The Manitowoc tribune. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1866-1878, 1873-10-09
Find out what that use is, and Law

Farmers need also a more thorough
system In their business, and greater care
In the preservation of the property ne
cesary to i:s conduct In this connec-
ton | will allude only to the matter of
farm machinery. 1t is enough to make
one shudder with apprehension of gener-
al bankruptcy, to ride through any sec
ton of farming country and see the
amount of costly machinery, and the ut
terly ruinous condition of neglect in
which it so often lies scattered around
yards and fields. It is safe to say that if
the farmers of any county in the North
west, had to-day the money which has
been expended for surplus machinery
and which has been lost by neglect to
properly care for the machinery needed,
it would lift them out Of the depression
of debt and business stagnation. and
place every legitimate business interest
upon stronger foundation and infuse
into it new activity and life. The mer-
chant succeeds only by careful attention
to the details of his business. and In no
other way can the farmer realize his
maximum OF profit
There should also be more cooperative
labor among farmers. No other business
has so much labor lost, and so much use
less capital employed. Farmers should
aim to exchange labor and combine their
strength-make one reaper and one crew
of hands do the work for two farms
This may not always be practicable, but
often it can be made so. 1t is encourag
ing to see that public attention is being
directed to this matter and every day
some new advance is made. A few years
ago ten farmers living In one neighbor-
make ten cheese each day. Ten women
we're kept employed, ten sets of utensils
were worn out-in fact ten machines were
kept running. Now these ten men will
combine. One cheese factory takes all
the milk, only Que machine is being run,
and there is an increase in the quantity
and quality of the product, and a most
grateful and desirable saying in labor,
vexation and expense This cooperative
method is capable of almost indefinite
expansion. and the more 1t is applied,
the more satisfactory will its results be
found to be.
1t is in stimulating and increasing this
desired cooperation that, I think, the
great value of the Patrons of Husbandry
| will be found Political evils can only
| be ramedied by political action, and the
| danger from great moneyed corporations,
| which now menaces us-that com bInation
of power which has made the railroad
! lobby an almost omnlptoent force at the
State Capitols-which has imposed its
onerous burdens upon the people. seduc-
ed legistors from their integrity and ap-
preached the courts with dark and dan
/ gerous emptation-this threatning pow
er is to be met by will equally impera
| tive and combination SURPRISING it in
strength. Already public interest, es-
pecially in the West, is being awakened
and the problem which now confronts US,
will no doubt be justly and satisfactorily
solved. In that solution the rights and
interests of CAPITOL and Labor will not be
found to conflict and there will be no wal
upon railroads and other great and useful
corporations. but only against those
abuses which now so urgently need cor
rectlon. These are temporary issues,
which will be settled and pass away, but
there will be work for the Oranges and
kindred organizations just SO long as edu-
cation is incomplete and the highest DOS.
sible prosperity unat.ained.
But wish to speak few words on a
matter, fully as important as any to which
| have alluded. and yet one which is not
often mentioned on an occasion like this
Il mean the social condition and home
life Of most farmers families The far
mers of to-day need, above all else, better
houses, more attractive homes, more cul-
ture, more books, more leisure. more So
cial ompanionship, generally better
style of family and domestic life. The
strong slnewy man, hardened by labor,
| bent by the use Of sickle or hoe, his
| barred head burned by summer suns, is
not the type of the farmer of to-day. He
belongs to an age that is past-to that
ruderage when life was bounded by its
necessities alone, and the struggle for the
mere means of existence was sharp and
severe. Now science has placed her Sc
crets in the farmer keeping the genius
OF invention has emancipated him from
much of the servitude of labor, and he
should be the truest gentleman of his
time. But there are too many farmers
who think more of their cattle than of
their children-more of their stock than
Of their sons. The barn is better than
the house. The horse has comfortable,
roomy and we'll ventilated stall. but the
child is thrust into q close, crambed
chamber where the free respiration of
both mind and body is impeded. Make
a house, my friend, and the first thing
you do, comfortable and elegant as your
means will permit. Surround it with
flowers and hrubbery,- pleasant things,
but cheap as pleasant,-pile books and
papers upon the tables, and hang a few
pictures on the .alls, and then in sum-
mer throw open the blinds and let in
Heavens bright sunshine and the sweet
breath of the winds; and when closed
doors and windows bar the winter out,
set the cold at naught by the warmth
and cheerfulness within. This will take
time and money, you say? Well this is
just what time and money are designed
for. An elegant, cheerful home is the
best product of civilization. All other
things exist but as helps to this. Dot
our rural districts with such homes as
this, and the farmers life will take on
larger influence and added attractiyeness,
and no longer will every city be crowded
with truants from the country seeking
for some wider and more fruitful life
than they have known.
Another thing, my good farmer friend
just stop and think of your wife, and
see what her condition is. You love her
of course you mean to be kind to her
perhaps she does not complain but the
probability is that she is an oVerworked
oidN0|SO uGm III WIFI udliy duties
and constant cares, that her endurance is
stretched to its utmost tension, and the
color of her cheek, the freshness of her
feeling and the elasticity of her spirit are
steadily and surely wearing away. 1t is
3 lamentable fact that, as rule, the bet
ter off farmer becomes the worse is the
condition of his wife. Added riches to
him, bring only added labor and care to
her. Generally performing more labor
than any servant will do, with the res
possibility Of the household and the care
of children added, the future seems to
promise her nothing but a cotInuance of
labor, an increase of children and a
greater multiplicity of cares. There are
exceptions, of course, but every intelli-
gent man at all conversant with country
life, knows that this is fair statement
of the case. An undoubted authority
states that two-thirds of the women in
the lunatic asylums are wives of farmers
who have been broken down by hard
work and bearing children. OF many
ore than of Maud Muller may it be
said that
Care and sorrow and childbirth pain
Have left their traces heart and brain.
For sorrow, substitute labor, and the ap-
plication will be almost universal to far
mer's wives. The wife of clerk or me-
chanic, who has no property or income.
beyond the salary of $1,000 or 81. 200 a