of my office, to this endeavor. I shall neither rest nor permit the State to rest until every honest, industrious, and frugal man who tills the soil has a decent chance to own it. I am driven to this undertaking by the tyranny of a conviction that such a work is essential, not alone to the wholesome development, but to the enduring safety of the State. That wizard of the Northwest, James J. Hill, once said: "Land without population is a wilderness; population without land is a mob." Today 84 per cent of the people of Mexico are without land, and riots and revolutions result as the sparks fly upward. There can be no government for the many while the lands belong to the few, for the history of the world teaches that the men who own the land will rule it.

The homesteader is the most conservative and at the same time most militant force in our civilization. He is a lover of peace, a pioneer in progress, but a very demon in battle when danger threatens the land he loves. The small farm, owned by the man who tills it, is the best plant-bed in the world in which to grow a patriot. Such a condition brings wealth to the soil and health to the souls of men. On such a farm it is possible to produce anything from two pecks of potatoes to the hill to a President of the United States. Every consideration of progress and of safety urges us to employ all wise and just measures to get our lands into the hands of the many, and forestall that most destructive of all monopolies, the monopoly of the soil.

To this end I earnestly urge a constitutional amendment granting to the General Assembly the power to exempt from taxation notes and mortgages given in good faith for the purchase price of a home in an amount not exceeding $3,000 and running not more than twenty years. Such an exemption would bring the necessary money to every honest and industrious man who desires to own his own home. It would mean a premium of 40 per cent on the income from such a loan, and the money lender, tempted by this premium, would seek out worthy tenants and encourage them to climb to a higher level by becoming owners of the soil. Such a law would be a twofold blessing. It would be a blessing to our widows and orphans by enabling them to derive a reasonable income from the savings left them by husband and father. Today the average tax on solvent credits in the towns is $2.40 on the $100. The income fixed by law is $6, leaving to the widows and orphans only $3.60. None but widows and orphans, and a few ultra honest men, pay this confiscatory tax. It is the essence of tyranny, imposed upon the most innocent and helpless class of our citizens, and cannot be defended in any forum of common justice or common sense. The proposed amendment would open a door of hope to the tenants, and the women and children would rise up and call us blessed. Such a law would be in line with the Federal Farm Loan Act, which exempts from taxation of every kind notes and mortgages given to the land banks, and worthy tenants would have extended to them both State and Federal aid in their efforts to better their condition.

II

THE REGENERATION OF THE SOIL

To be of permanent value the conversion of the tenant into a landlord must be followed by a constant regeneration of the soil. To insure everlasting life, not only a man, but the dust from which he sprung, "must be born again." There can be no enduring prosperity for the men who till the land until the basic principles of good farming are universally understood and universally applied.

The defect in our agricultural development is that it has been "in spots." Under the present system the people who are in the sorest need of instruction are the very last to receive it. It is my purpose to make every rural school a farm-life school. A simple manual of good farming, applicable to actual North Carolina conditions, should be prepared by the Commissioner of Agriculture, the President of the Agricultural and Mechanical College, and the State Superintendent of Public Instruction. This book ought to be printed by the State, and furnished to the people children and adults—at prime cost. The teacher in every rural school should be required to study the book and pass an examination upon it. It should be made a part of every public school course, and no warrant should issue for the salary of any teacher save upon certificate that the prescribed course in agriculture had been fully and faithfully taught.

Every country boy who can spell "baker" ought to have hammered into him the great and simple truths about humus, seed selection, deep plowing, rotation of crops. The Ten Commandments of Agriculture laid down by Dr. S. A. Knapp ought to be written in letters of gold, framed and hung on the walls of every schoolroom. The pupils should be required to commit these commandments to memory, recite them in concert every day until they become a part and parcel of the intellectual and moral constitution of the country boy, so that he would be as greatly shocked to see his neighbor violating the commandment, "Use seed of the best variety intelligently selected and carefully stored," as he would to see him violate the commandment, "Thou shalt not steal."

THE MODEL ACRE

As a part of this eternal drilling in the fundamentals of good farming, there should be cultivated a model acre in connection with every rural school. This acre ought to be the blackboard on which should be demonstrated the theories taught in class. I believe that in every district can be found a patriot who would grant or lease for a nominal sum from one to five acres of land for the use of the public school. On this land could be carried on demonstration work now done by the State and Federal governments, and all the people in the district would benefit thereby. Various ways for cultivating the land could be devised, so that it would not only yield invaluable instruction, but would be a source of substantial revenue to the school. I am convinced that in this way funds could be raised to buy books, maps, musical instruments, and a complete equipment for a modern school.

If the theories of good farming are correct they ought to pay handsome dividends on the school farm. If they are theories only, and are not adapted to the actual conditions of farming in the district, then it would be worth much to the people to have this made plain. Such a school farm would become not only the agricultural but the social center of the district, and would enrich the entire life of the community.

And the girls should be trained as faithfully in the science of the kitchen as the boys are in that of the cornfield. How to plan and how to prepare a wellbalanced meal out of the food that is produced on the average farm ought to be taught to every girl in every school in the State. To this end the General Assembly should by all means take steps to multiply the number of home demonstration agents in every county in the State. The blessings of the fireless cooker and the iceless refrigerator ought to be brought to the attention of every house

hold, and every woman ought to be given an opportunity to know how to save all the surplus fruits and vegetables for winter use, and thereby conserve the family health and the family wealth.

III

A CRUSADE AGAINST THE CROP LIEN

The crop lien is the boll weevil of North Carolina. It is "the pestilence that walketh in darkness." It is "the destruction that wasteth at noonday." How a man can carry a crop lien and escape both the poorhouse and the penitentiary "passeth all understanding."

The merchant is no more to blame for this evil than the farmer. Both are victims of a system that rewards laziness and extravagance and punishes industry and economy. The man who pays at all pays twice, for himself and for his neighbor who does not pay. The moment this ceases to be true the time merchant goes into bankruptcy. Time prices are not fixed with reference to a reasonable profit on the article sold, but are based upon a speculation as to how many customers will fail to pay up. There is in the system more of the elements of a lottery than of a legitimate business.

I fully recognize the evil, but I am not persuaded that a statute making it unlawful to give a mortgage on a growing crop is the appropriate remedy. Such a statute might prove a "beautiful operation," but I fear that many of the patients would die on the table. Under this treatment, instead of lifting a worthy tenant to the place of a landlord, we might reduce him to the position of a hireling. The man who gives a crop lien is a prisoner; of this there can be no doubt. But instead of burning the jail down over the prisoner's head, would it not be a saner and safer course to give him a chance to break out? Several avenues of escape are suggested:

1. The one sure way to kill a crop lien is to starve it to death. And the sure way for a farmer to starve a crop lien is to feed himself. Bread, bacon, and buttermilk, all produced on the farm, are as fatal to a crop lien as quinine is to malaria. This treatment reaches the cause of the disease; all others deal simply with the effects. We need to hammer home the everlasting truth that for the farmer there is no way to financial independence save through full cribs, smokehouses, and pastures.

If I were the Czar of North Carolina, instead of the Governor, I would issue an edict declaring that from and after five years from date any man who imported into North Carolina any corn or meal, wheat or flour, beef or bacon, should forthwith be hanged without trial by jury, and without benefit of clergy. Of course, in the beginning, I would be denounced as an infamous tyrant; but after the law had been in effect for ten years the richest State in the Union would build a monument to me as the financial redeemer of my people.

2. But there are some ways in which the General Assembly can lend a helping hand while the farmer is working out his perfect salvation. The formation of credit unions, under existing laws, should be encouraged in a substantial way. Today it is nobody's particular business to organize these unions, and although the law has been on the books for several years, comparatively none have been. organized. The Agricultural Department should be equipped with two field men whose sole business it should be to explain these credit unions to the people and assist in their organization.

The same force could explain to the people the operation of the State law exempting from taxation notes and mortgages given for the purchase price of a home, and could organize local homestead associations for the purpose of aiding and encouraging worthy tenants to become landlords. In this way the maximum of good possible under these laws would be secured to the people.

A powerful stimulus to the formation, and a guaranty of the success of these credit unions would be a law permitting the unions to charge a commission not exceeding ten per cent for negotiating loans for members. This commission should be used to cover any losses sustained by the union on account of loans secured for members. A crop lien is essentially a precarious security. Though the best of judgment may be exercised, some losses are bound to occur. The union should have a fund to cover these losses, and at the end of the year so much of the fund as is not required to save the union harmless on account of loans should be returned to the borrowers. In this way borrowers would carry the risk at actual cost.

I am of opinion that it would be wise to allow banks and individuals to charge, in lieu of interest, a commission not exceeding ten per cent on money advanced to make a crop to farmers who, according to the tax books, are worth less than the exemptions allowed by law. As I have said, there is an element of risk in money so advanced, and no man is going to assume this risk unless he is paid for it. To expect a man who is insolvent, and who has no security to offer save an unplanted crop, to obtain money on the same terms accorded high-class investments is an idle dream. If we are to give practical help to the farmer who wants to get rid of the crop lien, we must apply to his case the principles of business, and not the instincts of benevolence.

It is susceptible of mathematical demonstration that if a farmer could get the cash with which to buy his supplies on a basis of ten per cent, the savings between that rate and the time price would in four years put the farmer on an absolute cash basis, and free him from the crop lien forever. With a campaign insistent and eternal in favor of homegrown bread, beef, and bacon; with our small farmers given an opportunity to obtain cash for a reasonable premium on the risk incurred, instead of being forced to buy commodities at unconscionable profits, the faith is justified that in a few years a crop lien would be a curiosity in North Carolina.

IV

THE BRIDLING OF THE WATERS

An idle stream is just as inexcusable as an idle man. Every running brook in North Carolina ought to be bridled and made to do its duty. Nothing adds more to the comfort and the health of the home than running water. At comparatively small expense running water and electric lights can be installed in thousands of country homes. To encourage the use of the water and the power it carries, I recommend that the State Highway Commission be provided with a force of hydraulic and electrical engineers, whose duty it will be upon request to examine water-powers, and submit plans and specifications to citizens who desire to install water and lights in their homes. Expert knowledge is required to pass on these propositions, and our people ought to be protected from those whose only interest is that they have something to sell.

RURAL TELEPHONES

Every farm home should have a telephone in it. It makes for safety, economy, and the enrichment of the social life of the community. It brings a community close together, and keeps it in contact with the big currents of life.

Rural telephone systems can be installed at a low cost. Union County affords an example of what can be done in this respect. But here again expert knowledge is necessary. Promoters and speculators sometimes take advantage of the desire of a country community for a telephone service to victimize the people. The State Highway Commission should be required to furnish to any rural community, desiring to establish a telephone service, plans and specifications showing the reasonable cost of the construction and maintenance of such system.

VI

THE SCHOOLHOUSE THE SOCIAL CENTER

The pathos of rural life is its loneliness. Thousands of boys and girls are literally driven from country life because of lack of wholesome diversions. The wives of many farmers are found in hospitals for the insane because their lives are the same yesterday, today and forever. By making the schoolhouse the social as well as the educational center of the district much of this monotony can be relieved; and this can be done by a series of entertainments as helpful as they are diverting. To this end moving picture entertainments could be given at stated intervals in the schoolhouses. There is a moving picture service conceived and perfected by high-grade men to do this very kind of work. It has been well said of this service, "It offers real education, visualized in gripping and entertaining form; clear instruction in those subjects most vital to the success of the country family, great moral and religious truths made brilliantly convincing, and the broadest outlook upon all life definitely focused upon a complete country life.”

I earnestly advocate the enactment of a law authorizing the county boards of education, by and with the approval of the State Department of Education, to arrange for a service of this kind in such districts as it is found practicable to do so. To this end I urge the appropriation by the State, out of the general fund, of the sum of $50,000 per annum, with the proviso that not more than one-third of the cost of the service may be paid by the State, the other two-thirds to be paid by the county boards of education and the people of the districts on terms fixed by the board.

I am profoundly convinced that no $50,000 appropriated by the State for educational purposes could yield larger dividends. Such a service would not only bring before the people in impressive form the latest and finest achievements in farm life, but it would in a large measure eliminate one of the moving causes of the flow of population from the country to the town.

VII

THE UPKEEP OF THE ROADS

In every county or road district where bonds have been issued for the construction of roads, the county commissioners should be compelled to levy an