Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1857-10-10
The Claims of Agriculture upon the Gov
ernment


ernment,
1T is remarkable that the claims of agri-
culture upon the fostering aid aud protec-
ton of the Government, and the high ex-
pediency of recognising and acting upon
them, should have been so long overlooked.
The republic is government of the people
made by and for them, through their
Representatives The vast aud overwhcl-
ming majority of them arc agriculturiSts-
tillers Of the soil They produce by their
labor the food that sustains, the material
that clothes, the means that educate the
nation They pay the taxes, and when
war comes sustain the burdc0 of it, and
fight the battles of the country. They arc
the solid foundation-Stones on which rest
the prosperity of all of us--the merchant
the manufacturer, the men of all profcs.
Sions. And yet, tens of thousands of d,
lars have been devoted out of the publ,
treasury, for the promotion of every other
pursuit, to where one has been appropria-
ted for the furthcrancc ofagriculture. The
manufacturer has been fostcred by The leg
slation of the nation. Commcrcc has been
enlightened by surveys and explorations; !;
but, with the exception of the indirect dis
scmlnahon of information through the Pa
tent Office, the special interests of agricul-
turc-thc great mother and nourishcr of
all--havc received no support from the
National legislature.
That something of this neglect has sprung
from the jealous vigilance and hospitality
of statesmen, watchfully guarding against
establishing prcccdcnts for the exercise of
doubtful powers under the Federal Const-
tuition, and thus leading the way to vir-
tual consolidation, is very probable. These
men, in their pride of State sovereignty and
their jealousy of State rights, have left
wholly to the State Governments the duties
of education and the dissemination of in
formation among the people. The State
Governments, in turn, absorbed in the
schemes of politicians, and imbucd with an
exaggerated idea of the paramount impor-
tancc of national Importance, havc-with
few cXccptions-bccn as negligent of agri-
cultural cducations as the Federal Congress.
Schools, colleges and universities, for the
manufacture of lawyers, physicians and di-
vines, are founded and endowed without
number; but the instances in which insti-
tutions have been found specially designed
and calculated to make enlightened, scien-
tllic and skillful farmers, are indeed,
| " Like angels visits few and far botwccn."
And yet, if there is one condition more
essential to the preservation and prosperity
of the Republic, than all others, it is the
lp6rpctuation of knowledge among its agri-
culturists. Their intellectual cultivation
is the shcct-anchor to the hopes of the pa
triot. Already DO we mark the visible
signs of decadcncc in the public virtue, in
all the dense marts of trade and barter
Trickory, sclf-cunning and sharpness, arc
there taking the place of the loyal and
straightforward virtue, by which alone a
representative government can be main
tanned. Our cities and towns, from having
been in the early and purcr days of the Re
public hcalthful nurseries of robust patri-
otsm, arc every day verging more and
more towards the corruption and rottcnncss
of political principle which regards the
common veal as an antiquatcd superstition,
and the State but as a carcass for selfish
ness to battcn on.
The remedy is, the infusion of larger
and higher degree of intelligence among
the uncontaminuted rural classes. TO the
sharp mental kccnnoss of the city, must be
opposed the solid weight of cultivated in
tcllect among the dcnizcns of the country.
What so well calculated to create this, as
to cnnoblc the pursuit of the farmer BY
lending to it the charm and the advantage
OF scientific knowledge? Educate the far
mcr to farming as science, and it will be
impossible to bound his Intelligence to the
narrow circle of his immediate VOCATION
The appetite for knowledge will grow by
its Indulgence, until the farmers of our land
will be qualified to become its statesmen,
and the conscrvators of its republican form
of government. And believing that the
suggestion of a national endowment in
lands, for the creation and support of schools
OF this character, will be the germ from
whence may grow out such widespread ag-
r1cultnral education, we very cordially and
earnestly recommend it to public favor
Memphis Bulletin.
HAND Him RoUND.-.i meeting of the
citizens of Deatsvillc, Autauga county, and
vicinity, was held on the 18th ult., to con-
slider the case of one Cleveland, whom they
suspected of entertaining sentiments at war
with our peculiar institution. A commit
tee of fifteen was appointed to examine into
the matter, who after due Investigation,
addressed the following gentle intination
/ to the obnoxious individual:
Mr.. Clevcland-Sm: We, the under
signed, citizens Of Autauga county, and
State of Alabama, from observation and
rumor, believe you to be opposed to South
orn interests and institutions. We there