Mount Penn Lower Alsace Joint High School - Penn Alma Yearbook (Reading, PA)

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Salutatory Margaret C. Bush Problems of the American Farmer Tonight marks one of the most important times in our lives. After our departure from this institution we no longer have the guidance of its instructors, and, therefore, whatever our future shall be depends on each one of us. We hope that we may fully realize the value of our high school education which we are at this time completing. We wish to express our thanks to our parents, our friends, our teachers, and all who have helped to make these years successful. Your presence this evening makes this occasion more notable insomuch as we are made to feel that all have taken an interest in us. In behalf of this, the graduating class of 1923, I extend to all of you a sincere and cordial welcome at our exercises this evening. The products of the land form the basis of all life on earth. The farmer is the person on whom rests the responsibility of its producing power. Excellence and amount of land are of no value without the application of labor. Agriculture is the industry the success of which is most dependent on natural environment, which includes climate, weather conditions and means of transportation. As an art, it is excedingly complex and requires an extensive course of study. It has progressed from hoe to held culture, and under the last form the present trend is from extensive to intensive culture. This is profitable to society, but not to the farmer. Two hundred years ago nearly everybody in America was engaged in farming. Very few people were dependent upon others for their food supplies. Until the beginning of the nineteenth century, agriculture was the only dominant employment. But with the advance of civilization, resulting in the division of labor and the development of large cities as places of residence, the importance of the farmer has increased, until today his occupation is the founder of American industries and trade, and also one of the principal sources of our wealth. America’s lead over other nations of the world in agricultural products is the result of diversified temperate climate and various kinds of soil to which many kinds of plants are adapted. In the World War the part played by the farmer was as great as that of the factories producing explosives. Without food nobody is able to perform bis tasks, and so, had our soldiers not been fed, they would not have been able to fight; and, as a result, we would, in all probability, not be the prosperous nation that we are today. Besides increasing the production, the farmers were obliged to work with less labor than formerly. The problems of the farmer are varied and important. First let us consider transportation. The farmer may have large crops which are salable in the city, but he may not have any means of transporting them. Perhaps, too, means which he does have are so poor that, either by the time they reach the consumer, the goods have spoiled or else the time lost in transporting it is more valuable than the product itself. Bad roads are also a cause of much trouble. Township and county roads arc neglected, in spring are impassable on account of mud and in winter on account of snow. Education is usually poor, and attempts to utilize the rural school as a recreational community center have frequently failed because of the poor support of tin people. The rural dwellers have no easy access to museums, moving pictures, public concerts or other amusements. Few farmers have enough money to purchase land, and consequently 38% of the farm land in this country is rented. In cases where property is mortgaged, the successive failure of large crops may compel the mortgage to be increased, until finally the owner loses all his property and becomes a tenant. Some land is also exceedingly dry, marshy or barren. Farm equipment is expensive and must be renewed about every eight years, which is the estimated length of usefulness of most farm machinery. Labor is hard to secure as a result of the removal to the city of large numbers of people who go to more perfected industries, to which they are attracted by Page Eighteen

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 Commencement Program FRIDAY EVENING, MAY 25th Mt. Penn Auditorium Music—American Legion March .................. Brockman Invocation......................Rev. Raymond Heckman Salutatory—The Problems of the American Farmer.... ............................. Margaret C. Bush Music—Trio in E Flat.........................Mendelssohn Oration—The Value of an Education......Ethan A. Doty Chorus—The Shepherds’ Dance ...............-..German Oration—The Conservation of Our Natural Resources. ............................. Miriam E. Schaeffer Music—Riding Messenger .......................... Landby Oration—Our Immigration Problems........Mary E. Stichler Chorus ................................. The Carnovale Commencement Address—Courage..Principal John H. Frizzell Reading High School for Boys Presentation of Diplomas.........Dr. George F. DeLong President Board of Education Benediction.................. Rev. Frederick A. Sterner Music ........................... ..............- Sousa Music by Dorwin’s Orchestra Page Seventeen

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higher wages, shorter hours and continuous employment. Recreation in the city also plays a large part in drawing rural folks within its bounds. The southern labor problem up to 1863 was solved by slave labor, but, with the rise of peoples from slavery and serfdom, labor difficulties increased. Present day immigration offers no remedy, either, for only 12% of the immigrants are employed on the farms. Pests of all kinds tend to affect plant life. Insects of many kinds are destructive, weeds crowd out other plants, and blights often wipe out entire crops. The farmers, as a whole, receive lower prices for their commodities than any other producer. They work anywhere from 12 to 16 hours per day, with a greater output of manual labor than the majority employed, and then receive for themselves about one-third of the final price of the goods. The following example will present actual facts: A man in Florida sold a bushel of beans for $2.25. The cost of transportation was 50 cents, and the selilng price in New York was $6.40. Of this, 8% of the entire price defrayed freight charges, 57% went to the middleman, and 35% to the producer. Anyone can see that the treatment the farmer receives is quite unfair. Let us now consider some aids to t he farmer. There is a movement to improve both township and county roads. Trolley express routes and automobile trucks are easy, rapid and economical means of transportation and are coming into prominence. The introduction of telephones and the R. F. I), mail service, provided for by the postal department, develop means of commnication. Radio as a communicative and also recreational agency is becoming amazingly prominent. Traveling libraries, belonging to the state or private companies, procure for rural dwellers good books of all kinds. Educational methods are being improved, mostly under state supervision. With the introduction of consolidated schools, the number of academic subjects taught may be increased because of a larger number of pupils taking the same subjects, and the schools may be graded. In some counties a certain amount of time each day must be devoted to vocational subjects such as agriculture, dairying, sewing, cooking and household management. Now let us turn to national aid. One of the most important financial aids is the Federal Farm Loan System, the function of which is to give the farmer financial advantages equal to those of the city resident. The Weather Bureau forecasts frost, storm and flood warnings and general weather probabilities, the knowledge of which enables farmers to protect their crops and herds. The Bureau of Animal Industry attempts to control and eradicate animal diseases, and has rendered efficient service in administering serums or other medicines to cattle already afflicted with tuberculosis or other diseases. The Bureau of Entomology deals with insect pests, their sources, development and means of riddance, either by chemicals or enemy insects. 'Fhe problems and aids have been presented and briefly discussed. Not all difficulties have been overcome; there is yet a wide field for improvemnt. This task falls to all of us, who, as citizens of the United States, should exercise our utmost powers to promote the interests of the agricultural producers of our nation. Let us not look down upon the farmer as some do, but let us look up to him. He is the man who actually keeps us alive. Let us encourage him in his difficult task in every way we can, so that more persons will take up this most important work. In this way only can we expect this industry to produce the required amount of food. OUR IMMIGRATION PROBLEMS Mary Sticiiler Our country is largely a nation of immigrants, for, with the exception of the American Indian, we are all either immigrants or descendants of immigrants. The ideas, customs and ideals of many lands are fused together in our “melting pot ' to form our progressive, versatile nation It is, therefore, to the immigrant that the United States, in a great measure, owes its progress and development. Page Nineteen