The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1877-11-01

bob INGERSOLL'O ILLINOIS SPEECH.
What He Knew About Farming in
the Olden Time.

hundred and sixty acres Of land with
two dogs. When was farmer they
used to haul wheat two hundred miles in
a wagon and sell it for thirty five cents a
bushel and bring back about three hun
dred feet of lumber, two punches Of
shingles, barrel of salt and cook
stove that never would draw When |
was farmer they feasted on corn and
bacon, and didn't know very well how
to cook even that. We had poor houses
and no barns. The horses were put in
straw sheds, and long before spring most
Of the straw would be eaten away and
it took all the oats and all the corn we
could stuff into those horses to keep
them from actual starvation. In those
days most farmers thought the best place
for a pig pen was Immediately in front
of the house, and the wood.pile, as a
general thing, consisted Of one log upon
which an axe or two had been worn out
in the fruitless effort to make kindling.
No farmer can afford to sell his wheat
and corn and oats. He should sell
horses, not oats; sheep, cattle and pork,
not corn. He should make every profit
possible out of what he produces. SO
long as you ship your corn and oats and
wheat so long will you be poor; just so
long your farms will be mortgaged TO
the insurance compani-s and capitalists
Of the East just so long all the profit Of
the industrious in this glorious State will
be given to pay the capitalists of other
States When our farmers ship lheir
products in the shape of stock, then a
wave Of prosperity will sweep over our
State, and Illinois will become the most
populous country in the world.
In the oldeu times, when was far
mer, not tree was set out once in ten
years not a grapevine was planted
and about the house, not a flower could
be seen. When you went to their
houses you were not met by flowers, and
trees loaded with fruit, but by yellow
dogs that came bounding over the worm
fence like wild beasts There is no
sense and no profit in such a life 1t is
not living; it is hardly exlYting ask
the farmers of Illinois to beautify their
homes. surround their houses with Aow-
ers, to make everything beautiful and
attractive You don't live up to your
privileges. In every farmers house
there should be bath room. You have
no idea of the civiizing influences Of the
bath. When you come from the field,
tired, covered with dust, nothing can be
so refreshing as bath, Keep clean. |
am not one of those who think that IN
order to raise hogs you must be one.
Put on clean clothes, take seat IN the
yard under the trees and amidst the per-
fume of flowers, surrounded by your
family, and you will know what it is to
feel like gentleman.
1t is not necessary in this age OF the
world for the farmer to rise in the mid>
die of f'the night and begin his work.
This getting up so early in the morning
is a relic of barbarism. 1t has made
hundreds Of young men curse the busl~
ness. There is no need Of getting up at
three or four o'clock in the winter morn~
ing. The farmer who persists in doing
it and persists in dragging his wife and
child en- from their beds ought to be Wis.
tied by missionary. ltiS time enough
to rise after the sun has set the example.
For what purpose do you get up? To
feed the cattle ? Why not Iced them the
more the night before 1t is a waste of
life. In the old times they used to get
up about three o'clock in the morning
and go to work long before the sun had
risen with healing upon its wings and
as a just punishment they all had the
ague and they ought to have it now.
The man who cannot get living upon
Illinois soil without rising before daylight
ought to starve. Eight hours a day is
enough for any farmer to work, except
in harvest time.
The laboring people should unite and
protect themselves against all idlers.
You can divide mankind into two classes
the laborers and the idlers, the sup
porters and the supported, the honest
and the dishonest. Every man is dis
honest who lives upon the unpaid labor
of others, no matter whether he occupies
throne or lives in poor house. All
laborers should be brothers, The labor
ers should have equal rights before the
world and before the law. And want
every farmer to consider every man who
labors, either with hand or brain, as his
brother. Until genius and labor formed
a partnership, there was no such thing |
as prosperity among men. Every reaper |
and mower, every agricultural imple. |
ment, has elevated the work Of the good
farmer, and his vocation grows grander
with every invention. In the olden time
the agriculturist was ignorant, He
knew nothing of machinery. He was
the slave of superstition. Through ma
chinery, through the science Of agricul. |
ture, the farmer has been elevated. He |
should not forget the debt he owes to the |
mechanic. He should remember that
all laborers belong to the same great
family.
There is not scarcity of money, but
there is scarcity of business. And this |
scarcity springs from lack of confidence
in one another. So many Presidents of
savings banks, even those belonging to |
the Young Mems Christian Association,
run off with the funds; so many railroads |
and insurance companies are in the
hands of receivers, there is so muchSof
bankruptcy on every hand, that all
capital is held in the nervous clutch of
fear. Slowly but surely we are coming |
back to honest methods in business
Confidence will return, and then enter.
prise will unlock the safe and money |
will again circulate as of yore; the dol>
lars will leave their hiding places and
everyone will be seeking investment.
For my part do not ask any inter-
ference on the part of the Government
except to undo the rascality it has done,
| do not ask that money be made out
of nothing. l do not ask the prOsperi-
ty born Of paper. But do ask for the
reconciliation of silver. Silver was de