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Show & Harding Outlines His Agricultural Program I To Throngs at Fair E9 M I NNESOTA BT AT E FAIR, GROUNDS. Sept. 8. An agricultural I IH program designed to keep the nation' H sclf-sustalnlni anil to Improve the condition of the farmer was outlined by Senator Harding, Republican nom-l inec for the presidency, in a speech I today at the Minnesota state fair. ! In specific terms the candidate sctj forth his policy as contemplating the! following steps Larger representation for Tarmera EH in governmental affairs, particularly EH With regard to trade and finance. I flB Establishment of a systenl of co- I Vffl operative associations for marketing " farm products A sclentlfli study ot the world mar-fflk mar-fflk 'set fr farm products with a view to I Wm labill - i : ion of prl i hp Curtailment of unnecessarj prlce- 'H' fixing and of all ill-considered ef- torts arbitrarily to reduce farm prod-RjHJ prod-RjHJ uct prices " Administration of thr- farm loan! HBB ; act so as to decrease tenancy, pro-' HBB , mote diversified farming and provide BBfl long-term credits. 9 I nation of railway facilities to HBj -rf, a state of highest efficiency ftJ Revision of the tariff to proti i HBB i American agriculture from unlair pl competition. ivst RE FOOD si PPDY. w I Both reclamation and Intent V" 1 1,1 the nominee said, would have ,i.v f their place in a development of the! B. i.ji t ion .'. agricultural r i urcei to h i pacify which would in to postcrltj a. in abundance of domestic food prod-.j Bt lids. He stressed the need for dl-h BE Versified crops and also declared It cs- K3 I BentiSJ that there bo a normal bal-j mjj f uncc between grain and livestock pro-l W 4r Deploring tlic drift of population 4 Ji ; from country to city, Senatoi Hi r ng afc ' advocated an Improvement In the so- , "TtJ t ,a' "'e o the i ""1 and such an -, , t ministration "i economi lav . as. I would Insure a r.ur balance between , x our urba n ind i in , W praised the pari played by the farm- f BL i rs during the war, dei nover win i" undi I 01 full 1 - 1 w predated by our people." t i CON BFTTON T l M l RE. Is The candidal ' : lion of tlie future of American farming, 1 BHBC as contemplating "a system f ogrlcul- 11 yttttLW lure which will enable us to feed our, a wmL people abundantly, with some to spare j qtjfjm ior export in yearn of plenty, and ii KssS prices which will Insure to the farmer p nd his family both f I na and educational Jt living conditions fairly comparable to Ii jPCjBj those off-n d 1 CitiCA I W8 Am Price control might be nc . 1 1 IS w Lse jo-. HH the senator said, but prices in the long ti 'L run ntusl rest rathei on natural' SJHB than on arbitrary enactments. ti AS "Government drives against food tJ prices such have experienced HJH during, the past two years arc equally p -Xifl vain and continued. "The 8i JS f H m-iiii . w mji mm.' ostensible purpose of such drives Is to reduce the price the consumer pays for food. The actual result Is unjustly unjust-ly to depress fOr a time the prices the farmer receives for hi3 grains ami livestock, but with no appreciable reduction re-duction in the price the consumer pays. Such drives simply give the Speculator and the profiteer additional addition-al opportunities to add to their exac-t exac-t ions. Rl Ol PROBLEM. ' The crux of the whole agricultural problem." declared the nominee. Is the question whether the nation in to follow fol-low a short-sighted policy of exploitation exploita-tion or adopt a program to insure con-tlnUed con-tlnUed prosperity under a self-sustain-. ni;j system- "Tho time has come." said he. 1 "when as a nation we must doter-1 mine on a definite agricultural policy ' Wo must decide whether we shall undi un-di rtake to make the United States aj self-sustaining nation or whether we Shall continue to exploit our agrlcul-l ; ura I resources for tne benefit of oui i industrial and commercial life ;ind leave to posterity the task of unding' lood enough, by strong-arm methods, ;i necessary, lo supply the coming; hundred:; 01 millions NEEDS FAIR CHANCE. "1 believe In the self-sustaining, ir.-it ir.-it pendent, self-reliant nation, agrl-:ulturally, agrl-:ulturally, Industrially and jtolitlcally "The f irmer required no special f;i-ors f;i-ors at the hands of the government. Ml he needs is a fair chance and such Inst consideration for agriculture as r.'i ought to give to a basic Industry forming Is not an auxiliary, it is tho naln plant, and geared with it Insepa--aidv la every win ! of transportation uid industry. ' While It Is in my thought to speak 0 you specifically concerning agrl-iulture," agrl-iulture," said Benator Harding," I rant to so eoiLvej mj thought as to a- it known that 1 am thinking not if the welfare alone of those engaged r agriculture, but the welfare of agrl-ulture agrl-ulture as it relates lo the good for-unes for-unes of the United States of America, very much deplore the present day endency te appeal to the particular ;roup in American activities, if Am-ric.i Am-ric.i is lo go on and come to the Ightfl of achievement. c must of ecessil) !" :'ll for one and one for U." mm 1 01 u l HEAT. "1 have helped to cut sixty-cent . heat. I have known it' to sMl at forty nt 1 have followed the cradle, and weated behind the re. per when ldnd- ig was CrOSI to bear, and I know spoke the tiuth when I wild, somej ears a,To, that 'hlo farmers. In the' ornial days before the war, rejoiced 1 raise dollar wheat. That statement ad no reference to war tlmd, none to He present after-war period- Condi-iens Condi-iens as well as prices have changed. "A good many years ago a Chinese hilosophor uMjered a profound truth hen he si Id: 'The well being of 0 . tt- - t y m. t ,L jrpi I ,1 n people is llko a tree, agriculture it its root, manufacture and commerce arc Us branches and its life; If the root is Injured the leaves fall, the branches break and the tree dies ' The figures are not yet complete lor the decade ending this year but sufficient reports have been published publish-ed to give us a very dependable estimate esti-mate The indications are that no in-, in-, re IS Wul be shown in the number of farms and no increase in strictly farm population. In rill probability, dating dat-ing from H'20. we shall estimate our farm population as thirty per cent of the whole while the urban population v ill tako up the other seventy per cent. "Another Interesting fart to reveal the danger in changing condition OlUS a few decades ago. indeed from th'-very th'-very beginning, thc exports ot the I nlted Stales were soil-grown 01 tarm-produced tarm-produced materials . On the other hand, most of our Imports were manufactured manu-factured articles In the last half 1 1 ii-tury. ii-tury. year after year the exports of farm-grown products hfltVe decreased -except during the world war and exports of manufactured products have increased until again we are rap-Idly rap-Idly reaching the sero mark irom the standpoint of agricultural supplies to the world. Each year our imports show . larger and larger quantities of farm grown products and the time Is almost with us when the Imports of farm grown pioducts will exceed thc exports, In short, when our farm pqptf- lauon will not be supplying the prod uvts necessarv for our own people. PREMI1 M N GR VlN. "War conditions put a premium on f-ialn gfbwlng at the expense of llve- avoi ihiiuuvuviu many slock producers and feeders l.avu suffered heavy and. In some eases ruinous losses. If this condition condi-tion should continue, WO are in danger, in the near future, of having to pay very high prices for our meats- "Por two outstanding reasons the maintenance of a normal balance between be-tween livestock and grain production Is a matter of national concern. fne is that we are a meat-eat log people, and should have n l'alrlv uniform supply sup-ply at a reasonable price. The other Is that the OVer-Stimulatipn of grain production depletes the fertility of our land, which ifl our greatest national usset, and results In a greater BUppl) than can be consumed at a price profitable prof-itable to the producer, and finally to widespread agricultural distress Irom Which all of our people buffer. As a reconstruction measure, therefore, onr (government should do everything In its power to restore the normal balance ,i 'i w een livestock and grain produc-I produc-I tlon. Ill WD I P N VTIOJi 1 "If we shall determine to build up hero a self-Sustaining nation and What lover of his country can make a jdifferent choice? then we must at once set about the development of a system of agriculture which will on- aide us to feed onr people .abundant ly v ith some to spare for export In years cf plenty, and at prices Which will in-BUre in-BUre lo ihe farmer and his family both financial rewards and educational, social so-cial and religious living conditions fairly fair-ly comparable to those offered by the Cities, A sound system of agriculture cmnol be maintained on any other basis. Anything short of a fair return re-turn upon Invested capital and a fair Wage for the labor which goes Into the crops, and enough In addition to enable the farmer to maintain the fertility fer-tility of his soil, and insure against! -r . J r- n j 1 . . j. -.. natural haxards will liive large numbers num-bers of farmers to the Cities. "A frank recognition by all of our itopIp of tills funl;iiiv nt;i 1 IruUi is necessary, if we ;ire successfully to tfCrtc out this neat national problem. Ir Is a matter of oven greater concern to tho people of tho cltus than to tne f;nnier an.l the farm community. "So long a8 America can produce the foods we need. I am In favor of buying from America first. It Is this crv preference which impels development devel-opment and improvement. Whenever America can manufacture to meet American needs and there Is almost n limit our R'-nius a-.-l ifouvcb 1 favor producing In America first. I , mum. 11,1 A nic-rl'-.i n r. I.i. n.etoAlil-i M prodllellv activities because) material goofl fortune is essential to, our Itlghell attainment, and linked in-1 dlsHolubly aro farm and factory in the jyreat economlo fabric of American Mfe." |