The Union Daily Times

Keeping Your Head

When Woodrow Wilson arrived in Paris December 14, 1918, to attend the Peace Conference he ran into the greatest demonstration of thrilled excitement and joyful expectations that history has any record of. Poilus, girls, officers, American soldiers, Belgians, Italians, Anzacs, Red Cross nurses, Canadians, British and hundreds of thousands of French civilians of all ages swarmed through the streets. Traffic was at a standstill while glory ran riot in honor of the "Star" from the Golden West that has directed the first great world effort in defense of humanity and freedom with unselfish motives. Greater honor could not have been shown any man. Did he keep his head?

For a month Europe had expected that when Woodrow Wilson reached Paris, the first thing, he would be carried over the devastated regions. When asked if that was his desire he replied: "No. You know, as a boy, I was reared in the country through which Sherman marched to the sea . . . I don't need to see the devastated regions; therefore, in order to understand what has happened. Besides that, I don't want to see the devastation; I don't want to get mad. I want to keep my temper and reason. I think there ought to be one man at the peace table who isn't angry, who isn't consumed by hatred and desire for revenge. In fact, if I had my way I would adjourn the Peace Conference for a year and give all parties time to go home and get some of the bile out of their system" says Huston Thompson in The Dearborn Independent.

Keeping your head is a good bit like keeping your temper: it's no use to the other fellow and little use to you unless it is handled carefully and manipulated with wisdom.

Now listen: J. M. Eleazer, county agent of Sumter, reports in "The State" some investigations of cotton raising in the West. County Agent Metcalf of Matador, Texas, reported that in his section the farmers planted on an average of 125 acres of cotton to the man. The average price for picking this season was $1.50 per hundred.

County Agent Patillo at Quanah, Texas, reported a hundred acres to the man and paid $1.25 for picking. County Agent Cantrel at Paducah, Texas, says they pay $1.25 for picking and the average yield this year is about 70 bales to the man, an exceedingly high average. County Agent Forester of Altus, Oklahoma, says they are growing an average of 85 acres to the man. P. S. Scruggs at Sayre, Okla., says they are growing 60 acres to the man. There are still millions of acres in this part of the world suitable for cotton growing with little or no fertilizer and where the boll weevil will give no trouble. Now: can we compete with the West in growing cotton and keep our heads? Not by a jug full!

We have been paying around 20 cents for bacon nearly three years and having it shipped in here. Hams are a thing you have heard old folks talk about. We get our onions from Texas and the Bermudas. We do, of late, raise a few sweet potatoes and tomatoes for the cannery but not enough to pay our gasoline bill. All our commercial feeds come from the West and what we pay out unnecessarily for freight that could be produced here would buy every baby in this county a red tin cup at Christmas and give its mother a flock of good chickens.

We have got to hand it to the cow, hog and hen program if we keep our head. We must have our own fertilizer factory on the premises; the cow hog and hen provides that, besides taking care of their own part of balanced agriculture. They put more vigor and enthusiasm in fruit, berries and trucking, besides building up the farm for greater field crops.

We have every essential for great prosperity if we could keep our heads, but whether we deserve it or not, you may be the judge.