIRCULAR L33 OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY WaabiDgton, D. C. WASHINOTON QOVEH ^0"Oiff«ph K h e^^^-A 23 mn ADDRESS OF D. F. HOUSTON, Secretary of Agriculture,' BEFORK THE (iOV EKNORS' CONFERENCE AT ANNAPOLIS, MD., DECEMBER 16. 1918. (toveknor Edge. Your ExcELLENt jes. Ladiks am) (ikntlemen : I more than gladly subscribe to everything Secretary Baker has said in expressing appreciation of the cooperation of the Governors of tlie various States. I have contracted the habit of cooperating with (Tovernors and the agencies under their direction. I suspect that the Department of Agriculture, both under terms of law and informally, cooperates with State officers in more enterprises than Miiy other two departments of the Federal Government; and it has interested me no little that within the last five years a definite policy of cooperation between the States and the Federal Government has grown up. a policy which carries large promise and seems to suggest the way out of some of the difficulties of double jurisdiction. FEDERAL AND STATE COOPERATION. Shortly after 1 came to Washington the Smitli-Lever Agricultural Education or Farm Demonstration Act was passed, under the terms of which the great State colleges of agriculture and the Department of Agricultuiv cooperate in aiding the farmer and in improving rural life. Under the teiTns of this measure these agencies are required to make plans in advance and to execute them jointly. AVe. therefore, have the picture of these two great agencies constantly collaborating, working according to definite plans and no longer looking at one another across an imaginary line wilh hostility and jealousy. This act was followed by the Federal-aid road act. under the terms of which the Department of Agriculture yschological blunders ; but her greatest blunder was in thinking that anything the assassins of the sea, the submarines, could do to help her would be at all comparable to what this Nation could do to hurt her. She seemed to have the idea many people had, that this Nation, going about its business in an orderly fashion^ was not a dangerous Nation; that it was committed irrevocably to a policy of peace; that its mind was unalterably pacific. She ought to have learned a lesson from the past. The German rulers ought to have remembered that only two generations ago, when we were still a primitive people, doing things on a very small scale, still questioning whether we would be one nation or two, the two sections divided against each other, we raised two armies then either of which could have overcome any other army in the world. They ought to have known that, while we were not organized for war, while we were weak at the top, we were stronger than any other nation. It almost overwhelms one to contemplate the outcome and its results. You will agree with me that apparently one of the most firmly fixed things in the world a few years ago was the Romanoff dynasty in Russia. It has disappeared. Even more firmly fixed, perhaps, were the Hohenzollerns in Germany; and they have gone. The Hapsburgs of Austria and a-11 the little princes and potentates have gone. The injuries to France are about to be redressed; the wrongs done to the Poles are to be righted ; the rule of the Turks in Europe is ended; Palestine, after centuries, has been recovered to Christianity; and the lesson has been taught to arbitrary rulers or national bandits everywhere that international law is a reality, that ADDRESS OF D. F. HOUSTON AT GOVERNORS CONFERENCE. 5 treaties are not mere scraps of paper, and that the little nation, as well as the big, will have its rights respected. Our rights have been vindicated and our freedom has been safe- guarded. Great things have been accomplished. But unless we go further and make certain that a similar disaster shall not again overtake the world, and that the combined forces of civilized nations shall be ready at any moment to teach national bandits their place, the sacrifices of our boys in France, especially of those who have given their lives,. and of all our people at home will, in a measure, have been in vaiu. Without effective concert of action on the part of the free and enlightened nations, four things of vast importance, so far as I can see, can not be secured. This concert of action seems to me to be a prerequisite for freedom of the seas, for disarmament, for the relief of the world from the burdens of militarism, and more than that, from the burden of the militarist, and for the dealing by nations in equitable fashion with backward territories and peoples. To secure the requisite conclusion in this matter is the first and most important task confronting our peace commissioners in Paris. Shall we not hold up their hands and give them such assistance as may be within our power ? CLEAR THINKING NEEDED. In the meantime we here at home have our tasks. In this, as in other times of great change, there is no little disturbance, confusion, unrest, and misapprehension. People are constantly violating a maxim which each man might to great advantage keep in mind. It is one of Mark Twain's best bits of philosophy. It runs : " Never get more out of an experience than there is in it." He illustrates it by saying that a cat which has sat on a hot stove lid will never sit on a hot stove lid again, but that the trouble with the cat is that thereafter it will not even sit on a cold stove lid. I had occasion recently to try this maxim on a vei-y attractive Englishman. When I repeated the maxim he looked puzzled. When I added the first part of the illustration. "A cat which has sat on a hot stove lid will never sit on a hot stove lid again," he quickly remarked : " Oh, rather." That seemed to be all he could get out of it. There is much confused thinking on uiatters with wliicli the De- partment of Agriculture deals. Many alarmist reports as to the present food situation and as to the world's future food supplies are appearing. Some of the confusion would bo reuioved if people would distinguish between present needs and supplies and the i)rob- able needs and supplies after the next harvests. We are now con- cerned with available food supplies and present needs. The world 6 CIRC. 133, OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY, U. S. DEPT. OF AGR. for the next 8 or 10 months must live largely on what has been pro- duced. The question is as to the adequacy of the supplies to meet the current needs of the world. FARMERS EXCEEDED PREVIOUS RECORDS. This country at present is well circumstanced in respect to its supplies. No section of the American people did a better job than the farmers and the agencies assisting them during the course of the war. When we entered the war in 1917, our food situation was not satisfactory. We were at the beginning of the planting season. Many farmers had begun to plant. They realized that many men would be taken from the fields and naturally became apprehensive. Each morning for a time when I reached my office I would find stacks of telegrams from producers telling me it would be impossible for them to carry on their operations to feed this Nation and to help feed the allies. As a matter of fact, however, the farmers the first year of the war planted 22,000,000 more acres than in the year preceding our entry into it, and 35,000,000 acres more than during the five- year prewar average. They bettered this record in 1918, in spite of the difficulties and confusions, and secured yields which were beyond the average the Nation had ever before secured. I do not intend to weary you with figures, but I know of no other way of indicating what was accomplished than by reviewing the statistics for some of the leading products. It is estimated that the farmers produced in 1918 5,638,000,000 bushels of the principal cereals, as against 4,792,000,000 in 1916, and an average of 4,883,000,000 for the five-year prewar period. Of to- bacco, they produced 1,267,000,000 pounds, as against 991,000,000 pounds for the five-year average. They produced 917,000,000 bushels of wheat as against 728,000,000 for the five-year average, 650,000,000 in 1917, and 636,000,000 in 1916. They harvested record crops of oats, 1,535,000,000 bushels in 1918, and 1,587,000,000 in 1917, with a peace average of 1,157,000,000. They increased the number of horses over that of 1914, 600,000 ; of mules, 375,000 ; of milch cows, 2,500,000 ; of other cattle, 7,600,000; and of hogs, nearly 12,500,000. They pro- duced 8,500,000,000 pounds of beef in 1918, as against 6,000,000,000 in 1914; 10,500,000,000 of pork, as against 8,750,000,000; of milk, 8,500,000,000 gallons, as against 7,500,000,000; of eggs, 1,921,000,000, as against 1,750,000,000; and of poultry, 589,000,000, as against 544,000,000. The value of farm products, on the basis of existing prices, is estimated at about $24,500,000,000, as compared with $12,650,000,000 for 1914, and $11,700,000,000 for the five-year av- erage. This increased financial showing does not mean that the Nation is that much better off. We should have to look for the real ADDRESS OF D. F. HOUSTON AT GOVERNORS CONFERENCE. l gain in terms of bushels and pounds ; but it does mean that the re- turns of the farmer kept pace with increasing prices in the com- munity at large. THE GOVERNMENT AND GUARANTEED WHEAT PRICES. In respect to wheat, we are experiencing some embarrassment. The question is how the Government will effectuate its guarantee. As you know, the Government, in order to stimulate the production of wheat, fixed a minimum guaranteed price. That guaranteed price is $2.26, No. 1, Chicago. Now, the farmers planted more wheat in 1917 than in any preceding year, with.one exception. They planted over 5,000,000 acres more in 1918 than in 1917; and this fall they have sown 49.000,000 acres, which is 7,000,000 more than the record acreage for the fall of 1917. The condition of this fall wheat in December was 98..5 per cent, as against 79 per cent and 85 per cent in 1917 and 191G, respectively. On the basis of these figures, the esti- mated winter wheat crop is 760.000,000 bushels, which, with an average spring wheat crop, would give us at least 1,000,000,000 bushels in 1919. Remember that this wheat will not come into the market until next summer and fall. We shall need for domestic use about 650,000,000 bushels. Will the world take our surplus wheat at the price guaranteed by the Government? Now, I am not wise enough to say just what the world will need from us in the way of food a year from now. England increased her production during the- war. France increased her production this year over last. The Belgian farmers have been working. Nearly all Belgium was behind the German lines, (xermany left nothing un- done and is apparently in better circumstances with respect to food than some of us imagined. Southeastern Aastria has considerable food. There are supplies in southern Russia. The pj-obleui there is partly one of mobilizing local supplies and of transporting and dis- tributing them. It does not require a prophet to say that the Euro- pean nations will exert themselves to the very utmost this year to produce things in respect to which they can get a promj)! response. England will not let down. France will extend her operations. The States of Austria and Italy will, as far as they can. extend theirs, as will also Belgium and others. Shipping is opening up. Several hundred thousand tons of shipping will Ihj released within the next few months. Australia has reserves of food supplies and her crop is promising, as are the crops of Argentina and Algeria. I can not flatly assert that we shall lose anything in making good our guarantee. We may lose millions of dollars. But I do say that in order to effectuate the guarantee. Congress should make available to the proper agency a fund of not less than $()00,000.0()(). bef^ause 8 CIRC. 133, OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY, U. S. DEPT. OF AGR. the market price at which the world will take wheat may be from 25 cents to a dollar less than that guaranteed, and the Government may have to purchase and sell the entire crop. I am assuming that it will not be deemed good public policy to try to keep the price above the market price, and that the Government will not attempt to do so. We can not return to a normal condition if the Government attempts artificially to keep up prices. To do so would involve great hardships, also, and necessitate a continuance of restrictions on an impatient people. Of course, I need not repeat that the Government will have to make good the guarantee. LAND AND THE RETURNING SOLDIER. Secretary Baker has spoken of the return of the Army. What we can do for the boys who return is in all our minds. I do not know just what they will want us to do for them. A great many of them will not want us to do anything in the way of assisting them to find a task or a job. A Canadian representative was in Washington not very long ago, and knowing that Canada had been in the war for 4 years and that many of her men had come back who could work and were not going in the army again, I asked him what his experience had been in finding places for such men. He said that 90 per cent of them did not want to be bothered at all, and that they had the task of looking after only about 10 per cent. We may have a larger percentage to care for. There may be many men who have been working in munition factories, who have not. been abroad, whom the communities and States should assist. That we shall be able satis- factorily to take care of them all, I think few of us doubt. The truth is we think too much about this country in terms of to-day. I won- der how many of you remember that between 1900 and 1915 we gained 24,000,000 people. We took care of them. Since the European war broke out, it is estimated that we gained a population of 3.200.000, which is just about equal to the number we sent abroad and had in the camps. Now, we shall gain a million or more a year for the next 15 or 20 years; and we shall take care of them. We are still pioneering this country. We have about 370,000,000 acres of land actually in cultivation and 1,100,000,000 acres of tillable land. I know of several States in the Union in which you could almost lose a million people. States which would be glad to get that many. Let me hasten to say that our present emergency task is not an easy one. It is not always an easy thing for people who want land to acquire it. I am thoroughly sympathetic with any rational plan of land settlement that either the States or the Federal Government can devise; and I believe that land settlement has for too long a time been either without direction or in the hands of irresponsible pro- ADDRESS OF D. F. HOUSTON AT GOVERNORS CONFERENCE. 9 moters and private agencies. And I need not say to the Governors assembled here that it would not be a kindness to induce men who have no experience to go into farming without giving them assistance in the early stages of their enterprise. Farming is one of the most difficult undertakings I Imow ; and nobody needs to know as much as the farmer, unless it be a Governor or a member of a legislative body. If the States could create an agency which would give to the people of the Nation seeking homes reliable information, the facts and nothing but the facts, as to available lands and the opportunities afforded, I believe they would render a great service not only to them- selves but also to all the Nation. For a long time we have been giving very systematic attention to agriculture and fostering agencies intended to assist the farmers. We began to do so a long time ago. The two most significant agencies in this country, or for that matter in the world, laboring to improve rural life, are the colleges of agriculture on the one hand and the Federal department on the other. The foundations of both were laid in the time of another great crisis, during the Civil War. The laws which were influential in developing them bore the signature of Abraham Lincoln, who, in the circumstances, might easily have said that the time was not opportune for such legislation and for the Nation to embark on such plans for spending money. But Lincoln was not an opportunist; he was a statesman, and he approved the bill. These agencies have slowly but steadily grown and expanded, and to-day, in point of personnel, financial support, and effectiveness, they excel those of any other three nations in the world combined. RECENT HELPFUL LEGISLATION. The last few years have been very fruitful of helpful legislation, State and Federal, in the field of agriculture. In 1914 the coopera- tive agricultural extension act was enacted. It is one of the greatest single pieces of educational legislation of which I have knowledge. It has resulted in the creation of a force, under the joint direction of the colleges of agriculture and the Federal department, without parallel elsewhere in the world as an educational extension agency. Since we entered the war, this force has been greatly increased. At the beginning of 1917 it embraced about 1,700 trained men and women. With the funds provided in the food-production act, sup- plemented by additional State and local contrilbutions, the number was increased to about 5,000; and all these trained men and women have been working day in and day out, aiding the farmer in every possible way. Another important measure is the Federal-aid road act, under which, as you know, the department is cooperating with your State highway commissions. Others are the farm loan, the grain standards, the cotton futures, and the Federal warehouse acts. 10 OIRC. 133, OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY, U. S. DEPT. OF AGR. There is still other constructive legislation which I shall not take time to mention. There has been persistent constructive effort on the part of the department and the colleges under their regular authorizations and appropriations. During the last generation, espe- cially, many of the best minds of the Nation have been eagerly study- ing rural problems and working along very many helpful lines. I apprehend, therefore, that not many meritorious, novel proposals of great significance affecting agriculture are likely to be made. I believe that in this field we face not reconstruction, nor any revo- lutionary program, but rather the task of selection and emphasis and of further constructive undertakings. I have recently offered a number of suggestions which 1 believe will be highly helpful if they are adopted, if they receive the support both of the Federal Government and of the States. Some of these are of direct interest to you for many reasons. They concern you especially because they will necessitate action on the part of the State authorities and possibly further appropriations. EXTENSION AND ROAD ACTS. I have in mind first the continuance of our extension Avork ap- proximately on its present scale and the retention of the efficient members of the existing force. I have already pointed out that it was greatly increased during the war. I am sure that this agency has increasingly demonstrated its value. One concrete evidence of this is that the farmers themselves, through their local bureaus and other county authorities, are making local funds available to meet part of the salary of the agents. It seems to me it would be a serious mistake to disband the part of the force built up under emergency conditions. Most of the men and women added have demonstrated their value and have acquired familiarity with their tasks and valu- able experience. The agricultural extension act provides for suc- cessive annual increases of funds until ,1922-23. I believe that we should not only anticipate these annual increases, but make such other provisions as will obviate the necessity of partially disorganizing the machinery. I am convinced also that we should not only resume in full measure, as promptly as possible, under the terms of the Federal-aid road act, the construction of good roads which was interrupted by the war, but that we should make ampler provision for vigorousl}^ carrying this work forAvard. We now have available, out of balances accru- ing during the two years of the war and from the appropriations for the present fiscal year, togetlier with amounts pledged by the States, over and above what is required to meet the terms of the act, approx- imately $70,000,000. I believe it would be good policy to make ADDRESS OF D. F. HOUSTON AT GOVERNORS* CONFERENCE. 11 further provision not only because of the great inniportance of good roads to all the people of the Nation, but also because there will probably be unemployment in some directions during the coming year or years, and because I know of no other sort of public work which the Nation can undertake with a clearer certainty of adetjuate benefit. IMPROVING RURAL HEALTH. There is another matter of vast importance I have had on my mind for many years which I believe should receive tlie careful considera- tion of Federal and State authorities. I refer to the matter of im- proving rural health. I believe the time has come for eti'ective legis- lation and action on the part of the two authorities in this direction. The Secretary of War a short time ago referred to the physical disabilities under which a higli percentage of the boys entering the Army labored. I do not think we can afford to neglect anything which will remedy the condition which the figures reveal. . Is it not true that the advantages of modern medical science have accrued somewhat more fully to urban communities than to the rural? We know that to-day cities not only have the benefit of the services of the best medical practitioners of every sort, including specialists, but also of nurses, of modern hospitals, of clinics both for pay and free patients, and of sanitary surveys and medical inspection. Our rural communities are not so fortunate. They are afflicted with many preventable diseases, and they lack the requisite provision in the way of hospitals and nursing facilities. I know, of course, that it is difficult to provide these things where population is less dense, but the difficulties of such a task should simply incite us to efforts to overcome them. In some sections of the country many millions of people suffer from malarial diseases, from typhoid fever, from the hookworm, from tuberculosis, and from other maladies. I referred to this matter in my annual report to the President, and urged consideration of and action upon it at the earliest possible moment. I have been very much interested to note that a bill has just been introduced into Congress providing for cooperation between the Federal Government and the States in the matter of improving rural health along lines similar to those provided for in the agricul- tural extension bill. I take the liberty of suggesting the importance of this matter to this Governors' conference and of asking tliat it receive their earnest attention. AGRICULTURAL REGULATORY LAWS. There is another matter of which I speak with more diffidence and hesitation. I refer to the condition existing in the States in respect to the agencies dealing with regulatory laws bearing on agriculture. 12 CIRC. 133, OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY, U. S. DEPT. OF AGR. It SO happens that I am called upon to administer many Federal laws in this field, laws which vitally affect the people of the States and the Nation. I administer the food and drugs act and many- quarantine laws. I am engaged in efforts, in cooperation with your State officers, to relieve the farmers from many unnecessary burdens imposed by animal disease. I find no little difficulty in securing effective joint action for three reasons: First, because in many of the States the jurisdictions of the different agencies dealing with agricultural matters are not well defined; second, because the powers are dispersed among a number of administrative bodies ; and, third, because in some of the States the agency having the power has not the requisite funds. It has occurred to me that there would be great gain and larger service to the people if each State would make sure that the jurisdic- tion of the agricultural college and the administrative agricultural establishments were clearly defined. I believe that the agricultural colleges should be permitted to do the research and educational work within and without the college, and that there should be built up 'a great, strong State department of agriculture embracing all the ad- ministrative agencies dealing with agriculture with powers purelj?^ of an administrative and regulatory nature. This is the next great step to take to complete the official organization of agriculture. I am convinced that it would lead to more sympathetic understanding on the part of the various State agencies and harmonious coopera- tion, and that it would very greatly simplify the tasks of the Federal department where State powers are involved. This very important matter has received the careful attention of the Association of State Commissioners of Agriculture and of the Association of Agricul- tural Colleges. I understand that they have come to a satisfactory conclusion in the matter and have arrived at a common mind. FARMING MUST BE PROFITABLE AND RURAL LIFE ATTRACTIVE. There continues to be much discussion of a back-to-the-farm move- ment. Every intelligent man will give sympathetic encouragement to any intelligent and well-directed movement to facilitate settlement in rural districts of people who desire to enter farming and who have the requisite experience and training to make their venture success- ful. The larger thing, however, is to keep in the rural districts and on the farms those who are already there. This can be done and can only be done by omitting nothing to make farming profitable and rural life agreeable and attractive. Farming, of course, must pay. Farmers must consider their bank balance just as other business men do. I had assumed that these were obvious facts. I see many articles which seem to carry the implication that there should be no limit to the farming population at any particular time. ADDRESS OF D. F. HOUSTON AT GOVERNORS' CONFERENCE. 13 Of course, there is room in this country for more farmers. There will be more and more need for an increased number of farm owners as population expands. But we must clearly recognize that, in the long run, there will be onl}^ just as many people in the rural districts as. are necessary to produce the supplies the Nation and the world will take at a remunerative price. Clearly, those who have a respon- sibility in reference to food production must bear this principle in mind, and must be guided by it in making any suggestions bearing upon the increase in production. We must omit nothing to facilitate the increase in the number of farm owners and to hasten the process from tenancy to ownership. We must continue our efforts to relieve the farmers of the burden of waste from preventable diseases, both of human beings and of animals. We shall continue to do everything possible to promote soil improvement, better processes of cultivation, and especially to improve the marketing and distribution of farm products. There are difficult problems in every field of agriculture, but more unsolved problems in the field of marketing than in any other. The Federal Government has created an effective Bureau of Markets which is doing much to aid the producers, but the problem is a vast and complex one. There will be needed for its solution the thinking of the best minds throughout the Nation ; and it seems to me that the States can afford to do their part by the creation of State bureaus of markets which may cooperate effectively with that of the Federal Government. SETTING OUR NATIONAL HOUSE IN ORDER. We are noW' engaged in the great task of building a clean, strong, national household from cellar to attic. This is one worthy national aspiration about wdiich there can be no difference of opinion. We owe it to all our people to realize it. We owe it especially to the boys who have offered their lives to preserve our freedom, to enable us to pursue our activities in peace. We know with what spirit and unity the people of the Nation served during the war. It was my privilege to go about the country and to mingle with them. I found everywhere a grim determination to vindicate our rights; but I found more than this. I saw manifested everywhere a spirit which reminded me more than anything else of the spirit of crusaders. There was no difference in any part of the country. I found it in the East in the moi-e prosperous regions, and I found it in the West in distressed and stricken sections. I remember being in Montana in September in the very heart of a region that was sadly distressed. I was in a town on the very rim of the plateau overlooking the Glacier National Park. It was a little town, a new town, but the people were proud of it. I have never 14 CIRC. 133, OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY, U. S. DEPT. OF AGR. found anywhere a finer spirit among American citizens than I found there. I was sitting one evening in the hotel waiting for the train. A man came in and sat down to talk to me. I thought perhaps he had something to ask or some complaint to make. He did not seem to be very prosperous. I soon found, however, that there was only one thought uppermost in his mind and that was the winning of the war. I discovered that I could tell him little about the causes of the war, its meaning, or its progress. As I was leaving he said : " I have three boys in France, and I want them to stay there until this job is finished once for all. I can scarcely expect to get them all back. Of course, I should like to get them all back. I hope, in any event, that I may get two or one of them ; but Avhatever happens, it will be their contribution to the cause of civilization and to the future welfare of this Xation." Some time before this I traveled about the country with an humble French officer. After he left me he went into the far XortliAvestern States to speak. AVhen he came back he said that he must tell me of an incident that occurred. He was speaking in Boise. He said that a ranchman came up to him and told him he had traveled 500 miles to see a French uniform. He added : " Before my country entered the Avar my son went to Canada and volunteered. He fought for nearly two years with the Canadians. A few months ago I got news of his death. Here is a card I have received showing the village where they tell me he is buried. This cross indicates his grave." The French soldier said to him : '"' My friend, you take this very bravely." " Well," said the ranchman, " this is no time for weakness, but when this war is over I shall go to France, find that grave if I can, and lie down on it, and have a good cry." The French soldier told me that two nights later he was speaking in Portland; Oreg., and that when he finished this same man came up to greet him. He asked him what he was doing there, and the man replied that he was going to stay with him as long as he was in that section. The French soldier himself was deeplj^ impressed with the spirit and ideals of our people, and he told me one of the most beautiful stories I have heard to illustrate the perception of this spirit by the French people. He said that one day he heard two of his soldiers from the country districts of France talking. He heard one of them say : '' They tell me the Maid of Orleans heard voices. Do you sup- pose it is true? " The other shrugged his shoulders, turned to the lieutenant, and asked what he thought about it. He said : " ^Yho knows? She must have heard some sort of a voice. She had an inspiration to lead her country to freedom and deliverance." He said the soldier then asked: "Do you think the voice can still be heard?" And before he could answer the clear notes of an American ADDRESS OF D. F. HOUSTON AT GOVERNORS' CONFERENCE. 15 bugle rang out over the valleys of Lorraine, and he said: "Listen; the voices can still be heard." May we not hope that the same spirit of patriotism and miity may animate our people in dealing with the vexatious problems of peace confronting us. Our Nation and its institutions were well worth fighting for. Now that we have safeguarded its freedom and as- sured ourselves of an opportunity to continue our national improve- ment, shall we not carry this same fine spirit into the gi^at work that lies ahead of us^ THE AMERICANIZATION OF SOME AMERICANS. Let us especially see to it that the people who have more recently come among us, having experience with governments and conditions greatly differing from ours, shall be brought to a knowledge of the spirit, meaning, and value of our democracy. Too many of them have little or no conception of what democracy means. They think too much in terms of their former homes and experiences. There they were fighting for the most elementary rights of men, and felt it nec- essary to resort at times to violence to secure something from arbi- trary rulers. Unfortunately, too, tliere are those of long remdence here with confused minds, ignorant or mischievous, who are busily engaged in making false representations and who may mislead the newcomers especially. There is no little evidence of at least a temporary emer- gence of a class spirit. Not a few are preaching the doctrine of S3''ndicalism and some of violence. I do not believe in class govern- ment. I believe in government by all the people and for all the people. Our representative institutions are not perfect and will be im- proved; but I believe that they furnish the best foundations of gov- ernment in the world and that, through them, our peo^ile can realize their worthy aims. Class government is the antithesis of democracy. Democracy arose as the result of a fight to put down one class. I do not believe that the people will ))ermit the dominance of any other class in this day and time. P>very good cause can get a liearing in America and those who advocate it have an opportunity to attempt to persuade the peojile to their way of thinking. If they can do so they can secure what they wish at the ballot; and there is. therefore, no place in this country for any misguided minority Avhich would seek to impose its law on the majority by resorting to violence. Not the least important problem confronting us is the American- ization of a considerable fraction of the American people ; and I believe that the Governors of the several States of the L^^nion have a peculiar opportunity in this direction to render a service of enormous value to their States and to the Nation. mmmZ °'' CONGRESS .iiii. ADDITIONAL COPIES OF THIS PUBLICATION MAY BE PROCURED FROM THE SUPERINTENDENT OF DOCUMENTS GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE WASHINGTON, D. C. AT 5 CENTS PER COPY