The Sunday Oregonian., September 20, 1908, Magazine Section, Page 2, Image 50

THE SUNDAY OREGOXIAN, PORTLAND, SEPTEMBER 20, 1908.
.P3iV Tf 1
0 It.
PRESIDENT ROOSEVELTS COMMISS
ION AND THE COMPLEX PROBLEMS
THEY" WILL UNDERTAKE TO SOLVE
. EOPL.E who have had best opportu
ne nittes to know and understand Theo
do re Roosevelt have said that his
great distinguishing, dominating Intellec
tual characteristic la his highly developed
social sense. It la this that makes him
resolve all problems of government and
administration Into terms of ethics: that
makes him preach sermons In state papers
and from the stump: that Inspires his
marvelous resourcefulness of Ideas for
bettering the condition of his fellow-man
that leads bun Instinctively to gather
around him men who understand what he
Is trying to do, and sympathise with the
ambition.
It la this dominating social sense that
moves him one day to order prosecution
of soma aggregation of selfish Interests
which he has become convinced is un
social; on the next, to press for passage
legislation to prevent discrimination by
public service corporations; tho next, to
cull a congress of Governors to consider
the immense problem of conserving natu
ral resources; and that, finally, has re
cently moved him to appoint a commission
of experts for the study of means to im
prove country life, to make it better.
fuller, broader and more attractive.
The project thus stated may seem a bit
vague and academic, but resolved Into Its
elements it Is a great enterprise, which in
' its development will be found to involve
the most practical handling of a number
of specifla problems. It Is in one way a
corollary to the proposal for effective con
servation of natural wealth: but it Is a
more complex and difficult problem be
cause it involves dealing with people
rather than with things, with souls rather
than with acres and corporations.
Reforms That Will Be Attempted.
This problem of the farm and Its eco
nomics and Its life has for a long time
been Interesting the President. He laid
the foundation of the present movement
In a speech at Lansing over a year ago,
when ha told his hearers that, beyond the
very Important business of producing good
crops, the farm must be made to produce
the vastly mora Important output of good
manhood and good womanhood, all of
which sounds well, but still exceedingly
vacua. To be specific, the movement for
uplift of the rural population Involves
such problems as these:
Improvement of country schools so that
It shall not be necessary for farmers to
"move to town" In order te "five the ehll
, dree some schootlnc"; a process which gen
erally takes both pareat sand children away
from the farm, to the ultimate mtafortune
ef parents, ehlkhwa sad farm.
Improvement ef country roada
EatabUahmant ef social center In rural
communities, and development of a social
life wkleh shall be attractive enough te
counteract the gregarious Instinct always
tending te draw people together tnto towna
Improvement and broadening of the prac
tical usefulness ec the church In the coun
try. Establishment of libraries, lecturea farm
ers Institutes, etc.. and general promotion
ef Intellectual Interests.
Promotion of cooperative buying and mar
keting among farmers, whteh shall free
them from the Impositions of the middle
; men and transportation Interests.
Propagation of Intelligent Interest In, un
derstanding of and demand for the parcels
poet, so thst it may be brought about. .
encouragement ef such forms or coopera
tion as the mutual Insurance company, the
community creamery, etc.
Improvement of farm life from both the
sanitary and esthetic sides, by Inducing in
terest In better arrangement of the farm
home plat, construction of more attractive
residences and more economical farm build
tags. with more general diffusion of the
'modern conveniences" than the farm ha
thus far known.
Helping the womaa of the farm to Im
prove the conditions of her lif. which by
' all the etadents of th problem 1 conceded
to conetltut the meat difficult problem of
These are only a few of the ques
tions which the President's country life
commission must consider. They are
mentioned as among the most striking,
, and aa suggestive of the arrest scope
of work for the farming population
which Is propoaed to be taken up.
Keep the Farmers on the Farm.
1 President Roosevelt believes, and so
do the gentlemen whom he has desig
nated .as his commissioners', that the
city has had mora than Its share of i
attention; that; the country needs and
Is entitled to Intelligent consideration.
To keep the people from deserting the
farm for the city Is a great problem
nowadays all over the world. England
has grappled with It and been hope
lessly defeated; It presents a decadent
agriculture and overcrowded cities, full
of Ignorant and vicious elements, as a
result ot this defeat. Germany faces
the problem with misgivings; her de
feat has not yet been made so signal
and overwhelming as that of England,
but the tendency to concentration in
the cities Is marked and alarming.
Austria and Italy confront like condi
tions, especially Northern Italy. France
has best stemmed the tide toward the
cities, France being a country of small
holdings of land, while the others are
countries of landlord proprietors and
tenant farmers; and aa one of the dan
gerous aspects it Is urged that the
United States strongly tends in the
same direction.
At the outset, it Is the opinion of
the commissioners that such projects
as the "homecraft" and Salvation Army
enterprises, to Induce people to leave
the city and go back to the country,
represent a useless and ineffective waste
of effort. The one trouble is that the
people will not move in that direction;
at least, not till the country Is made
more attractive to them than now. It
is useless to moralize and preach about
It. "The people whom we regard as
unfortunates, on New York's lower East
Side, would rather stay right there
and continue living the life of the city
than to move away to thereally better
conditions of the country; and there's
the end of it," said Glfford Plnchot, ona
of the commissioners. We must make
our effort to keep the people on the
farm, once they are there; not to toll
them away from the city to the farm."
Personnel of the Commission.
Mr. Plnchot Is that rara avis, a prac
tical altruist; he Is a millionaire, who
Instead of driving a coach and six over
the beautiful roads of England, or au
tomoblllng In, France, for mere pleas
ure, rolls up his sleeves and works
without vacations lor the Government
at a per annum salary which represents
his private income for a week or two,
and then pays a good slice of the sal
ary to piece out the meager allowance
made by the Government for a private
secretary. In order that he may have
the aecretary he wants. He has been
atudying these problems for years. As
chief forester he hu lived much among
the poorest country people. He knows
their conditions and their needs. He
san tell of nights spent In the effort to
sleep on the floors of their humble but
hospitable homes; of meals or "sow
belly" and pone; of the deadly monot
ony of their Uvea, and the unending
drudgery of their work. He believes
that this work is one of education as
well aa of institution-creating: of mak
ing the people understand; of instill
ing a social consciousness, an ambition
and aspiration for better things. He
believes that new institutions must In
deed be created; but before these can
be secured there must be aroused an
aspiration for them and for the' better
conditions which they will bring. Bring
the people to know what better road
laws, better school laws, better corpor
ation laws, better transportation and
cominunlcaflon, co-operation in buying
and selling, elimination of the middle
man, establishment of social centers,
libraries, lectures, etc; education In
the things which come close to the
farm and Its life; better houses and
more conveniences, with bigger profits
and therefore a larger margin to spend
In better living; bring the people to
understand what all these things will
mean to them, and that these things
are what the new movement seeks to
give -them, and' Mr. Plnchot believes
there will be short delay about getting
it under headway.
President Roosevelt has named aa his
commissioners. Professor I. H. Bailey, of
the New York Agricultural College, at
Ithaca, who Is ona of tho recognized ex
perts In these studies; Henry Wallace, of
Dee Moines, probably the foremost agri
cultural editor In the Nation, a business
man of wide experience and great success,
and himself a practical farmer who knows
actual farming conditions all over the
country; President Kenyon L. Butterfleld.
of the Massachusetts Agricultural Col
lege; Glfford Plnchot. forester of the Gov
ernment, and Walter H. Page, editor of
The World's Work. These gentlemen will
meet shortly probably at Washington. I.
C. and prepare for their work, on which
the President has asked them to report
i M S i , ' ' " 'II
i i s , 1 1 r it
pLT U ( A II
1 fe 1 jX I
before January 1 so that he may have op
portunity to make recommendations to
Congress as to aspects which may neces
sitate legislation.
Will Preach Co-operation.
This report will be merely preliminary.
It is designed to have a great, permanent.
organized movement developed from this
beginning. It Is recognized as a work of
years, of, decades; Indeed, a work that
will never be finished, if it is rightly be
gun and well prosecuted.
Social and economic changes of utmost
significance may readily be forecast as
results of thla work. Thus, the commis
sion will make most careful Inquiry into
the benefits and the need of co-operation.
Co-operation among farmers means noth
ing less than the death-knell of the coun
try town. Primarily a trading center, and
secondarily a social and educational cen
ter, it is supported by the population im
mediately surrounding it. The Indictment
against the country town charges that it
is economically wasteful In that It takes
heavy toll from the producing community
without any adequate compensation; that
it is socially demoralizing, and that aa an
Industrial center it Is a failure. Its
schools are better than those of the coun
try district; but they are not good, and
are In nowise adapted to the education of
the boys and girls who are to be farmers.
So Inevitably the extension of practical
co-operation In buying and selling the
farm's necessaries and products, and bet
ter transportation, means the decay of
the country town. It means, if such care
ful students as Professor Bailey, who has
gone deeply into this problem, can be
taken aa authority, that the farmer would
get more nearly what he la entitled to
from his product, while the people who
now make) up the population of the coun
try towns would themselves be gradually
redistributed back to the ranks of econ
omic producers; some would become far
mers, some would go to the industrial
centers. The disintegration of the coun
try town Is inevitable when rural free de
livery shall remove excuse for maintain
ing Its postofflce, when postal savings
banks shall enable the farmer to handle
his money most easily, when co-operation
hall have reduced the amount of business
for the country "general store," and when
parcels post shall have brought the mar
kets of the city to the farmer's door.
Then the Improvement of country schools
will make It possible for growing families
to be educated without leaving thefarm,
and the establishment of social centers,
libraries, halls. Institutes, lecture courses,
etc, will remove the social excuse for the
country town's existence.
An Economio Revolution.
This Is rather a big problem with which
to grapple. It Involves running counter
to a vast power of interest and prejudice;
a power which has thus far been success
fully appealed to In the effort to prevent
adoption of the parcels post adjunct to
the postal service, for Instance. But,
urge those who believe the country town
an excuseless Institution, when it is abol
ished the farmer will co-operate in mar
keting his products. His butter and eggs.
Instead of being -produced at home and
marketed at the country store by the
pound and dozen and paid for "in trade."
will be marketed directly to the city in
quantities; the butter will be made at the
co-operative creamery and sold for cash: i
the grain will pay no excessive tolls to the
elevator combine, but will 'be handled at
cost by the )-operative elevator. And so
on through the list of the farm's output.
So much for the economic revolution a
quiet and gradual one, of course, and one
which in truth would finally benefit all
concerned, if those who advocate it are
right. The educational changes would be
no less striking. It is in mind that, in
stead of having sub-district schools scat
tered oil over each rural township, a
system should be developed under which
a single central school should be estab
lished fox the township, with a good, san
itary, modern school building. In this
should be conducted an organized and
graded school, with better paid teachers
Log of an Ocean Traveler
THE purser on one of the great ocean
liners, suave, genial, but firm, as he
must be.ls the autocrat of this human bee
hive; subject to the captain, of course. In
common with all on board, but safe from
his Interference in any but the one case
in a thousand. His position Is like that of
the manager of a large resort hotel, ex
cept that he receives but a tithe of the
salary of such a one and has not the
sweet privilege of saying, ."Go to!" when
the spirit moves him. Manifestly, there
Is -no place to go, unless one can walk on
the waters! And so ho listens to the fault
finding many with en expression of deep
sympathy, which would make the fame
of any fashionable physician, and some
thing of the trepidation of the boarding
house mistress, who carves the Sunday
fowl, knowing that there le only so much
white meat and that dire Insult goes with
the legs. When there is no foundation
in fact for the whine that assails his ears,
he usually succeeds In placating the pas
senger by appealing to his, or her. sense
of justice; or, in an extremity, by a Judi
cious show of brass-buttoned authority,
nut there are some cases In which the
company is in error, or derelict, and there
he is energetic in correcting, "r '
steamship company can no more survive
the ill-will of its patrons than could a big
hotel.
A complaint of this sort was brought
the morning after sailing to the purser
of a crack ship in the Mediterranean
service by a young woman with snapping
black eyes, who was facetiously caiieo oy
her friends "'Becky Sharp.", JMo sooner
did the purser catch sight of her than
he recognized the type, and breathing a
gentle sigh, assumed his most oenign
manner. Nor was he unprepared for the
substance of her complaint, for regularly,
after quitting a big Italian port, there
begins a battle royal with fleas and other
crawling things even more objectionable.
"I will have the room fumigated at
once, madame. But as lor giving you
another cabin, I am sorry to say that is
quite Impossible."
"But you cura t fumigate it witn us in
it! Really, we got not a bit of sleep
and with facilities for real educational
work. Instead of having one 'teacher at
$36 a month, teaching the three Rs to a
half score of Infants in Summer and to a
half-hundTed youth of all ages in Winter,
there would be skilled teachers In each
grade, some hlgiher' courses, and good
work throughout the year for- those who1
wanted it More than all this, the text
books for country schools, and the
lawst night. We were nearly devoured
alive."
The purser launched into an explanation
and concluded by again expressing, most
humbly, his regrets.
"Oh, that's very well," said Becky airily.
"But In consideration of having paid a
first-class price, we expect first-class ac
commodations, I suppose if I had 'stowed
away," you would not accept my explana
tion that I had lost my pocketbook In
Naples, would you?" 1
The purser admitted that In such a case
there would have been difficulties. '
"Why cawn't you give us another cabin,
then?" she demanded.
"Because the only vacant cabin In the
ship, my dear- madame," he answered
thoughtlessly, "is a four-berth room,
and you and your friend are only two."
"Only two?" said Becky quickly, about
to prove her right to her pseudonym.
"Only two? But you forget that lawst
night in a two-berth room, you put
quite a hundred and two!" The purser's
Jaw dropped and then he smiled. - "It
seems to me," she added demurely, "It
would be turn about to put only two in
a four-berth room."
"You shall have it, madame." he said
with a chuckle, and sent her on her way
rejoicing.
-' e ,
-Perhaps th limit in feminine cantan
kerous ness was reached by a woman, old
enough to know better, who boarded one
of the German express steamships with a
Pomeranian dog concealed in a basket,
beneath which appeared to be some mag
nificent roses. Feeling that she could
never . intrust ' "Tootsie-Wootsle" to the
care of vulgar- stewards, she expected,
with the connivance pf her maid, who
traveled with her,' to conceal him in -the
de luxe suite which she had engaged.
Despite the stringent regulations against
pets of any kind in the passenger quar
ters of a ship, this might have been
possible, through. Judicious tipping, for
one who traveled so expensively, -but for
the fact that the weather proved rough
and his dogship was disturbed by the
pitching of the vesBel. In the daytime
when his mistress was at hand to console
him with delicious tid-bits. things were
well enough, but in the darkness of the
courses of study, would be designed for
the special conditions of the country
There would be effort at adapting the
education to the needs of the children:,
elemental chemistry, the adaptation of
some knowledge of geology to study of
soil conditions, practical botany and hor
ticulture these would constitute useful
and attractive aspects of the curriculum
in the country school, along with many
other tilings equally appropriate, but now
unknown.
Better Roads.
When it comes to the problem of better
roads and this is essential to working out
all the other features of the ideal country
township legislation is necessary, and it
must be secured " from the state. Co
operation of the Nation, the state and the
local governmental division In develop
ment of better roads is the ideal of many;
perhaps impractical and chimerical, but
yet It is In many minds. Good roads are
necessary to centralized schools, because
with centralized schools there must be
transportation of the pupils at public ex
pense, which would be impossible without
undue expense. Likewise better roads are
necessary before the ideal social and in
tellectual development- may be secured,
before the people will go to the lectures
which will be held in the assembly room
of the township school or church; before
the township library and reading-room,
for which quarters would be set off in the
same establishments, can be patronized.
The roads problem will come in for
much and prayerful consideration by the
commission. Years of agitation and ur
night his canine spirit revolted. He broke
the stillness with high pitched, tremulous
howls, and on the second morning out a
delegation of hollow-eyed passengers wait
ed on the purser, the upshot of the -matter
being that "Tootsie-Wootsle" was re
duced to the status of an ordinary bow
wow. It was decided that he must go.
However, it could not be expected that
"Tootsle-Wootsie's" mistress would coin
cide in this view, and she did not do so.
In language of the plainest sort, she gave
the purser to understand that her pre
cious dog was more to her than the sleep
of all on board, and positively refused to
give him up.
"If he were a poor little baby, no one
would think of taking him from me," she
said, with flashing eyes. "And I can just
tell you that he has more sense than any
child I ever saw." '
"But, madame," said the purser,
dazed, but with the true Teutonic grasp
of essentials, "the fact remains that he
is not a baby. H'e is only a dog, and
the rule of the company ' 1b that no
dogs can be allowed in the cabins." .
"He may be only a dog to you," an
swered his. mistress, pressing her soft
cheek against one of the clumps of
hair that clung so distressingly to his
barbered hide, ""but he Is the most
precious thing In this world to me. I
would rather see him dead than have
him know any other hand than mine."
Baffled and apoplectic of hue, the
purser, bowing, withdrew. The captain
was sent for, and came In a towering
German rage, for no amour' prGpre is
more easily wounded than the Teutonic,
and to descend from the management
of a 20-thousand-ton vessel to an argu
ment with a foolish woman over a
tufted dog is some excuse for temper.
"Madame," he said gruffly, "you have
been told that your dog cannot remain
in this cabin. I have given orders
that he is to be well cared for and
you must Surrender him to the steward
immediately."
Ordinarily no man could be -more
charming than Captain K , but on
this occasion brusquerle seemed Justi
fiable. He had not. however, considered
the determined character of "Tootsle
Wootsie's" mistress, and at her re
sponse his countenance - became suf
fused. To defy the commander of an
ocean steamship takes courage, for his
powers are plenary, but she did not
hesitate.
"I will not," she said sweetly.
gent appeals have thus far aroused th
people of the cities to the need of better
roads, much more than they have con
vinced the country people. To get laws
through Legislatures, looking to better
roads, is commonly, rendered most diffi
cult because of the conservatism of the
farmers themselves, who would be chief
beneficiaries. Yet it is conceded that this
must somehow be accomplished as a
very beginning of the whole scheme of
social reform for the country.
Tenant Farming.
One interesting aspect of this inquiry
will be the light it will shed on the ten
dency to tenant farming In this coun
try; absentee landlordism and tenant
management: on the question of farm
labor and wages: and on the reasonable
ness of current prices at which lands
are held, and of rentals charged for them.
In different sections of the country. It is
well known that lands of equal economla
value, located In different sections, are of
widely different values in the market.
The reasons for this will constitute an
important light on the whole question of
farm conditions.
In different sections of the country
the problem of the farm is vastly dif
ferent. In the south, southwest and
throughout the frontier regions, conditions-
are worse than in the rich agricul
tural states of the Middle West. These
latter have all they need, materially; they
have but to be taught how best to con
serve and expend it to get best results.
Again, the East, with its abandoned
farms and decadent agriculture presents
yet another problem. The dry farming
country and the irrigated regions are pe
culiar to themselves, and have their own
special sets of problems. And so on
through all sections and circumstances.
And at the end of It all there is the
haunting thought that perhaps by its very
success the work might become a greater
failure: that is, to explain the paradox,
that the boys and girls of the farm,
raised, educated and equipped under these
improved circumstances, might take that
better equipment away to town and
blithely set it to work there, utterly
unmindful that they were given It all In
order to keep them on the farm. Suppose
their possession of better equipment to
meet the conditions and demands of city
life, should merely Increase their disposi
tion to go to the city? Then Indeed
would it be doubly a failure.
But none of the students of the prob
lem seriously believes the result will be
anything of that sort.
Without a word the captain, reaching
down, grabbed "Tootsie-Wootsle" by
the scruff of his miserable neck.
"Madame," he said firmly, holding the
yelping; canine in an Inexorable grasp,
"either this dog goes forward or he
goes overboard I leave the decision
to you."
"Then I shall go after hinil" she
promptly declared, and, as tho old
sailor said later, he was not sura but
what she meant it.
"You defy me?" he asked, when the
two had looked at each other for some
moments.
"Please put him down!" she said Im
patiently. "Can't you see that you are
hurting him?"
Her slender form barred the door
way in protection of her pet, and since
a personal struggle was out ot the'
question, the captain was foroed to do
that which he seldom had done In his
life to yield! With an exclamation of
disgust, he tossed "Tootsle-Wootsie"
onto the sofa, and strode from the'
room. But that night, while the wom
an was at dinner, and the maid was
stealing some fresh air on deck, "Tootsie-Wootsle"
was kidnaped by a watch
ful steward and, despite the' pleas of
Its mistress, was not returned to her
until we reached Southampton. She
left the ship fondling it as though It
were a babe In arms. Aubrey Lianston
in the Bohemian.
Alderman Aculnaldo.
Arthur Chapman In Denver Republican.
Aguinaldo la a candidate for Alderman in
Manila. frea diapatch.
I uaed to bo my bolo' men and strew my
trail with blood.
Bat now I'm In for politic my weapon's
mud.
I uaed to head a flshting band my swash
buckler I'd awash
And I wished to be remembered aa to Phll-Ip-pine
George Wash:
But now I've changed my game
I'm out for ymaller fame
So caatyour vote for Alderman Aguinaldo.
I thousNt to boas the unlverae, but now one
ward will do.
Since General Funaton collared me with
ruling I am through;- "
I'm willing to keep the pavementa clean, tn
sidewalks tn repair.
Ambition doe nt aurge In me J aeng no
load of care
So I my card etnd.
Pieaae hear my plea. gd friend.
And eaal , your vote tor Alderman
Aguinaldo.