Part 4

Even before the territory where we meet today had become a part of the American Republic, the hardy pioneers, hunters, trappers and traders who had carried English civilization across the Alleghanies and into the valley of the Mississippi had pushed westward even to the banks of the Missouri. Following the acquisition of the Territory of Louisiana and our organization as a territory and admission as a state, Missouri stood for forty years as an outpost of civilization, reaching out to the unknown and the undiscovered West. And from her borders stretched those two great highways of commerce, the Oregon Trail, and the Santa Fe Trail, along which, in turn, were to march the soldiers, hunters, trappers and traders who were to bind the Trans-Mississippi country to the United States by ties stronger than those of treaties and of laws. The Missourian became the pioneer of the West. And in practically every state that lies in that vast empire between the Mississippi and the Pacific the sons of Missouri have felled the forests, dug the mines, cultivated the soil, written the constitutions and laws, held the offices and directed the commercial and industrial activities.

MISSOURI’S UNDEVELOPED RESOURCES.

So bounteously, in fact, has Missouri contributed of her citizenship to the development of other states and territories that she has left undeveloped many of her own natural resources and uncultivated almost one-half of her soil. Of the 44 millions of acres which constitute the State of Missouri, little more than one-half has ever been touched by a plowshare; and of her 20 millions of acres of uncultivated soil, there are 17,500,000 acres of woodland awaiting the stroke of the woodman’s axe. Of lead and zinc, we produce more than any state in the Union, yes, more than all of the states of the Union combined, or any nation in the world. And yet the geologists tell us that greater stores of mineral wealth lie beneath the surface of our soil than have even been discovered by the drill of the miner or the pick of the prospector. We have within and along our borders 6,000 miles of navigable rivers, a larger number of miles of navigable waterways than any inland state in the Union. By the cultivation of one-half of our 44 millions of acres we produce over 100 million dollars worth of corn each year, nearly 1 million dollars in value of this product for every county in the state. Missouri lies in the very center of the American corn belt, and there are no corn lands superior to those found in this state. One farmer in Missouri grows more corn each year on his farm than is grown in the nine States of Utah, Oregon, Washington, Arizona, Idaho, Montana, Rhode Island, Wyoming and Nevada combined. Three counties in Missouri grow more corn than nineteen other states, in which is included all of New England. These three counties grow more corn than do the states of New York, Maryland or West Virginia. Three times as much corn is produced in Missouri each year as is produced in all of South America, three-fifths as much as in all of Europe and nearly one-half as much as is produced in the whole world outside of the United States. The average yield of corn in Missouri per acre is forty bushels, a higher average yield than in any state in the Union, and yet by the proper application of the principle of conservation in the use and cultivation of the soil, this production could doubtless be increased 25 per cent. And by the proper use of the uncultivated corn lands of the state, our production could be made greater than any state in the United States, and probably greater than the entire corn production of Europe.

The same thing is true as to our other important crops. Our average wheat crop sells for 30 millions of dollars, which is also the average value of our crop of hay which is sold upon the markets, not including the immense acreage of blue grass, clover and timothy pastures.

THE OZARK REGION.

The character of our soil, as well as of our climate, is peculiarly favorable for the growing of grass. Grass is not only the greatest of all agricultural products, but its production under most favorable conditions is an indication of the most desirable place of habitation for man. One of the early travelers who investigated the conditions in the Trans-Mississippi country, who was also much of a philosopher, made the statement that the best place for human habitation is in that country farthest south where grass grows well. And the country farthest south where grass grows well is to be found in the Ozark region of Missouri. When the first Spanish explorers crossed the Mississippi, they found the largest herds of buffalo, elk, deer and antelope feeding upon the splendid pastures of blue stem and of blue grass in what is now the southern half of Missouri. Prior to the coming of the white man, this region was a vast upland prairie, noted for its splendid growth of grass and favorable hunting ground. And so long as the Indians remained, the growth of trees, except along the rivers and the streams, was prevented by the burning of the grass each year. But with the coming of the white man and the driving out of the Indian, the growth of the timber extended back from the rivers and the streams, and what was once the greatest pasture in the country is now covered by a growth of timber.

Through the proper application of the principles of conservation, this timber can be cleared in such a manner as to restore the growth of blue grass and of blue stem to make this region the most favorable for dairying and the raising of live stock that the country affords, and at the same time preserve enough of the trees to give the natural commercial advantages to be derived therefrom.

Of our 20 millions of acres of uncultivated soil, three and one-half million consist of swamp and overflowed lands to be found in the valleys of our great rivers. If this land were reclaimed by the application of the principles of conservation, so as to produce a certain annual harvest, it would produce enough of agricultural wealth each year to feed all of the people of Missouri, and leave the balance of our 23 millions of acres for the production of surplus products.

In support of this statement, let me refer you to facts of history, for Egypt, during the palmiest days of her civilization, never had under cultivation to exceed six millions of acres in the Valley of the Nile. And yet these six millions of acres supported a population of 10 millions of people. Holland reclaimed from the sea two and one-half millions of acres of land which supported a population of 8 millions of people. And yet the swamp and flooded lands of Missouri are as rich as the reclaimed lands of Holland or the Valley of the Nile.

THE NEED OF SWAMP LAND RECLAMATION.

The reason why these lands do not now produce a certain annual harvest is largely due to the fact that the National Government does not keep within their banks the waters of its navigable rivers. During the course of the last ten years, the National Government has spent 125 millions of dollars to put water on to three and one-half millions of arid lands in the West. I am confident that there is no one present here today who objects to the policy that has been followed by our National Government for the reclamation of the arid lands of the West by the conservation of our waters for the purpose of irrigation. Though mistakes may have been made in isolated cases, the general policy meets with national approval. But I feel that the time will come; in fact, I believe it has come, when the national government should be willing to spend at least a small portion of the money that it uses to put water on the arid lands of the West to keep the water of its navigable rivers off of the rich lowlands of the Missouri and the Mississippi rivers. It takes an expense of from $25 to $40 an acre to put water on to the arid lands of the West, and yet it is the estimate of engineers that by an expense of not to exceed $5.00 an acre the water of the navigable rivers can be kept off of the lowlands adjacent thereto.

This question is of importance not only to the people of Missouri, but to the people of the entire country. There are in the Mississippi and Missouri river valleys over 20 millions of acres of the richest lands in the world, which are now impaired for the purpose of cultivation by reason of swamps and overflows. If this land were reclaimed and made to yield a certain annual harvest, it would almost double the agricultural production of the Mississippi Valley. And the reason why it is not so productive is, as I have said, because the national government does not keep the waters of its navigable rivers within their banks. By doing so the reclamation of this swamp and flooded land would not only be made possible, but by such a policy our navigable rivers would be improved and made more dependable as a means of inland transportation. And it little profits us to increase the production of our fertile fields unless that production can be carried from the farms to the market in such a way and for such a charge as will adequately compensate for the labor thereby expended.

And if the principles of conservation were given a practical and effective application in improving our rivers by the keeping of their waters within their banks, by using in a proper and a scientific way our uncultivated soil, the railroads would be unequal to the task of carrying such an immensely increased agricultural production from the farm to the market. Then the question of water transportation would become a necessity and, in my judgment, a satisfactory progress in the improvement of our inland waterways for the purposes of transportation will not be made until our agricultural production is increased to such an extent that existing railroads are unequal to its transportation.

THE PROBLEM OF ADEQUATE PRODUCTION.

I have outlined to you, in a most general way, some of the important phases of the question of conservation which find a practical application to the conditions existing today in the State of Missouri. Experts tell us that over 40 per cent of our farm lands are being cultivated in a way which tends to decrease, rather than to increase, their productivity. Such a policy must inevitably result in the impoverishment of the Nation; because when you destroy the productivity of the soil, then do you strike at the very foundation of national prosperity and happiness. Agriculture, the oldest of occupations, is clearly the most important. The value of that which is produced from the soil exceeds the value of all other products of human labor. Up to the present time in this country, we have been peculiarly fortunate in that our production has exceeded consumption and the supply has always been greater than the demand. The result has been that the American people alone, of all the people of the world, have eaten the same kind of food. And no stronger influence could exist as against the creation of classes and castes in our population than for all of the people to eat the same kind of food.

But with the consumption increasing more rapidly than production, and the consequent increase in the cost of the necessities of life, there shall come a time when many will not be able to secure the same kind of food that is enjoyed by others. Then will there come a disturbing and dangerous influence which will threaten our society and our institutions. Statistics tell us of a constantly decreasing surplus of production. Our balance of trade is rapidly becoming confined to the exports of cotton. And if the present tendency continues, in a few years we will consume all of the products of our grain and of our live stock and have none to sell in other lands. And when this condition is followed by a time that it will be necessary to import the necessities of life, then will exist conditions which will be the cause of concern, as well as a reflection upon the American people for their capacity to use in a proper manner the great natural resources with which nature has endowed them.

I feel, however, that the American people have demonstrated most impressively their capacity for self-government by the effective manner in which they have taken up this important question of conservation. Ten years ago, the term was hardly known outside of the laboratory of the scientist and the class-room of the agricultural college. Today it is almost a household term. Under the inspiring leadership of that great American, Theodore Roosevelt, the American people have taken up the consideration and the practical application of this important national policy. And this splendid Congress today, assembled in this progressive and developing city, is an evidence of the fact that the interest in this question is by no means subsiding.

I welcome you to Missouri and voice the sentiment of her people when I say we hope that your deliberations and discussions will contribute to the practical and effective application of that great public policy that you are gathered here to consider.

President WALLACE—This is a right good looking audience. We want it to go down in history, and if you will just be quiet, we will have a flashlight picture taken before I respond to this eloquent address to which you have just listened.

[After the flash light picture was taken the Congress proceeded.]

President WALLACE—I assure you that it is a great privilege as well as pleasure to respond in behalf of this Congress to the cordial address of welcome of the Governor of the great State of Missouri, the Mayor of Kansas City and the President of the Commercial Club. The people of the West generally know Kansas City only as they see it from the stations, and have no proper conception of the magnificence of its buildings, the beauty of its streets and surroundings, and still less of the remarkable enterprise of its citizens. I confess that all this was a great surprise to me on a recent visit here.

The real greatness of your city lies in the agricultural resources. With the great State of Kansas on the west, with the great State of Missouri on the east, with Oklahoma and Arkansas with their undeveloped resources on the south, its future greatness must be largely measured by the development of agriculture in these great states, in the great corn state lying farther north and in the great cotton states farther south. Kansas City can lay its hand on more possible agricultural wealth than any other city on the map of the United States. Hence it was early recognized by the officers of this Congress as the best possible place to inaugurate a campaign for better farming, better business and better living on the farm.

The actual prosperity of any city is largely measured by the foresight, the breadth of vision and energy of its commercial club. A modern city may have vast resources; it may have a form of government almost ideal; and that government may be acceptable to the people and free from any breath of scandal; but if it does not have an organization of its ablest and best business men, who can make a careful study of these resources, who work together—and that, too, often at great personal and pecuniary sacrifice—for the good of the city as a whole, these resources are likely to remain undeveloped. The citizens of your city and the whole state may well be proud of your Commercial Club. Its members are the eyes through which the citizen sees the possible, and the hands through which the possible becomes the actual. They are the ears that recognize the unspoken needs and aspirations of the busy masses, and the voice that gives them authoritative expression. Without an active Commercial Club, such as you have, in which the masses of the city have perfect confidence, you could not realize your possibilities.

I am no less glad to respond to the cordial greeting of the Governor of Missouri, a state of magnificent resources of soil, in mineral wealth of several kinds, and in climate. As “no man liveth to himself,” no state liveth to itself; but Missouri could better afford to be fenced off by itself than any other state in the Union. It could feed itself, clothe itself and enjoy itself, and all from its own resources in field, forest and mine, “without the aid or consent of any other nation on the face of the earth.” Its Governor and its citizens may well be proud of its advance in educational lines and in the development of its many and varied resources. Kansas City, Missouri, is therefore a fitting place for the conservationists of the United States to meet and discuss the greatest of all present problems; how to conserve the greatest of the resources of the Nation, the fertility of the soil and the life of the people who live in the open country. I am sure I voice the sentiment of this Congress as a whole when I return its most heartfelt thanks and full appreciation of the hearty welcome given by the Mayor of Kansas City, the President of its Commercial Club, and the Governor of the State of Missouri.

THE DRIFT OF POPULATION.

It will be my object in this address not to discuss any phase of the conservation movement exhaustively, but to outline briefly two drifts of population: the drift from the farm to the city and the drift from the city toward the land, and the work of this Congress as related thereto.

Even before the daily press had begun the crusade “back to the land,” the movement toward the land had already set in. When Oklahoma was opened to settlement the land seekers stood, serried ranks of horsemen, waiting for the signal gun; and that great state of undulating prairie, heretofore only a great pasture, was converted in a few weeks into a state of farm homes. Congress did not dare to repeat the experiment; but when other Indian reservations were opened, provided for the distribution of land by lot, giving the prize to the lucky man rather than to the one with the swiftest horse and most accurate knowledge of the country. Every opening since reveals the fact that only one in a few can gain the coveted prize, so great is the land hunger of the American people.

This land hunger is not peculiar to any class of people nor to any state. The merchant, the banker, the railroad official of New York and Boston, each longs for a farm, possibly only as a summer home, but is willing to pay for it in investment, in improvements and cost of management, more than it is worth in dollars or ever will be. He, too, is bitten by land hunger. Many small business men of our cities, who cannot hope to secure a farm and live on it, invest greedily in acreage in the suburbs. The workman in the factory aims to secure two or three acres on which he can build himself a home, have a garden or cow pasture or place for poultry, or at least a playground for his children.

The growth of large cities has ceased to be in the business or even in the old residence sections, and is entirely in the suburbs. The same holds true abroad. According to the census for 1909, London in the ten years previous increased about three-quarters of a million. Yet the population of the old town, “Old Londontown,” decreased very heavily; the administrative district just outside that did not quite hold its own; and the entire growth and twenty thousand more was made in the outer circle or the suburbs. If men cannot have country life in the country, they are constantly aiming at “_rus in urbe_,” in other words, to get as much as possible of the country in the city.

As interurbans stretch out from the cities, farm after farm on their lines is divided up into acreage; and thus while the steam railroads tend to concentrate population, as they have from the beginning, the trolley lines tend to lure the people back toward the country. Even our foreign population, the men who dig our coal, mine our ores and swelter in our furnaces, aim to have a few acres which they can call their own, where they may live cheaply and die in peace and quiet, when the great interests have used up their best days and cast them off.

In fact, latent in the heart of nearly every man, be he man of business, clerk or other employe, or laboring with his hands, there is a yearning desire to have a piece of land to call his own. Perhaps they do not consciously reason it out. It may be a revival of the instinct of the primitive man, or it may be an instinctive fear of industrial wrath to come and a feeling that, should it come, should our whole industrial system be shaken to its very foundation, the family that has a few acres of its own can at least live in comparative comfort and safety.

THE MOVEMENT TO THE CITY.

Alongside of this movement, back toward, if not always to the farm, the counter-movement from the farm to the town, which has been going on for fifty years, continues with increasing and accelerated force. Farmers all over the older West move in great numbers or retire to the country towns; and notwithstanding all this constant influx of population, these towns, as the late census reveals, have barely held their own and often have lost population, the natural increase of the towns themselves pouring into the larger towns and cities, in which the majority live with less comfort than the farmers who remain on their farms. Vast numbers of boys and girls fall a prey to the alluring vices of the city; and many of them eventually take their places with “the down and out.” Comparatively few succeed and become well-to-do. The children of these few become wealthy; their grandchildren usually spend gaily the fortunes they never earned; and naturally the family dies out, at least, so far as force and power are concerned, in another generation or at most two or three. The city uses up men and families as it uses up horses. And this is true not only in this, but in the older countries as well. All Ireland, for example, except Dublin and Belfast, has lost population in the last ten years, as has also nearly all of Wales and Scotland.

I regard it as important that you should understand as clearly as possible the conditions that have caused this world-wide movement from the farm to the city, as only in this way shall we be able to foresee and describe the conditions that will cause and are even now causing a return flow or movement back toward the land.

This movement townward began with the use of improved machinery, or the application of science to the operations of manufacturing and distributing the things necessary for the supply of our ever-increasing human wants. It has increased in proportion to the success of the inventions and discoveries. The power loom put all other looms out of business. The spinning jenny sent the spinning wheel to the attic. The small industries—the wagon shops, the blacksmith shops, the grist mills and carding mills found in and around the county seats and smaller towns fifty years ago—“folded their tents like the Arab and silently stole away,” when it was found that a large plant and improved machinery, coupled with transportation facilities, could supply human wants at less cost.

THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE CORPORATION.

What followed? Large capital was required for the larger plants. The individual gave place to the firm; the firm eventually became a corporation, and finally a trust. At last the workman could no longer own his own tools, and became an employe. Large numbers of employes were soon necessary, and for self-protection they formed the union. The organization of labor followed logically the organization of capital and gave us one of the greatest and most difficult of modern problems, that of labor unions.