Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1872-03-29

with a relish by almost every one. There
is no fruit grown which has such a beauti
full appearance and it should be raised i
not for use at least for ornament.
THE QUESTION OF FENCES.
We invite the perusal of the subjoined
letter on the impracticability Of abolishing
fences. 1t is cur desire to have full, free
and fair discussion of the whole matter.
Truth is the daughter of Time and Inquiry,
and no sweeping and sudden changes should
be made in any law. The tize must come
however, in this country when fences will
have to be abandoned, or constructed of
other material. DIR. johnson once said in
! speaking of space, that there were insuper-
able arguments in favor Of its being a
| plenum, and also inSuperable ones in favor
of its being a vacuum. There are good ar
guments for retaining fences; there are
good ones for abolishing them. Let the
subject be thoroughly and calmly dis
| cusSed:
To the Editors Of the Union and American:
INDIAN MOUND, STEWART COUNTY,
Tenn. March !, 1S72.-In late issue of
your excellent paper you invite cOmmuni-
cations for and against fences, and although
l am not accustomed to writing for the
papers, l will endeavOr to give you my
views. There are men in every community
who are ready to advocate every measure
which promises to Overturn the established
order of things. Forgetting that "all
change is not REFORM" they affect to look
with contempt upon every system which is
hOary with age, and has been tested by ex-
perience, and ready to apply the epithet of
old f0gy, to all who oppose their wild inno-
vations.
This spirit of innovation, has been busy
with our constitutions and laws and politics,
until it has well nigh ruined the country,
and now with reform for its watchWord, it
enters the affairs of the farmer.
do not wish to be understood as charg-
ing 'No Fence" of Big Rock, (whose
article suggested this communication with
being one of these superserviceable re-
formers. he is gentleman, if 1 am not
mistaken in his identity, whom | admire,
not alone for his energy, enterprise and 60
a-headativeness, but for his noble qualities
Of head and heart. The people of this re-
giOn owe him much for the Improvements
he is introducing among them. He has no
doubt reflected upon the expediency of
Stock Law, and honestly thinks it would
be better for the farmers Of Tennessee. /
think otherwise. Such a law as the one
proposed, would protect the interests Of the
rich farmer, at the expense Of the poor
man. The wealthy land owner who pos
sesses his hundreds ofacres, who Las plenty
of cleared land for cultivation, and to spare
for pastuTage, who is able to buy and SOW
clover, rye and grass seeds and keep I'M
falling ponds within bis enclosures, can
keep up his stock with profit, and save
something in the way Of fencing and re-
pairing.
On the other hand the poor farmer who is
struggling against poverty and adverse cir
cumstances, who has but 40, so or - acres
of land, needs every foot of his cleared land
in cultivation, for the sUstenance of his fam
lily. lie has no fields Of clover or grass, he
has no lasting ponds, and is not able to have
them.
Now, when you pass your anti-fence law,
you virtually legislate that mans stock out
of existence; and if this measure should
ever be enacted into a law, it should be en-
titled, can act to prohibit the raising of
stock by the poor men Of Tennessee AL
though the poor tenant has no ''pretty green
fields of rye or clover, yet a merciful God
has given him the forest, where his cattle
and sheep may crop the green heritage, and
bis hogs may pick up the mast, the mamma
Of the forest, which would otherwise rot
under the trees. Aud this GOd-given her
itage no human law has the right to take
from him. The great Commentator, Sir
William Blackstone, has said, "There are
certain laws which emanate from God him
self, superior in obligation to all Others"
and that, ono human law is valid which is
contrary TO these"
The class Of farmers upon which this
law would work hardships is by far the
larger portion of the agricultural population
of Tennessee, and entitled to the full pro-
lection Of the laws. The small farmer, as
they have been properly called, is not able
TO buy fine improved stock, at the present
fabulous and inoTdinate prices, but his
"little wiry COWS" furnish milk and butter
for his family, and are as important to him !
as his Weather neighbours Durham and !
AYRSHIRE cattle are to him. The fleece from |
his "little knotty sheep" protect his chill |
dren from the chilly blasts Of winter, and |
they (his Sheep are even Of more value to |
him than are the wealthy farmers Merino |
and COttswOld to him.
This no-fence Law would be not only I'M
just, oppressive and wTong in principle, but
it would be impOlitic. For instance, there
is the freedman who has bought him a
small tract Of woodland, built a cabin, and
cleared patch Of ground thereon, and is
]
his land, and become a substantial citizen.
He has no pasture and no stock water,
and 10 bis present condition can't have.
His stock range the forest round about his
cabin, and he feeds them in the woods.
Do away with fences, and you virtually
deprive him of the right to raise stock. in
his straiteued circumstances it would be i'm
possible for him to buy meat for his family
aud meet the demands upon his land; and
he is driven to the necessity Of preying
upon his more fortunate white neighbours
hogs, and milks bis neighbours COW.
Years hence, perhaps, he will have
opened farm, and be prepared to keen up
his stock. But then his habits of life have be-
come fixed he has no experience as stock
raiser. and has acquired no taste for the
business, but has become a confirmed thief,
and poacher upon his neighbours pasture.
For these, and many other reasons, am
opposed to a law prohibiting stock from
running at large. Let every man keep
his fence up to the ''mark, or suffer the COLI
When once you have made
a GOOD, strong fence, it requires, with
proper attention, comparatively little time,
labor or expense, to keep it repaired.
/ think friend mo Fence" oyeres,imates
the cost of making and repairing fences.
Perhaps, if he had known as much Of the
prices of farm labor as he knows about
writing be would not have given two dol
lars a hundred for splitting and putting up
rails. when be could have found plenty of