The workingman's advocate. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1864-1877, 1877-03-03

At =. the meeting was called ~ or
der; no business was done. The house "a
well hiled, when the chairman (FiaggD IN
trojuced the Hon. John Mputeith. VII,
preceded % deliver the following eluquen
.ud stirring address on " THE RELArIa,
~ COZ NrRN SCHOOLS 10 rHk FAKNER~
CAr>E."
MIR. MONTElTH'S ADDRESS.
Mr President, Lr.ii,, and G,Afl,a,a
What IS the matter with the farmers, any
how For the past SIX years sur ear.
have been hlled with the story OF their dis
abilities and opPressIuns. lt has been as
serted with great confidence that no other
occupation has been - completely under
the heel Of other occupations II has been
strongly maintained that hitherto. the IN
tuence Of the farmer IN the political, com
merclal and social movements of modern
civtllz ltiuu has been mere cipher. III
the race for preferment he has been al
ways hindmost. In the tight for suprema-
ey he has always been the undermost dog.
- widely and constantly have these as
sertiOns been reiterated that We must ac-
cept them as facts. Indeed, the substance
Of them has very high authority. There
are IN this country SIX millions of farmers.
The authority which gives these figures
numbers the lawyers Of America at forty
one thousand. Now, it has been stated by
Prof. Perry, the author of the well known
work on Political Economy, that he could
point out one hundred Of these lawyers
who had produced more influence upon the
political interests Of the nation and the
State, than the whole SIX millions OF
farme 5.
BY the side Of these facts, let us lay
down another class of facts The farming
occupation constitutes hfty-three per cent
OF all the OocupatIn Of the country.
Physically. the farmers surpass all other
occupations combined
For the development Of brain no other
condition Of life equals theirs. They have
or may have. the best Of air, food, water
and leisure. la the Irish rebellion the
sons uf st. Patrick succumbed "a the Eng
Hsh, because roast beef was too much for
potatoes. On the same principle farmers
ought u be vIct0rs of others who are less
we'll fed
Country life affords the very best con
ditlon and aids to the development of clear,
strong thought.
As 10 morals, are not our agricultural
BORAAAotA3li PRIV lbA AuCiI nOiCSl1
On some festive occasion, where lawyers
met, a toast was proposed like this "An
honest lawyer the noblest woik Of Gvd "
An accidental farmer in the company pro-
posed to amend by inserting, ''and ~
scarcest. Laushter Asos, ti5 NJ l.
SpAld ever dSss to Insert such an a,ayl'd.
-'hfeix ma toast to farnasrs Seq rS.4eD
all our political .cgisss aA8 rural districts
have proved to be the solid, honest worth
OF the country. After the poll-frauds and
ballot stutiings Of the cities, We have iallen
z back upon the country precincts 70 set us
right, and 10 save rs.
Now. let as get the force OF these paral-
lei lines of facts. Here are u. 900, 900, of
farmers. Ii placed IN line and Joined by
their hands, one end Of the line could
stand III the surf of the Atlantic ocean, and
the other bathe his feet in the peaceful
waters OF the Pacific Ii massed together as
thIckly as they could well stand, the farm
ers OF this country would cover 215 acres.
II piled mp as little children build their
cOo-honses. four square, these same farmers
would make a tower that would reach
eleven hundred miles into the heaven
Here then are 2I5 acres Of strong men,
with the best conditions for physical and
mental development, who, according to the
best authority, always have been. and are
whipped. They are whipped by all other
occupations whipped by merchants and
middlemen whipped by manufacturers
and monOpOiles whipped by mechanics /;
whipped by bankers whipped by railroad,
and steamboat men always and every
where shipped. Worse than whipped,
they are prodigiousy imposed upon. If
any enterprising sharper has a fraud to sell
does he not always start for the rural dis
trlcts II he has a set Of wall maps worth
three dollars, for which he desires to realize
ninety dollars, or powder Of lime and
-four 'or hog cholera, wo-th less than three
cents, for which he cove dollar, or
sovereign cure IN pills or II iment Or salye,
he straIghtway lights ouu' among the
farmers. Laughter. And who Is the
FIRST, long remembered acquaintance the
honest, sIInple minded countryman makes
when he visits the large city, but the con
hdence man and the profession nal gambler
This complete subJugatIon Of SIX million
strong men calls for an explanation. Some
thing, surely, Is the matter with the farm
ers. lt Is my purpose 70 point out the
difficulty, If possible, and il in 50 doing, |
shall seem to state facts bluntly, or indulge
III csnsure, Just bear IN mind my friends,
that do not Of course refer to the farmers
Of Illinois or Missouri, but rather, perhaps,
to those Of Arkansas or Nevada.
WEAK WITS
In the advance of civilization, thought
has assumed the leadership of every move
ment. Thought has cut out the path, and
led the way Of every advance made by any
class or occupation OF the people. 1t any
particular class has been left behind in the
march OF progress, 1t is because Of slow
thought or weak thought, or no thought at
all. 1t is equally true that any man who
refuses OF fails to think for himself, and
depends upon some other one TO think for
him is 80 far forth a slave. he will al
was be under, somebody else will be over
him.
Now, if understand the true cause of
the farmers subjugation to other occupa-
tions, il is because they have always de-
pended upon other classes to do their
thinking for theu. Applause They are
called independent, but they are absolute
ly dependent. They are slaves to author
ity in all matters involving thought
SLOW WIT.
l shall not De guiity OF asserting that
the average American farmer is not intelli-
gent. IN this respect he far surpasses the
peasantry Of foreign countries. Precisely
how the statistics would place him in com
parIson with other occupations ] cannot
say. | assume, however, that he may be
1ually intelligent ] do maintain how
= NJ yer, that he is deficient in that intelli-
gence which is the result of independent
thought, and which alone qualities a man
for self direction. And besides this, his
Wit is not only weak by being dependent,
but it is StO,C.
When the railroad pushed its way across
the Arkansas border, as was natural, al
the inhabitants came from their retired
hn.,na "a r,itnaas Tia unndar nf afaam In