The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1852-05-28
Free Farms for Everybody.

Last evening, homestead mass meeting was held
N the Park, a. win he seen by our report Of ths
proceedings.
The progressive democrats and progressive wings
have takenup this eectioneering humbug, in view Of
the Presidential election-each faction trying to bid
higher than the other for the popular vote. But
they both miscalculate. They viii get very few
votes in return for this humbug. The shrewd mass
of the people know full well that free farm in the
Ear West would be perfectly usees. to the great ma
yority Of them. on the condition which would, Of
course bc attached to its possession in the event Of
such IN absurd enactment being passed by Con
gress Every man would have to settle upon the
hnr granted to him. But We should Like to kucT
now many Of the lazy loa1ers who are advocating
this measure would accept farm under such condi-
lions: or whether mechanics, in our large towns,
would abandon their occupations and turn farmers!
Where would they get the stock, and the farming
utensils and the large capital necessary to clear and
cultivate these farms and render them productive
to say nothing Of the expense ofconveying them
selves and their families to such distance!
And supposing them to be possessed Of the
necessary means. why, the purchase OF a farm
would be a mere nothing, compared with the outlay
10 bring it into cultivation. The value Of the unre-
claimed land il the smallest item Of the expense.
il is no. the price Of farm that stands
80 the way of people becoming farmers, but the
price Of labor, aud the price Of stock, want Of Skill
the distance, and other considerations. a free
farm therefore, in the wilderness, is Of no to a
man without means and is no induccmcnt to a man
with means. What do mechanics the great ma
,orty Of citizens know about farming They could
80 -, flatr IoDl bv af,riYu IL
well known that from four to i've per cent i the
most that can be realized by capital invested in
farming operations The thing sounds very fine to
men who never reflect, and never look beneath the
surface q any humbug. But il i purely visionary
as Kossuths pitched battles, and his utopian re-
public that I 70 be in Hungary. II the bill should
pass tomorrow, it would not bring another of
ground into cultivation; or if il did. it would put or
keep a. many acres out Of cultivation somewhere else
The men who cry out for this sovereign remedy
for every ID are chiefly those vino cali them elves
"induslrias, most Of them proving their industry
by neglocting ~ mend their pantaloons, while they
very busy in trying TO mend constitutions.
What these gentlemen al large most want, i the
passage Of some grand panacea in tie shape Of a
nw, that viii render work (of which they entertain
q holy horror entirely unnecessary for all time to
come. But free farm requires some very hard
work TO make anything out Of it. This, therefore,
j. not what they desire They are for the most
,art socialists and atheists who do not regard The
obligations Of the Christian religion, which says
~n any man viii not work, neither let him cat
On principle, they hold work in utter detestation
tut have no objection to appropriate the labor Q
,,hers. accumulated in the shape Of property, .
,hich they want a division. Free farms wouD
pgobably satisfy them TO certain extent, u the
could a,o get the ground cleared and ploughe
fs, the seed sown free, and the crops reapcd free
ssyug item potLing to a. but 70 ENJOY the 0s"'