The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1851-11-29
The Primers, Convention.


Granville, Psinam county, last week, the ol5 cc
ct which was TO adopt some feasible plan 70 b,
presented at the next session Of uur legislature q
induce that body To- establish State Agri,..,u
raj College at some suitable place IN the State
Prof Turner. of jacksonville, was present al,
delivered Il very able address on the subject. y
State Committee was appointed To call meeting
= of the friends Of the measure Together ~ Spau-
field during the session OF the legislature. Prof
Turner consented to write out his remarks and
plan for the establishment O.. the College fJr pub
licatinn-for which purpose twenty dollars were
raised to defray the expense ofprintu- 1000 cop
les, together with the proceedings Of he .tpt.uy
for public distribution.
we are infurmed that considerable discussion
grew out Of resolution. introduced by Mr.. Ni-c
recommending that the editor Of the Pre- Ir1ir.
and all other papers, be requested to publish the
proceedings. Mr. Reddick, We are told, although
politically allied with the above paper, opposed
the resolution with considerable zeal. lie did
no, wish to see anything that would SAVIOR Of par
tysm, creep into an agricultural meeting, and It
i. was desirable TO preserve harmony, al such
attempts should be nipped in the bud, After sun
dry other remarks by different sueaknrs, the res
oluiion was amended and carried by striking ont
the name of the Free Trader, aud inserting in is
stead, the Prairie Farmer
1T may rot be aAliSs here TO state, that the
attractions which generally induce the junior Of
the Free Trader toattcnd these agricultural fairs
IN Putnam county, are something, more than fat
hogs and tine cattle. AsamGtterofcourse.th these
frequent excursions must be attended with consil
cradle expense Therefore 20 assist IN meeting
these OUTLAWS, what wonder that our friend should
take the opportunity, when on agricultural fair
is to be seen. of ingratatiug himself into the good
opinion OF the yeomanry, by acting rs secretary,
examiner of needle work inspector Of young
calves, or in other momentous capacity, by which
he may be enabled to fpre,tall the action Of the
finance committee, AMI thus secure whatever
crumbs OF patronage may follow in the way Of
printing =
Mr. Gedncy knew nothing Of this convention IN.
til after the delegates from hi, vicinity returned,
and then calls it an Agricultural Meeting" He
says he understands there WAS meeting Of far
mers,' &c. Now, it is certainly astonishing that
the editor Of paper, which depends upon the
farming community for at least three fuurths of,s
support should have remained totally ignorant
Of a matter Of so much Importance toso large a
class ofits patrons; especially after it had been
alluded to ana commented upon by nearly every
paper in this section Of the state-A call for this
convention signed by eleven or,he most respect
able aud influential citizens in northern and cen
trail Illinois, was published III ,Ais pape! five
weeks aud was copied by 4 number Of other pa
pers in various parts Of the state; and yet the
editor Of the Consti,ution4s knew nothing OF 1t
until after the convention had ajouned and then
only, understands that an agricultural Netting"
had been held &c. Calls this convention, at
which nearly half the state was represented. for
the purpose Of approprating over three k,odrCd
thousand dollars exclusively for the benefit Of
the farmers Of this state by the insiypiican,
name OF IAN agricultural meeting r. We should
think the farmers who pntronze that paper would
not feel much fattcrei with the care It's editor
bestows upon their interests
1t s an old saying. when man talks about
what he knows nothing about he makes an ass Of
himself and never was any thing more beautifully
verified than this maxim in the remarks above
quoted. We alude particularly to that part re.
ferring to the resolution introduced by Mr. uisei
As We were present at the convention, we took
pains to minute the proceedings upon this sub.
jet, and shall give them here 10. the especial en-
ghtenmeut Of our beuighteI negbbcr, with !
hope tia! no may not again be imposed upon b.
some s!ragglcr who had bis information second
or third handed. The resolution was one Of q
series, drawn up by Prof. Turner, the original is
in our possession and read as follows:
Rcsoicei, That we approve ofthe general plan
for an Illinois State University for the Industrial
Glasses, presented By - and re-
quest him to furnish the outlines Of his plan, pre-
scented TO this convention, To The committee OF pub.
LEGATION, for publication in the irarie Farmer and
Ottawa Free Trader, and all other papers in this
state which viii publish the same and that one
thousand copies BE- puOlisLedm pamphlet form fer
gratutOus distribution.
As Prof Us Wa. the only plan presented of
course. he did not wish to offer the resolutions as
the blank would have to be filed by his own name
and, therefore, handed them to Mr. Hisc, who
offered them to the convention.
On motion Of Mr. r Ware, Prof Turner's name
was inserted in the blank.
Mr. Reddick then said lie did not think it good
policy to designate the Free Trader, since there
were three other papers printed IN the the coun.
| ty, and as they desired them all to publish their
proceedings, if they named one the others nigh,
| not do It.
| Prot Turner said, that when he wrote the re.
solutions, a number Of his friends had told him
| that the editors Of the Free Trader had taken
more interest in agricultural affairs than those OF
any other paper in this section OF the state and
that they felt it their duty to bestow this distinc.
ton upon their paper. That he had inserted the
Free Trader into the resolution at their solicitation
Mr., Hise also thought it would be better not to
name either Of the papers in the county, and mo.
we'd that the resolution be amended so as to read
"by the Prairie Farmer and all other papers in
III state"
Mr., Greble could see no npopriety in leaving
the Free Trader in the resolution, aud was op.
nosed TO the amendment
We then stated that we had no desire to have
our pap.r singled out from the rest in the county,
as there existed n delicacy among editors upon a
matter of that kind the Others might take ex.
ccptions to it; that we had attended the conyen-
ton to secure It's proceedings and should publish
them anyhow, and were N favor flhe amend.
ment offered by Mr. lise.
Mr.. S. Shepherd, however, was opposed to
striking out the name Of the Free Trader. The
convention included half the state. and although
there were number of papers printed nearer
there than Ottawa, yet the Free Trader was the
only one represented and lac was Cor doing "hon.
or to whom honor was due - and he be
lievcd that this slight mark of ds.inction was due
the editors o! that paper at any rate.
Mr. Reddick, who seemed to be a little sourcd
at something that occurred the day before. then
made personal dive at US, the application