Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1874-03-14
Address Delivered to Spring Greek
Grasge, b. q. II. Slaughter,
Worthy Master.

tl0ns ana 1 feei 1t to be my duty to
thank you for the trust and confidence
placed in me, when you selected me as
an officer of your good and noble Order;
and although l do not feel fully COM
.petent to fill the position as it should
be hlled, yet with the kind help of
high and holy Heaven will promise
to do all that | can to aid in carrying
out all plans that may be for the true
good and happiness, OF this young but
determined band, of the glorious Order
of Husbandry. sa. sg
Did you ever consider seriously the
extent of the farming interest of our
country? If you have you would GER
tainly think how important and extern
sive it is. 1t is the mighty foundation
upon which all other business, profess
ions, and trades rest. Tear it to pieces
and everything else must fall; let it
stand still and all other kinds of bust
ness would be forced to stand still.
The great ships and steamers would lie
at anchor for want of something to do;
the railway trains would stop; manu-
facturers and merchants would be COM
PEELED to suspend business and close
their doors, and grass would grow in
the streets OF the great cities of our
nation; aud finally, all would perish,
and the earth become depopulated, for
the lack of the food and nourishment
that can only come from the hardy
tillers of the soil-the farmers.
And yet how little has the farmer
been appreciated by the merchants,
and the manufacturers, and other
nabobs and would-be aristocrats of
the great cities; and though they
should be the most independentpeople
of the world, yet heretofore they have
been the most dependent Though
they number millions, yet heretofore
they have worked singIy, and each
man, alone, has had great combinations
to contend with; and whilst all other
trades and professions have had their
organized unions for the benefit and
protection of themselves and often for
the oppression of the farmer, they have
heretofore had no unity of action or
cooperation for protection or self-de-
Tense.
Many persons of other trades pre-
tend to say that, our Order is intended
to wage a war against other classes, or
what is known as "Middlemen." In
my opinion, this is mistaken idea.
We merely wish to bea little independ-
ent, when we have dealings with those
"Middlemen," and be in position to
defend ourselves when "Middlemen'
undertake to wage war upon u.s. We
think that we have been feeced long
enough, and have at last come to the
conclusion that a little of the ,oool
should be left at home.
Brothers and sisters, the oldest trade
or profession of earth is ours. We
date it back to Adam, to the day that
God appointed him to preside over the
fruits and flowers, amid the beautiful
plains of the Garden of Eden, many
thousands of years ago. Since then
there have bees wars and rumors of
wars, and nation has arisen against
nation; great cities have been founded
and built. and flourished and passed
away mighty kingdoms and empires
have been formed and reformed, lived
out their allotted time, and then crum-
bled into dust; and even this beauti-
full earth of ours has, by the Just ven
gence of our holy God, been engulfed
beneath the dark and raging food.
Millions and billions have breathed the
last breath on earth ard gone to their
long eternal homes yet the weary
farmer is still toiling on, and wherever
there is land beneath the sun, upon
which man can live, he may be found,
still toiling on. Go to the East, even
unto the rising of the sun, he is there.
GO to the ice bound regions of the
North, he is there. Go amid the wilds
of the great and far West, and you will
find him there. Go to the fair and
beautiful sunny cline of the South and
he is also there. Go where you will
among any and all of the civilized
lands of the earth, and the farmer too,
is there; and where he is not, no. en-
lightened being could, or would wish to
dwell. f'3 a
When we consider the magnitude of
the farming interest of the world we
must know that this is no frivolous I'M
dertaking upon which we have en-
barked. 1t is no small and puuy lake
upon which we have launched our
good ship of state with all of our loved
ones on bolrd. No. it is broad and
boundless sea, with mighty waves roll
ing mountain high, some of which are
bearing us upward and onward, whilst
others are doing all they can to engulf
US, and keep us struggling amid the
dark waters as we have heretofore
struggled in years gone by. Bat our
ship is large and strong, decorated with
fruits and flowers, and laden with the
products Of the soil. Its crew consists
of the hardy sons and daughters of
toll, who are determined and in earn
est, and so long as our helmsma n stands
true to his post, and our officers do
their sacred and whole duty, we know
that our noble vessel will continue to
ride high upon the mighty and angry
pillows that are foaming around her on
every side, and finally will soon land
US in safety amid fields of waving grain,
bright green meadows, and beautiful
fowery gardens of the farmers promis-
ed land. ..l.
When there, we 'can look back and
view the troubled waters DER which
our noble vessel has taken us in safety.
We will Snow then that we acted
wisely in leaving our weak little single
handed boat that was liable to be up
set by every passing wave, and embark
ing in one that was able to carry us
safely through all distractions, one
that combined union. strength and in
dependence. We will know then that
this Order of ours was no frivolous un-
dertaking. We will know then that
it was not intended wholly for the
little amusements it might afford,
though it may have caused US to
spend many pleasant moments to-
gether. We will know then that it
was not wholly intended for the making
of a few paltry dollars and cents,
though it may have saved us many
hundred of dollars. We will know
then that it was not intended for polit-
zeal purposes, though it may have made
better and purer politicians of US all.
We will know then that it was not in
tended TO Interfere in any way with re.
ligion, though it may have caused many
of US to shun the broad way that leads
to death, and guided us on the narrow,
but better road that leads to life eter-
ma. We will know then that it was
not intended for any one or two of
these, but for all, and more. We will
know that it was intended to bring
light out of darkness, to make more
intelligent ourselves, our children and
our chlldren's children for generations
yet to come. We will know then, that
it was intended to brighten our homes