The Russellville Democrat., 1878-01-31
THE SAFETY OF FARMING.

The average farmer of our coun- try thinks, or if you will listen to him talk few minutes you would think that he believes himself to be the special victim of hard times and the only sufferer from misgovern- ment. This is by no means the case, and the safety of farming far exceeds any other branch of industry or mer- cantile venture. The St. Louis Repub- lican makes the following sensible remarks upon this subject, and if j, the man who has a. good little farm of his own will only look at the mat ter in the right light he will never again murmur at being farmer, or long to embark in some other busi- ness:
 Farming was the first vocation in this country to feel the effects of the causes that produced the prostration of 1873. The shadow of that day fell on it first, and the murmurs Of agricultural discontent were the pre- monitions of the hard times through which the country is now passing. When the farmers began to suffer in the decline of prices of all kinds of farm produce, they imagined they were the special victims of misgov- ernment. They thought they alone were to be sufferers, and that the cities were to escape-that farming was poor business, and that those classes in cities and towns who were engaged in railroading, manufactur- ing, merchandising and speculating had an easy time of it. But they must think differently as they look to the cities now, and see the top bling of old firms, and the crash of banks, insurance companies, rail road companies and manufacturing houses before the storm. The havoc is greatest in those cities where wealth and luxury made the most ostentatious display. What were supposed to he~eoifosal fortunes are seen .Io.sffrivel up as in a con1agra- Ttion; stocks, bonds and securities which where once valued at millions, are turned into worthless bits of paper; and dividends vanish like a morning mist. During the year 1877 there were S,S72 mercantile failures in the country, involving liabilities of $l90, 9,OO0, and dur ing the four years from 1874 to 1877 inclusive there were 31 534 failures with aggregate liabilities of $73s, | 0S5,000.
 In the presence of the mercantile disasters indicated by these figures, farmers may read the superiority of their vocation. They are not bound to take the hazards which every mer- chant and manufacturer must face. They can keep ont of debt if they want to-and even when they incur a debt, they are not compelled to pay on a given day on pam of being sold out. When times are prosper ous, they share the prosperity in good prices for their crops; when times are adverse, they can, at least make liying-which is more than one out of ten merchants and manu- lecturers of the country can say at this time. They are never thrown out of employment; they are never forced to close up their farm, like a blast-furnace, because it does not yield them living; they are never compelled to accumulate one crop after another because there IS no sale for them. They know nothing of these harassing incidents of mer- camille experience. The farmer may be compelled to retrench at times, but he does not impair his credit nor degrade his social position there by. Ills farm may be made to in- crease in value with every crop taken from it; his orchards grow and their fruit ripens while he sleeps and if he only has the good sense to keep out of debt, and avoid cumber- ing himself with superhuous land that he cannot cultivate, he IL ay bid defiance to the panics and monetary disturbances that bring wreck and ruin to the cities and towns.