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Show 1" ALTRUISM IN I ALL BUSINESS If How Far Does Brotherly Love and HX Unselfish Interest Reach? Great H ' Corporations Propagating and Sup- Hit porting Movements to Benefit All Bp Mankind By H. H. Gross, Presl- H dent National Soil Fertility League HE Aro tho ethics of tho .business m$ world undergoing a chnngo? Havo M t tho corporations becomo Invested H 1 with a soul? Does tho cry of tho Ml: proletarian fall upon more sensitive m cars? Is there an actuality of broad B)i ' purposes In tbo economic activities H.7 ' of "big business?" Is tho question, H; J "Am I my brother's keeper" to bo H' answered? B' My observations and experiences H j -luring tho pnst two years havo been H profoundly Interesting In studying H, along these lines. Some of us ro- H" nllzo more fully than others that tho H food problem of this nation Is fast becoming n serious ono; that the M condition was ono that demanded nc- H Hon and not theoretical discussion. H What should the action bo?- Various m remedies were proposed, carefully Hf studied, mulled over, analyzed, nnd H discarded. Howover, after months M of closo application, a plan wns crys- H tallzed that stood tho acid test. H It was plainly evident that the soil of tho nation waB bolng exhausted H to- its fertility Tho cost of produc- M tlon was out of all proportion to tho H volume and quality of tho crop. Tho H methods lacked efficiency. Tho do- M mand for food was increasing moro M rapidly than tho sourco and resour- M ces for Bupply. In fact, these, in 'J somo respects, wero diminishing, f Thoro was no relief in sight. Authen- U tic statistics, on careful analysis, H showed a most disquieting situation. H Tho proof was overwhelming that H somo posltlvo and radical steps must H- bo taken to provldo for tbo present H nnd coming generations. Wo had H reached tho parting of the ways. H ' Direct Education Advocated H Thoso familiar with conditions H know that tho application of tho prin- H clplcs of sclenco to farming would H speedily revolutionize tbo agricultural agricultur-al . al conditions of tho country, and by H tho samo token lmprovo tho condl- H Hon of ovcrj' man, woman and child H In It. Tho fallacy of tho old belief, H "You can never catch up with your B agricultural resources has long slnco H'' been exploded. Tho thouglit was our H;, virgin soil could novcr bo exhausted. H us dearly, ns results at homo and H abroad abundantly prove. It was Hf found that on European soil that had H been tilled a thousand years or moro V longer than our own, where modern Hg agricultural Intelligence was applied H results wtre truly wonderful. Gains E ovor former methods of forty, sixty B and even one hundred per cent wero M secured by simply applying sclen- H tine methods. Indeed, in many sec- J tldns of our country tho Bamo rc- B suits havo been attained; then why H not In tho entire country? M Means of Practical Enlightenment M On a July day, two years ago, an H informal gathering of "big business" H men was hold in ono of tho Chicago Hj banks. I outlined to them a plan Hf to secure n thorough dtssomlnatlon H , nmong tho actual farmers the man Hj ' behind tho plaw of tbo accumulated Ht knowledgo of agriculture that waB H , practically In cold Btorago and gen- H 1 orally unused. Tho plan Immediately B appealed to theso hard headed, prac- H tleal men. With ono accord they fl said: "(lo ahead and work out this H problem and wo will back you." Wo H went ahead, working on lines that H would bring to tho Individual farmer M tho full benedt of all this great fund H of knowledge in a mnnnor and by H mothodfl thnt wero direct, practical H acceptable, nnd ovon welcome to H The hover agricultural extension H bill, by which tho federal and state H: governments co-opcrato through tho H, colleges of agriculture In maintain- H lng at tho earliest possible data a H: , special farm demonstrator in ovory fl' agricultural county In tho United Hi , States, embraces tho plan presented H and agreed upon. This bill passed ' Hi ' the houso of representatives during H tho closing days of tho last session I HV ' nnd Is now bofare tho senate waiting j kf action when congress reconvenes. By H Its provisions this demonstrator is ' H selected by nnd Is answerablo to tho ' Hl Btato collcgo of agriculture. Ho Is a H public servant and co-worker with, Kljt as well as a teacher of, tho farmer. H ' If, by bringing knowledgo direct to H tho farmor and socuring Its nppllca- H tlon, he can Increase tho production H of the American farm only twenty H per cent the crop Increase of ono H year would covor tho cost of main- H talnlng this service for two hundred ' years. Tho best authorities bellavo IH j ' that In a decado tho yield would bo Hfi doubled. Hi To return td tho "big business" In- f tereBt In this movement. Mr. James V f 3. Hill, who became chairman of Hf) i th ndTleory board ot the National bbbbB t1 ,mLWk. B0U FcrtU,t7 T'eaEuo a!(J, nr the agricultural mothoda of this country ar0 to bo Improved It will bo by showing tho farmer how to do tho work with his own hands." James J. Hill has expended thousands of dollars developing tho agricultural resources of the great northwest. Mr. Frank Q. Logan, a momber of tho board of directors of tho league said, "I am deeply Interested. I spent my early days on tho farm and I know something of tho processes thnt aro carried on there. It is going go-ing to tako a great deal ot money to carry on such nn undertaking, and tho question naturally raised in my mind is, will It pay? I havo run across somo figures quoted from tho agricultural department covorlng ccr tain demonstrations in eleven states on corn and ten states on cotton. In tho fields whero tho work was done under scientific demonstration methods, tho avcrago increnso In theso states for corn wns 99 per cent Not only wob there practically twlco tho product, but tho corn was a better bet-ter grade. If this avorago could bo maintained It would mean nn In-crorso In-crorso of n billion and a half bush-ols bush-ols on tho record -of last year, and add a billion dollars of wealth to tho country from tho corn crop nlono. Tho showing In cotton wns nearly as good. If this movement is to bo a success it must bo carried on systematically. system-atically. My feeling Is that tho Investment In-vestment is something that is going to pay for Itself tlmo and again In our llfotlmo nnd forovor afterward. Wo aro a great manufacturing country, coun-try, but wo aro nbovo and beyond nil nn agricultural country nnd anything any-thing wo may do to improve and Increase agriculturo Is going to redound re-dound to our glory nnd our wealth and to tho hnpplness of our people." Mr. Logan Is a rotlred board of trade man, a patron of art, a well known figure In higher civic affairs and Is lending his moral and material support sup-port to a number of philanthropic movements. Colonel B. S. Conway, former president of tho Chicago Association of Commerce, nnd a director of the lepgue, went directly to tho root of tho question: "I havo felt for years thct tho business man, tho merchant banker, manufacturer In fact nil fall to realize that all wo havo and all wo hope to bo Is dependent solely upon tho soil. All our wealth comes from but three sources tho mine, tho forest and the farm." Educational Work By Business Concerns Messrs F. llaackcs and Clarence Funk represent great Industrial interests. in-terests. Doth nro keenly and substantially sub-stantially Interested In the farm demonstration de-monstration project and both aro directors di-rectors of tho league It will probably prob-ably surprUo many to know that tho American Steel nnd Wire company, of which Mr. Bnackes is vlco president, presi-dent, maintains nn agronomist and scientific department dovoted to tho advancement of agriculturo and several sev-eral times a year publishes and distributes dis-tributes to nearly two million American Amer-ican farmers llteraturo almost entirely en-tirely dovoted to helpful nnd comprehensive com-prehensive agricultural Information and data. , Mr. Funk general manager of tho Intornntionnl Harvester company, has taken n llko courso in stimulating stimulat-ing interest and It Is Impossible to measure tho benefits and scopo of tho public servlco department conducted con-ducted by his compnny. President E. P. Ripley of tho Santa Fo; President W. C. Brown ot tho Now York Central Cen-tral lines; Chairman Benjamin F. Yoakum of tho Frisco Ilnes; President Presi-dent H. U. Mudge of tho Rock Island; Is-land; M. V. Rlchnrds, Industrial agont of tho Southern rnllway; prea ldent F. A. Delano of tho Wabash railway; president Darius Milled, ' Burlington Systqm, president F. II. 1 Brltton, St. Louis Southwestern rail way lines, and othors representing great railroad Interests, havo direct-: direct-: ly Interested themselves in our farm I demonstration work. All Kinds of People Co-operating Docs "big business" In its rolntlon ship to such humnn nctlvltles becomo utilitarian In motlvo and purposo? Does It recognlzo tho offectlvo and forceful education ns a powerful means to betterment nnd happiness of tho peoplo, or Is this growing and Influential movement selflsh and sordid sor-did In Its Inspiration and purpose? Many othor great Interests have pooled their efforts In support ot I thlB work. Leading educationalists, i agriculturists, rubllc men, women's clubs and federations, publishers and editors, public servants, havo Joined hands with thoso 'big business' representatives re-presentatives In supporting what President Brown of tho Now York Central Lines, recently described: "Tho Lover agricultural oxtonslon bill Is without question ono of tho J most boncllclnl and far reaching of any of tho great constructive legislation legis-lation that has pasBod congress since the homestead bill." , |