The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1874-05-26

nous has been offered, signed by l46 clergy
men of the Church'of England, and Several
other ministers Of Cerist." The petition
ers state that in their opinion the opening
of museums, libraries, aud art galleries on
the afternoon OF Sunday, would greatly pro
mote the moral and intellectual improve
meut of large classes, and il thoroughly In
accordance with the christian Sunday. The
names attached to the memorial are those OF
well known Tuen-among them are Dean
Stanley, Canon Kingsley, Professor Jowett,
Canon Lyttleton Of Worcester, and DR.. Haig
Brown, head master of the Charter house.
A LONDON VIEW OF THE CHANGERS.
THE LONDON STANDARD ON THE eRASeERs-
AN ENGLISH VIEW OF AMERICAN FARMERS.
The London Standard, the organ of the
strictest sect of the English tories, thus dis
courses on the condition of the tiilers OF
American soil, apropos of the passage OF the
McCrary bill: And first it may be well to ex-
plain that the farmers Of the United States
are not what we usually understand by that
word. Thew do not cultivate land which
they rent from others. On the contrary they
are the owner of the farm they occupy. In
the neighborhood of the great towns IN the
older states Of the Atlantic seaboard, tenant
farmers are not unknown, but speaking gen.
orally. the farmers of the United STATES are
also land owners. In this agitation, there
fore, there is no question Of tenant right OF
leases, or, in short of any dispute between
landlord and tenant. Moreover. the far
mers usually hold considerable tracts OF
land. In the South, indeed, where they are
usually called planters, they generally oc-
cupy estates of about 1000 acres. Even in
the great corn growing states of the West,
where the movement took Its
origin, and whence il still derives
Its chief strength, the farms average
between one and two hundred acres
in extent. Thus it will be seen these
Western landowners are not mere peasant
Most of them, indeed, are of
the peasant class, were peasants themselves
in Ireland or Germany few years ago, but
now they are employers of labor. Out of
this fact spring their first difficulty. These
great corn growing states all lie in the upper
valley ofthe Mississippi. and In the memory
of men still young they were inhabited by
Indians and the buffaloes they chased, or by
scarcely less wild than either.
In this condition they would probably have
still remained but for the potatoe famine
which fell upon Ireland in the terrible years
of 40 and AZ, and sent hundreds of thousands
of hardy and industrious men andwomen
fying from starvation across the Atlantic.
The year of revolutions followed, and caused
a great German emigration to swell the vast
Irish exodus. The result was the opening
ND and rapid settlement OF the pralr16 states.
But the area of these states Is so enormous
that thesettlers for the most part in reality
only formed
PRINCES ALONG THE BANKS
of the lakes and rivers, and at either side of
the railways as they were pushed forward
into the wilderness. In communities thus
scattered sparsely over the face OF the coun-
Try, social intercourse was all but impossible
IL 1Nfaa vn1 In Of in,
tervals, and life, therefore, TO the young and
gay appeared little better than one long dull
monotonY of labor. But it is one of the evil
consequences of the superficial education
which the common school system every.
where secures in the United States to render
native-born Americans averse TO hard mar
ual labor. Hence the settles on the prairie,
who had undergone long years or patient
toll to make themselves home, experienced
a difficulty in retaining their sons and
daughters on the farms they had reclaimed
and brought under cultivation. To counter
act the fascinations of the towns, and thus
stop the emigration of the young, was the
first, as it was the most pressing, motive in
the formation of the oranges. Rites of ini-
tiation, signs, passwords, and the obliga-
tions of secrecy were adopted to give them a
charm, and every kind of occasion was
created to furnish amusement to the
young of both sexes. For il must be under
stood that in the grange woman's rights in
all their entirety are recognized. She is in
every respect on footing with man. In this
way the grange helps to prevent scarce labor
from becoming scarcer. Along with the So
cial function we have now been describing,
the oranges have taken upon themselves
another function, which is rapidly convert
ing them into political force of unknown
power and direction, and has already acquired
for them European celebrity. In the COM
munities we have been describing
almost every family is engaged in agricul-
ture; there is consequently NO market at
But the soil is as fertile as any in the world
can show, and therefore the surplus produce
is enormous. To dispose of this surplus it
has to be sent to distance-to the manufac-
turing towns of the Atlantic coast and
Europe. But the immensely of the distance
it has thus to be dispatched. swallows up the
profits. The farmers fatten
PIGS AND CATTLE,
but there is only q limited market for these
also. Ard thus il comes to pass that the
corn growers of Iowa-a state where fuel is
soarce-actually find it more economical to
burn Indian corn than coal or even wood.
But these states, it will be understood, have
each complete government, legislature and
all; their separate counties and townships
have local governments, all which are paid.
hom6mDeIluR Tue COTTuptlOu prevailing III
America, iL need hardly be said that taxa
ton is heavy, and that debt is constantly
increasing, and necessitating fresh taxes.
Moreover, the states are so new that heavy
expenditure is necessary for roads and all
other public works, which again swells tax
alton. Lastly. the federal taxation is ex-
tremsly heavy. Nor is this all. Labor is so
scarce that agriculture cannot be'carried on
without labor-saving machinery. But the
heavy protective duties on all articles
enhance the cost of this machinery
enormously. Thus it comes 30 pass
that, with as rich a soil as any in
he world, the farmers owning their
own land, are heavily in debt. Whereas, if
tx v could but get their corn to market on
terms that would leave them a moderate
profit, they could realize moderate fortunes
In few years. They allege that the fault
rests with the railway companies. The far
mers contribute largely to the construction
of railways, In the legislatures they gran
ted the landover which the lines run, and
To- IT,.