Rutland weekly herald. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1859-1877, 1873-09-25
The state Fair.
MR.. MURRAY's ADDRESS.

mont Agricultural Society and Wool
Growers Association, seems to be re-
garded as a success by the press, and l
should judge quite generally by the peo-
pie. The show of live stock, products
grown from the soil, manufactured. ar
ticles, mechanics work, works of art,
science, etc, ETC., altogether undoubted-
ly made creditable exhibition, and such
as to indicate progress in our material
interests But, for one, | am not salts
fed with the address delivered on that
occasion by the Rev. W. H. H. Murray.
| was not present when it was delivered,
but read 1t as reported by the HERALD.
1t is able, but in my opinion is unsound
in some of its positions.
Mr.. Murray commences his address as
follows ''Tt cannot be denied that
agriculture, in its relation to the young
men of New England, has not held, and
is not now holding its own as against
other callings and pursuits )" and asks
the question, "Why is agriculture de-
serted of our young menu"
He then proceeds to answer it and
says EHOne reason why the youth of
New England have deserted agriculture
to learn other trades and follow other
professions, is because agriculture did
not 22ay." s...... .....
"Our fathers" he says, ''were not
misers, nor was MammOn our God. The
young men of New England left the
farms on which they were born, and
which in early life they helped to till,
not because they would not yield them
vast wealth, but because they would not
yield them that reasonable amount of
wealth which every man needs for his
own development and for the support of
those who would in the course of nature
look to them for needed provision. 1t
was not because it did not mean riches,
but because forming meant poverty, that
our young men in so many instances
have refused to be farmers. Looking
upon poverty as a curse, as it always
has been and is to-day the world over,
that form of industry which made it in
evitable became naturally and lawfully
hateful to them"
Is the foregoing a true representation
of farming in New England as it has
been or is now? l say not. Whether
agriculture in its relation to the young
men of New England" has held its own
''as against other callings and pursuits, y
1 do not propose to inquire, or shall
not make of that distinct point with
Mr.. Murray, though have something to
say about it. Time was when we raised
many more young men than we do now.
Forty and fifty years ago almost every
family was large family. Many far
mers had half a dozen boys, more or
less, and some of them on arriving at
their majority must needs leave the home
stead, either to engage in other pursuits,
or go to farms elsewhere. Now a very
large proportion of the families are
small. Instead of finding six, eight, ten
or twelve lusty boys and girls at every
house as formerly, if we find any, it is
| usually OACs lhO Vi tiliNG lNAAt hAiAASS
that the old folks would have said are
''hardly worth raising But this is an
evil that has come upon us, if evil it is,
for which l propose no remedy, but dc
say, in all sincerity, that it is matter
which ought not to escape the attention
of every well-wisher of his race. Sc
far as my knowledge goes, the regret has
more frequently been in Vermont, that
so many young men leave for the West.
Emigration westward, so far as I have
known, has been the leading cause OF
depicting Vermont of its young men
but more of this before close.
Mr.. Murray says, agriculture in New
England has been deserted by the young
men because it ''did not pay" They
have engaged in other ''callings and pur.
suits, because they did pay This he
does not expressly say, but that is the
unmistakable inference.
And now I give it as my opinion that
in this Mr. Murray is mistaken, at least,
so far as Vermont goes; and unhesitat.
ingly assert that from the first settle
ment of Vermont to this day, agricul-
ture has paid better than any other pur-
suit within its borders. True, cases may
be cited of men who, by manufacturing
specializing, or by some lucky strike,
have made more money in given time
than they possibly could have done at
farming; but such are isolated cases.
In making the calculation we must take
farming as a whole, and the other pur-
suits, each as a whole. 1t is impossible
| now, as | am aware, to tell exactly how
much has been made at farming or how
much at other industrial pursuits. Sta
tistics taken from the census returns and
other sources are at best imperfect and
incomplete. Very much that comes
from the proceeds of the farm never
finds its way into any table of statistics,
| which, nevertheless, makes large item
in the support of the farmers family.
Not so Of the proceeds of other pursuits.
Yet statistical information and historical
| information, what we have, go to sustain
my position, to wit: that farming of all
vocations in Vermont, has paid the best.
But aside from statistics or history, nc
man of good sense who has lived in Yer
mont for forty or fifty years, and been
observant, can for one moment be at a
loss on this question. In the mercantile
business, while he has seen one man sue
cessful, he has seen three, four or a
dozen who have been unsuccessful, and
the instances have been frequent in his
recollection in which young men have
taken money made on the fathers farm
and lost it in the mercantile business.
Now and then genius has arisen, left
the farm, gone to New York, Boston OF
somewhere else, and astonished his
friends and the people of his native town
with his marvellous success in money
making or in political promotion. But
such are exceptions, and they are not
plenty. Farmers in Vermont, as rule,
have been successful, and every sensible
man, informed on that subject, knows
it, To this, it is true, there are eXcep-
tons, but the failures are as nothing
when compared with failures in other
pursuits