The St. Cloud journal. [volume] (St. Cloud, Minn.) 1866-1876, 1875-04-01
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There il hardly , city inthe United
States which does not contain more
people than can get. a fair, honest
living, by labor OF trade, in the best
times, When times Of business de-
preston come, like those through
which We have passed, and are pass
ing, there is a large class that must
be helped, to keep them from cruel
suffering. Still the cities grow, while
whole regions Of the untry,-especi.
ally its older portions,-are depopu-
lated year by, year. Yet tho fact is
patent to-day that the only prosper
Gus class is the agricultural. We
have now the anomaly Of thrifty
farmer, and starving traddeaumen, The
agricultural classes Of the West are
prosperous. They had good crop
last year, and have received good
prices for all their products; and
while the cities are in trouble, and
manufactures are running on half
time, or not running at all, the West
ern farmer has money in his pocket,
and a ready market for everything he
has to sell. The country must be fed,
and he feeds it. The city family may
do without new clothes, and thous-
and luxurious appliances, but it must
have bread and meat. There is
nothing than can prevent the steady
prosperity of the American farmer
but the combinations and corners
Of middle-men, that force unnatural
conditions upon the 6nsnces and mar
kets Of the country.
This is not the first occasion we
have had for allusion to this subject,
and it is not likely to be the last.
The forsaking Of the farm for city
life il one Of the great evils Of the
time, and, 80 far, it has received no
appreciable check. Every young
man, apparently, who thinks he can
get : living in the city, OK at the min
or centers of population. quits his
lonely home upon the farm and joins
the multitude. Once in the city, he
never returns. Notwithstanding the
confinement and the straitened con-
ditions of his new life, he clings to it
until he dies, adding his family to the
permanent population Of his new
home. Mr.. Greeley, in his days of
active philanthropy, used to urge men
to leave the city-to 60 West-to
join the agricultural population, and
thus make themselves sure of q COM
petsnt livelihood. He might as well
have talked to the wind. A city
population can neither be coaxed nor
driven into agricultural pursuits. 1t
il not that they are afraid Of. work.
The average worker of the city tolls
more hours than the average farmer
in any quarter of the country. He is
less Independent than the farmer. He
Is = boEd-slave to his employers and
his conditions yet the agricultural
life has no charms for him.
Whatever the reason for this may
be, it is not based in the nature Of
the work, or in its material rewards.
The farmer is demonstrably better off
than the worker of the city. He is
independent, has more command Of
his own time, fares better at table,
lodges better, and gets a better re-
turn for his labor. What ia the rea-
son, then, that the farmers boy runs
to the city the FIRST chance he can get,
and remains, if he can possibly find
there the means of life?
1t can only be found, we believe,
in the social leanness, or social star
walton, Of American agricultural life.
The American farmer in all his plan
ming, and all hi, building, has never
made provision for life. He has only
considered the means of getting a liv-
ing. Everything outside of this
everything relating to society and
culture-has been steadily ignored.
He gives bis children the advantages
Of schools, not recognizing the fact
that these very advantages call into
life . new set of social wants. A
bright, well-educated family, in a
lonely farmhouse, is very different
material from family brought up in
ignorance. An American farmers
children, who have had q few terms
1t neighboring academy, resemble
in no degree the children of the En-
ropean peasant. They come home
with new ideas and new wants, and if
there il no provision made for these
new wants, and if there is no
provision made for these new
wants, and they find no opportunities
for their satisfaction, they will be
ready, on reaching their majority, to
fly the farm and seek the city.
II the American farmer wishes to
keep his children near him, he must
learn the difference between living
and getting a living; and>we mistake
him and his grade Of culture alto
gether if he does not stop over this
atement and wonder what we mean
by it.. 70; get 2 living, to make money,
10 become "forehanded"-this is the
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