IT CAN HAPPEN HERE!

[Music] This is The real America, peaceime America. However good business may be in your town today, you know what conditions were like before the artificial stimulus of war. War booms are temporary. And when they are over, a good, steady source of income becomes more important to us than ever. For that reason, we have chosen a setting of more normal times present the startling facts disclosed in this picture. So this is Main Street, USA. It may be your town. You know these folks or people just like them. He runs the men's clothing store. He is county commissioner and he has the hardware store. You may even know the stranger in town everybody's talking about. Or maybe not. These men don't seem to. Have you seen him yet, Sam? Only going into the newspaper office. How can he publish Miss Willlet's paper while she's gone if he isn't even acquainted around here? Well, she claims he knows everybody. Did he used to live here? He must have. Well, if he ever lived around here, I'll know him. Hey, isn't that him coming now? Yeah. Recognize him, Chad? No. No. He's a stranger to me, and I've been here better than 50 years. Maybe we can pump him. How'd he do? Oh, hello, Sam. Mr. Sutton. And you're Gordon H. You resemble your father. That's right. Mr. Family still run the hardware store. Yes, sir. Fine. Well, I'm not so sure. You see, uh, business isn't what it used to be around here. So, I hear. Well, one good thing, recognizing that something's wrong is the first step toward correcting it. I reckon that goes for hats, too. You got one that fits me. Come on in. See you later. Sure. You bet. What do you suppose he meant by that? What? We know business is falling off so we can do something about it. Run more ads in his paper, I suppose. No, no, it's something deeper than that. I've got a feeling that So have I. I've got a feeling we ought to find out who he is. Yeah, I'll take this one. Might as well wear it. That's a good hat. Used to be $10. I'm closing them out for seven. Really? I don't see why. That looks like a good line. Oh, it is. But people around here just don't seem to appreciate quality anymore. Folks, I used to sell $40, $50 suits. Now they want something for 2250. Which isn't only my business. Anywhere you go, up and down the street. The jeweler was telling me where he used to sell a lot of $75 watches. Now he's lucky to get half that. The music shop used to do a good business with those $350 radio combinations. Now it's mostly smaller sets. The same with groceries, shoes, and such like, furniture, everything. And that's what happened to the $10 hats. People just don't care for quality anymore. Am I right, Gordon? Absolutely. Oh, I don't know. People haven't changed that much. They'd still rather have quality. Maybe the soil of this county won't grow $10 hat. You ought to run that in your joke column. That's no joke. Believe me, it isn't. I think I will write an editorial on it though. Thanks for the idea. Oh, sure. Oh. Uh uh. Just to settle a bet, how did you used to spell your name? Which one? First name, last name? Uh, well, why Jet? I never knew there was more than one way to spell Thomas or even Jeff. Oh, Jeff. Thomas. Glad you're back, Jeff. Thank you, Jeff Thomas. I don't remember any such Thomases ever living around here. That's funny. I don't either. Well, boys, I feel like this is going to be my day. You must have been taking some lessons since last Sunday. Oh, he just wants revenge, that's all. All right, I'll bet two bits on the game. It's a bet. You were just lucky last Sunday. Say, here's that editorial. What editorial? The one Jeff said he was going to write. Will the soil of our county grow $10 hats? What's he say? Yeah, read it. Will the soil of our county grow $10 hats? Once it did. Out of the soil of this fertile county once grew $10 hats, $50 suits, $300 radios, thousand automobiles, $10,000 homes, and good substantial businesses. It isn't producing like that today. And why not? Yeah, you tell us. Our prosperity is rooted in the soil, and soil follows nature's laws. There's one lawmaker you can't fool. No one ever ran a black market on nature and got away with it for long. But learn to cooperate with her. And lo, she pours out a bounty no barn, no warehouse could ever hold. And the first thing we should learn is the land belongs to the people. I repeat that. The farmers farm it, but the land belongs to the people. Pretty good. Yeah, but what's he driving at? Well, don't you get it? Here we've been griping about business, but that's all we have done is gripe. We haven't tried to trace the trouble to its roots. According to him, its roots are in the soil. And according to me, his head's in the clouds. What's the dirt in Ben Pollock's cornfield got to do with the price of my nails or Sam's $10 hats? Because you depend on that cornfield, my boy. A lot more than that cornfield depends on you. Hello, Jeff. Glad you could make it. Nice of you to let me fill in. I'm all ready if I can throw this coat somewhere. Here, I'll put it in my locket. Oh, say this is all right. You had us gone there for a minute till we figured it out. What you're plumping for is soil conservation. Well, you can call it that. I'd rather call it proper land use. Proper land use of which soil conservation is the beginning, first step. After that come better methods, diversification, better equipment, and so on. It's all part of the same thing. All right. So, it's proper land use and not a farmer in the house. Listen, the only land I'm interested in, we're sure not making proper use of in here. That's right. Get going, you Gordon. Do you believe in the hereafter? Of course I do. Why? Because I'm here after that two bits. Hey, you won't have a chance today. Uh-oh. We'll have to wait a minute. Doc's lost his ball again. I don't see him over there. Oh, in the corn field again. You're sure he isn't still there from last Sunday? I don't think so. There you are, Jeff. That's the kind of crop we raised around here. The corn stolen Doc is. Now, what's wrong with the way that farm is being used? I don't know. You don't know? Now, wait a minute, Gordon. What's on your mind, Jeff? Ever since you come to town, you've been acting like a fella that's got something with a tail and no place to swing it. Well, we're giving you room right now. What is it? Oh, all right. You ask me what's wrong with that farm over there. I don't know. I don't know if anything's wrong with it. That would be for somebody specially trained to say, but I do know there's something wrong with farming around here as a whole. How do you know? Different ways. Crops don't average up like they used to. Farmers don't make the money they did years ago. People leaving the farm, especially the young folks. And from what you say about business, they're not the causes. They're the effects. The effects of the way the land's being used. Well, how would you use it? Well, I thought conservation meant fighting soil erosion, where water runs down the hill and carries it away. Now, you can see for yourself, our land's as level as a tabletop. No land is level. Any farmer can tell you that. It slopes one way or the other. Maybe only a foot to the mile. But the Mississippi River's fall is less than 6 in to the mile. And it keeps rolling along. Yes. And taking with it good top soil from more than a third of our states. Enough soil in one year to cover a county like this. No. Yes. So-called level fields like these around here may be undergoing sheet erosion right now. Sheet erosion. Yes. The whole top is being carried away gradually all over the field at the same time. Well, I've lived in this county better than 50 years, and we seem to have just as much dirt around here as we ever had. Well, that's the treacherous part of it. Sheet erosion so gradual, you don't notice it until it's pretty bad. But it's going on just the same to a greater or less degree. That is, everywhere that steps aren't being taken to stop it. Well, now that's a little bit uh Well, now we do know this. 150 years ago, we had an average of 9 in of top soil in this country. You know what we've got now? Around 6 in. 6 in. And it takes hundreds of years to build back even 1 in of top soil. So you can see it's no laughing matter. Yeah, I don't suppose most people realize. Oh, fortunately some do. We'd be in worse shape than we are if it weren't for the US Soil Conservation Service. They've saved us millions of acres. They've shown us how to plan the use of our land. Of course, that's all part of proper land use. how to plant the right things in the right places and make the best use of every square foot of ground. Oh, now wait a minute. Does that really make such a heck of a lot of difference? Well, now let me ask you here. Um here now let's say um let's say this is a farmer Brown's place. Uh house and buildings here. up here. He usually plants row crops. Then the pasture down here to the creek orchard over here. Now alongside of it, I'll draw you just a rough sketch of Main Street just a couple of blocks. Here's the bank, 10-centent store, your place, Sam, and then the drugstore and the other 10-centent store and the furniture store and so on. on the other side, dry goods store and the music shop, your hardware store, Gordon, and let's see, uh, shoe store and so on. Now, up on the side street here is the tractor and implement dealer. We'll get to him in a minute. Now, then, these two 10-centent stores, before they were located here, men came in and clocked sidewalk traffic. They actually counted the number of people passing given places. A 10-centent store can't survive on less than a 90% location. Of course, sidewalk traffic is a minor consideration with the implement man. But just for fun, let's swap places. Take out the implement dealer and put the 10 cent store back here in its place. You know what had happened? The dime store had starved to death on poor pickings like that. And what about the tractor man? We put his place up on Main Street where the 10-cent store was. That rich sidewalk traffic doesn't mean a thing to him. And the high rental soon put him out of business. We see what you mean. Well, it's the same with a farm. Crops like corn need a 90% location, too, to do right. But it so happened on this high ground, the best of the top soil has been washed away. On the other hand, the pasture here, now that's the best land he's got. Why doesn't he switch around and put his crops in here where he'd get a third more to the acre? And by putting the high ground to grass, he'll save the top soil he has left and gradually built up some new. Well, why doesn't he? Probably just habit, same as a lot of others. But that's only half of it. He should next get his land on a pay as you go basis. Uh-oh. Sounds more complicated all the time. No, it's really very simple. It's just the difference between farming your land and mining it. Mining it? Yeah. There's nothing more beautiful than rich, fruitful farmland. Whether it's waving grain or snowy cotton, citrus groves, fields of clover, orchards, vineyards, or tidy truck gardens. Now, contrast all that beauty with this. the results of strip mining, where men dig out what they can and leave the earth worthless and hideous. Well, what else are you doing when you strip soil of its fertility and leave it a prey to the elements, to rain, to dust storms? Did you ever stop to think that soil is the most wonderful natural resource we have? It's actually able to perpetuate the wealth that's in it if we give it a chance. Of course, we can't just go on using it without doing anything for it. Now, you're a businessman. Take that farm over there. Now, supposing that farm was a factory. And suppose you knew that in that factory, the boss was pushing his machines day and night. A farm works day and night, you know, never stopping them to rest, to lubricate them, trying to make them do things they were never designed for. And then when a machine starts to fail, instead of repairing it, just getting what he can out of it, then junking it, not able to replace it. You'd be pretty concerned about a factory run like that in your community, wouldn't you? What else is every farm but a factory in your community? I agree with you in principle, Jeff, but who the Sam Hill is going to tell old man Van Gilder over there how to run his farm? Nobody will have to. He'll ask if we work it right. Huh? You don't know that Dutchman like I do. Hey, you guys, we can go ahead now. Doc finally threw in a new ball. Okay, shoot. In the cornfield. There goes your two bits. Yeah, golf just isn't my dish. Wait till I get you birds out fishing next week. Then you'll see something. Come on, Squirt. Oh, he's gone. See you later. Get back in time for the fishing trip. Gordon, I'll bet you two bits you don't catch anything. All right, you're on. You know this is my game. Hey, is this the place? Doesn't look so good. You promised us bass. Or was it mud turtles? What's the matter with this place today? Look at that water. I forgot. It's always muddy like this after a rain. The only thing we'll ever catch in there is bullheads. I'm sorry. Darn it. It's a shame. It's worse than that. Oh, I guess we'll live through it. But will the land live through it? The land? That's more top soil washing away there. right off that level land. And some of it's your friend Van Gilder. Poor old Van. And he doesn't care any more for an inch of ground than he does for his neck. He'd have a fit if he knew his land was washing away like that. His land. That's your land. Remember, the farmers farm it, but the land belongs to the people. By golly, it isn't so funny now as it was. Come on. I know a place we won't have this trouble. Don't forget this will cost you two bits. Oh, no. You don't get Wait. No. A bet is a bet. All right. [Applause] Well, this is something like it. I'll still bet you do two bit you don't catch anything. All right, Tucker, but this time you'll be sorry. How did you know of this place, Jeff? 40 miles away. I just knew there was a river up here and this was a soil conservation district, so I figured the country be protected and the water be care. Hey, it's starting to rain again. Well, whatever. It's only a summer shower. Not for me. I'm a dry fisherman myself. There's a farm over there. I'm going to get undercover. I put another two bits you owe me. Oh, you're not going to count this, are you? Well, certainly I'd go to this. Oh, no you don't. Out of the wet. It's certainly pouring down out there now. Nice weather for duck. Hello, Kelly. Hi, Commissioner. Sam Gordon. Don't mind if we come in out of the wet. Glad to see you. This is Mr. Dave from our bank and Mr. B off runs our big store over here. Hi, man. Jeff Sutton, Sam Avery, Gordon Hat. How do you do? How are you? Mr. Thomas runs our newspaper. We just dropped over to try your fishing. Our river is too muddy. As it used to be, it'll be fixed up our land around here. Pardon me. What is that, Well, that's a terracerer. A what? A teraser for terracing farms and ditching. You can do the things with it you used to do with a big road scraper hauled by a large heavy tractor. You can. That's one of the reasons for the new upswing and the popularity of terracing. You don't have to wait around for the big equipment to get to you. You just slip it on in between farm jobs and you're all set. Well, I'll be done. Just between ourselves. Do you really think this land juice thing makes any difference? I was noticing some figures the other day. I jetted them down here someplace. Oh, here they are. 9,000 farmers surveyed in 47 states raised 33 and a3% more crops, all kinds with proper land use and livestock the same. Dairy cows up 27%. Hogs up 53% and so on. That's a third more income per year for the farmer. But it means something for us businessmen, too. It's the same as adding a brand new farm for every three in our section now. That much more buying power. You know, it's a funny thing how a few extra dollars in the man's pocket will change his outlook on quality. Made it the truth. What do you say, Telly? What's that? What are you getting out of this better land use? Of course, Tully isn't a fair test. He's one of our best farmers. I hope you'll remember that next time I want a loan. I walked right into that one, didn't I? It stopped raining. Mr. Noah says he's going to run some more line. Thank you, Tommy. Be right out. You go get started. Uh maybe if these fellas would like to come along and see a little of it. Quite sure. I would. Me, too. My rod's head. Sure. They'd be all right. Here. What was that you were starting to say back there, Mr. Tossy? Oh, I was saying you have to know how to figure things. Now, it isn't going to reduce your taxes just cuz your farm is terrace. And it may not reduce the cost of working in your land, though some farmers do claim it's cheaper working on the contour. The point is, if by proper land use you get 60 bushels to the acre instead of 40, it's going to reduce your cost per bushel and it's going to reduce your tax per bushel and you'll have more money in your pocket afterwards. I see. What' you say they were doing out there? They're running the preliminary line setting stakes where the lands all the same height. Then they'll terrace it at those levels. Who's the man laying it out? Oh, he's a local fellow raised over around Hoitzville. Got his training at State Egg. Gosh, I better get over there and help him a little. Now, when are you going to do the terracing? Next Tuesday, if the weather's right. Come over, all of you. Sure. Good. I'll look for you. Well, do you really feel repaid, you businessmen, for the efforts you've made to help the farmers in this community? Listen, I've known businessmen that work their heads off bringing factories into a town. I've done it myself. A good payroll is a nice thing for any town, but you can take it from me, mister. It'll never equal the year in and year out prosperity of a good farming community. You mean you businessmen started this project? That's right. Elim le off with a couple of his friends and I help. But you could get your farmers together. Now, in our county, they're different. Where have I heard that before? Of course, farmers like to run their farms their own way, but at the same time, they want to make a better living the same as the rest of us. Hey, what about our fishing? All right, Isaac Walton. I'll bet you two bits I catch more fish than you do. I'll take it. Your luck can't last forever. Will you join us? Well, that's what we come out for. Come on. Let's go together. [Applause] [Applause] What I wanted to know is how did you go about it? We got out and talked to the farmers and they got up a referendum. That's the only way you can get up a soil conservation district. It isn't something handed down from the government. Got to have a majority wanting it and asking for it. We had a special election and the land owners voted for it. We got in the help and the machinery we needed and went to it. But isn't that uh rather expensive? Uh who pays for it? Well, in our case, we found a farm use organization interested in taking over part of the job. We businessmen underwrote the purchase of equipment. Each farmer paid the boys for work done on his farm, for which the government paid him. The boys reimbured us for the equipment, and everybody was happy. Hey, Gordon got another one. We better get down there. He's getting ahead of me. So, now we're going to see how that teraser works. [Applause] There it goes. That's one of the farm club boys running the tractor. Why? That doesn't look so difficult or complicated. Isn't when you get right down to it and have the right equipment cuz they're sure tearing up an ed. Yes, sure does look kind of torn up right now, but that's the way it's going to look when it's done. Aren't those nice looking terraces? and take a gander at those grass waterways. We know the rain isn't going to wash any more soil off of that field. It's going into the ground where it belongs instead into the river. I used to pour plenty of fertilizer money into that old stream. Well, what about uh when you plant uh how do you work right along them? Like we were saying the other day, getting the land in shape, that's one thing, but it isn't the whole answer. Once the top soil is anchored, a man can build up the fertility of his place and be in a position to really start reducing his costs. Someday farmers will have to do as good a job at that as the fellows running factories are doing. Oh, no man's so good he can't farm better. He can do a better job of rotating his crops, strip farm, diversify, use modern equipment. You just can't begin to farm as cheaply or as fast or as easily with horses as you can if you're mechanized. I'm getting about a third more off an acre already than I used to in my best years. Brought along a snapshot to show you how that field looked before we terraced it. See those gullies? They may not look so bad to you, but those things were doing plenty of damage and getting worse all the time. Sure, we know erosion doesn't work as fast in some places as it does in others, but dang it, the results are the same. Last night I was reading an article in a magazine that Jeff gave me about two towns in Oklahoma. About 50 mi east of Oklahoma City, Prague and Peyton. 40 years ago, the two towns started even today. Prague is a hustling, bustling little city. People around Prague took great pride in their land. On every side, the farms were wellkept up. But for some reason, the folks around Peyton didn't feel that way. For the first 20 years, Peyton kept pace. And then something happened. Their farms begin to go to pot. Mostly tenant farmers. Their whole idea was get all you can out of the soil now and to heck with tomorrow. Why? spreading manure on someone else's land for next year. Huh, that was just plain nuts. Well, you guessed it. Rundown farms made a rundown town. You never think to look at Peyton's main street today that 20 years ago it was a prosperous trading center, too. The article went on to say that Peyton used to have four cotton gyms, three banks, and a dozen good stores. Today, it has one gym, working part-time, no banks, and big gaps where stores used to be. And that's what good and bad land use did to those two towns. That's why we're doing something about it here. Well, I better get back to the barn now. See both of you later. Well, thank you very much, Mr. Toen. Yes. Hey, here comes Gordon. And he's alone. Hey, I thought you were going to bring Jeff. Well, Jeff's gone. Gone? Gone where? Gone away for good, I guess. What? He left word that his work here was done. There's a man the whole community is going to miss. You said it. Well, we'll just have to take on more responsibility among ourselves and see to it that the work he started doesn't fall by the wayside. It's a funny thing. He left this old book for the three of us. What is it? Agriculture and the heritage of America. There's a place marked in here. He's got it underlined here. The land belongs to the people. I repeat that. The farmers farm it, but the land belongs to the people. Well, that sounds like who wrote that? Thomas Jefferson. Well, that was over 150 years ago. Thomas Jefferson. Jeff Thomas, you don't suppose Oh, no. It couldn't be. Or could it? Yes. The land belongs to the people, to you, each of you in the audience. Whether you actually farm the land makes no difference. You have a stake in America. The war has been an artificial stimulus to business. Let's not let the extra money it has placed in farmers hands blind us to the damage already done to America's soil and the evil effects of this damage on our economy. Already over 100 million acres of farmland have done out of production in the United States. Enough land to feed and clothe 29 million people. It can happen here. What are you going to do about it?