Orleans independent standard. [volume] (Irasburgh, Vt.) 1856-1871, 1869-12-14

this country, our own peerless w Washington,
with burden of public care upon his mind
unknown to other men, and conscious that
not only the American Revolution, but the
whole great experiment of self government
was dependent in no small degree upon
him, yet gave throughout his life more of
his time to agricultural studies and opera
lions, than to any other object, and when
the last grim messenger come to summon
him to his reward, he was found in his far
ner's garb amid the shades and solitude of
Mount Vernon. And nearly all the sue
cessors of Washington in the Presidency,
passed the closing years of their eventful
lives in the dignifed tranquility of farm
er's life, and in the quiet pleasures of rural
pursuits. Adams, Calhoun, Clay and
Webster, the four great stotesmen of the
North the West and the South, whose
names are the pride and boast of the last
generation, forgot the colossal anxieties,
the stern contentious, the herculean labors
and their thankless sacrifices to the public
service, in the retirement of the country
and the calm and healthful pursuits of a
farmers life. Thus, if we study the histo-
~ of the wise men of all these master spir-
its, whose wills have moulded, and whose
hands have guided the destinies of man
kind, have been more or less engrossed in
| the pursuits of agriculture; and that it has
afforded them solace and q respite from
the cares and turmOils of more active life
Proud, happy, intelligent, patriotic farmers
| of Vermont, there is not population on
the face of the wide earth so highly IA
vOred in all the substantial blessings of
life as you are; nothing but this explains
our history and makes US fully compre-
| bend the secret of our own strength. The
officers and men who fought through the
Revolution, the war of 1912, and the ac-
cursed rebellion which has Just closed,
were farmers and the sons of farmers, who
owned the soil for which they fought. Yea,
our oca alustrious Grant, who crushed the
Rebellion, and who has been elevated by
your free suffrages to the first place in the
! Republic, was but few years ago quiet
unassuming farmer upon his narrow acres
in Missouri. But, Mr.. President, l have
not come here to fatter the farmer, or to
tell him that his calling is the only one to
which we should give our attention. And
I if desired to do so, it would be rather a
dangerous experiment, at moment when
we are within ear shot of yonder vast and
extensive manufacturing and commercial
establishments, and where so many of our
fellow men are engaged in those pursuits.
No, manufactures and commerce must 60
hand in hand with agriculture, if we would
prosper as a people, and one must not be
allowed to thrive at the expense of the 9TH
ers. The people of Vermont are in the
main an agricultural people and yet it may
admit Of very serious doubt whether we
would not be the gamers, if we gave more
time, attention, and money than we now
do. to the business of manufacturing In
no state in the Union, according TO hei
acres, are there more natural facilities fol
) manufacturing, than in Vermont. There
i water power enough upon the Winoosk
: if properly appropriated to run more spin
!. dies than is run to-day in the whole ISLAND
Of Great Britain. And more than this
with our valleys and our streams lined witt
mills and manufactures as they might be
: would it not be an inducement for our som
and daughters to remain with us at home
who are now, for the want of employment
Z and an opportunity to increase and spread
out in business, seeking homes in the Soutl
) and the West? have not time to dwell
= upon this subject, but I ask you seriously
t to reflect upon it, and see if something may
not yet be done, either by investment o
legislation, to stop this tide of migration
and give our people chance to live, anC
: thrive and die upon their native soil. ",
= can i'll afford to swap off our own children
: for Cinnamon or negroes. l desire in
, very few words, to call your attention t
the dangerous doctrine put forth by a lead
2 ing politician at Worcester few days ago
2 and that is that all capital, and associa
/ tons of capital, are hostile to the best in
: terests, not only of agricultural labor, bu
of all labor You, my friends, know b,
1 observation and happy experience that sucl
t a proposition is false and dangerous. Cas-
r your eyes about you. Does not the vas
e accumulation of capital which is necessar,
5 to carry on yonder extensive mills ant
: lumber yards, bring into your midst hun
, dreds of men, women and children, VIII,
, have to be clothed, fed and sheltered
; And does not this large addition to you
/ population make a ready market for ever,
), dollars worth of produce you can raise up
: on your farms? And do you notify selling
/ your produce here at home. save the pric
S Of shipment to distant market? 1t seem
7 to me that it requires only this simple il
; lustration, to show the utter fallacy AM
: absurdity of such a dogma. There Ger
tainly can be no occasion to excite an
V prejudice, on the part of the laborer agains
Z |
e ey. The two should, and generally dc
: work and live together in harmony
u and when they do, they mutually aid an
e assist each other. 1t is true that at time
o one class may for a moment, get the advan
tage of the other, but the people make tn
: laws, the laborers are the majority, an
K therefore all evils will be speedily RENE
o died. Associated capital m a emplo
e large numbers of men, but they can nc
1t compel them to work without pay, and the
f are compelled to pay them their pric,
/ Thus in this great and complicated machin
r, of human action, and progressive develop
Q ment, one wheel fits to the other, and on
+ power balances another, and all work tC
+ gether perfect harmony, unless perchanc
o some foreign substance gets in, and for tn
IS moment disturbs the regular motion of tn
J. machinery.
/, We cannot consent, then, that the gre;
o laws which govern the commerce of tt
ir world should all be abrogated to pleas
e Gen. Butler, if he does not like this worlt
Y and the laws by which it is governed, l.
q him build one for himself, and move I'M
r it, and | will wager dime that his leavin
IS will not raise the price of black Grape
l. the county of Chittenden. No one is mo-
l. thoroughly conscious than | am Mr. Pre-
r ident, that have very little pretention
lie give advice, or express an opinion eve
< upon any question pertaining to the pra
ID tical cultivation of the soil. And yet
Dt cannot forbear calling your attention
V, one subject which 1 have lately seen vel