STATE COLLEGIAN
Published on Thursday of each week during the
college year by the students of The Pennsylvania
State College in the interest of the Students, Fac
ulty, Alumni and Friends of the college.
Entered at the Post Office, State College, Pa.,
as second class matter.
EDITORS
’O7, Chief
A. K. LITTLE,
H. D. MASON, ’O7.
. H. J.DICK, ’O7.
R. B. MECKLEY, 08.
R. W. KRISE, ’OB.
J. K. BARNES, ’O9.
C. N. FLEMING, 'O9.
H. A. HEY, ’O9.
BUSINESS MANAGER.
F. K. BREWSTER, ’O7.
ASSISTANTS.
J. D. WOODWARD, ’OB.
S. W. BLOOM, ’OB.
N. B. HIGGINS, ’O9.
SUBSCRIPTION.
4fl. 50 per year or $1.25 if paid within 20 days after
4ate of subscription.
THURSDAY, JAN. 17. 1907
EDITORIAL
Next week being examination
week the editors will be unable to
put the required amount of time on
the paper; consequently there will
be no issue next week.
_[The developments of recent years
have opened the eyes of our indus
trial men to the fact that agriculture
is becoming more and more a main
stay of our nation. Along with this
awakening comes the opinion ex
pressed by one who, by reason of
.his position, must necessarily be in
timate with prominent industrial and
economic conditions, and an opinion
showing the vital importance that
this occupation has lately assumed.
In the Pittsburg Gazette-Times of
Sept. 5, 1906, James J. Hill, presi
dent of the Northern Pacific and
Great Northern Railroads, declares
that the welfare of the people of our
nation hinges on an intelligent de-
THE "STATE COLLEGIAN
velopment of oar great agricultural
resources,
In commenting on the diminishing
supply of coal and iron, Mr. Hill
says that the middle of the present
century will find the best and most
convenient coal and iron already
mined, leaving only an inferior
quality or such as will require an im
mense cost to develop it. With this
decrease in abundance of these two
commodities, to what will the peo
ple turn for employment and sup
port ? A few quotations from Mr.
Hill’s article will give a solution :
“ * * * The country is approach
ing the inevitable advent of a popu
lation of 150 millions or 200 millions
with a potential food supply that
falls as the draft upon it advances.
How are these people to be fed ?
“ * * * Concentrate popular in
terest and invention and hope upon
that neglected occupation. Genius
has shunned the farm and expanded
itself upon mechanical appliances
and commerce and the manifold
activities whose favorable reactions
filter but slowly to the plot of ground
upon which stands solidly the real
master of himself and of his destiny.
* * * There must be a national
revolt against the worship of manu
facture and trade as the only forms
of progressive activity and the false
notion that wealth built upon these
at the sacrifice of the fundamental
form of wealth can endure.
* * * The country needs more
workers on the soil.”
These few quotations intimate to
us quite clearly what need there is
for more extensive development of
agriculture. The national and state
governments have already realized
this pertinent fact and have estab
lished schools for the purpose of in
structing men how to cultivate their
land in the, most scientific way
known and how to get the most out
of it.
The people of Pennsylvania
realize that agriculture is their future
hope. The buildings on “Agricultural
Hill” attest the fact, as do the re
cent revolution and activity in the
agricultural department, designed.to
put this school on a plane where it
may effectually meet the demands
that are advancing.
The inauguration of a new form
of winter sport by the athletic de-
partment is a step to be commended
for various reasons. During, the
winter months general outdoor exer-
cise for the majority of the students
is impracticable so that some pther
form has been found advisable.
Heretofore the great majority of
men in College have not made any
attempts to try their skill in track
work and consequently have missed
a great deal of physical good. , The
proposed “stunt,” however, will
undoubtedly tend to increase interest
in athletic work of this nature and
will assist materially in developing
the bodies of those who have pre
viously been more or less indiffer
ent. Ability in any one branch of
track work will not necessarily give
any particular man an advantage
over his opponents, as general all
around skill, will be demanded, open
ing the contest in this way to a larger
number of competitors and giving
every man in this institution an
equal opportunity to gain the laurel
wreath of victory.
It has often happened that men
who have been ignorant of their