The Redwood gazette. [volume] (Redwood Falls, Minn.) 1873-1940, 1878-09-19

The Relation Of the Farmers TO
the Republic.

The Relation Of the Farmers to
| the Republic.
The following is the closing portion
Of the address Of Hon. james G. Blaine,
st the Minneapolis Exposition, last
week:
l am addressing IN agricultural com.
muoity. During al the depression Of
trade aud commerce and manufactures
prevailing for tho past Eve years, you
have steadily progressed in comfort,
Independence and wealth. While
thousands elsewhere have lacked EN-.
ployment, and many fear, have lacked
bread, no able.bodied man in Minneso.
n has been without remunerative labor.
and no one has gone to bed hungry
Your pursuits and their results form
the basis Of the ideal republie-happily
indeed realised within your own bor-
ders. The tendency Of al your indust
~ is toward tho accumulation Of indie
pendent competency. aud does not
favor tho upbuildiog Of colossal for
tunes. You are dealing daily with the
essential things Of life, and are not
warped in Jour judgment nor detected
from your course BY speculative and
iliuscry schemes Of advancement and
gain. You are land owners. free hol.
ders. a proud title that comes to us
with centuries Of civilization and
strength-s title that every man in
this country should make It his object
ia acquire nd to honor Self govern
me"t am, ng the owners Of the soil in
America IL an instinct. and where that
ownership is widely distributed good
government is the rule Whatever
Disturbances. therefore. may threaten
the peace and order Of society, what
ever wild theories. transplanied from
other .cii,nes. may seek footbold here,
the republic Of the United States rests
securely on that basis Of agriculture
where the farmers Of the revolution
and the farmers Of the constitution
Pared il. The man who possesses
b-"ad -cres which he has earned by
the sweat Of his own brow, is not apt
to fall in with the dcctriue Of the COM
mnmist thai n" one has ri.nt 10 own.
ership in the snil the man who has
the product # his labor in wheat and
in corn, in pork AMI in beef. in hide.
and in WOOL commanding gold and
silver % they always have and a ways
will 10 the markets Of the worlds
not to be led sstray with theories Of
fat paper. absolute money, but instinc
lively ccnsieos such wild vaearies to
the appropriate domain Of Cat folly and
absolute nonsense.
The farmers Of the republic will con.
troll its destiny. Agriculture. COM
merce aud manufactures. are :he three
pursuits that enrich nation-but the
greatest ot these is agriculture for
without ite products the spindle cannot
turn and the ship will not sail. Agri-
culture furnishes the conservative ele-
ment in society. and in the end is the
guiding, 1restraiuiug. controlling force
in government. Against storms of
popular fury; against frenzied madness
that seeks collision with 'esta blished or
der; against theories Of administration
that have drenched 'other lands ia
blood; against the spirit Of anarchy
that would sweep away the landmarks
aul safe:-uar:s Of Christian society and
republican government. the farmers Of
the United States will stand al the
shield and the bulwark-themselves
the willing subjects Of law. and there.
fore its safest aud strongest administra-
tors.
Gradually the government Of the re.
pubic is passing under the control of
the farmers Of the Mississippi vallcv
Indeed. it is practically there to day.
The swelling and on.rushing tide Of
population is towards tho broad plains
aud the rich acres that lie between the
two mountain ranges Of the continent.
The soil is 30 fertile. the land 20 iovi.
ting. The area is 80 broad. that no man
may dare calculate the possibilities Of
this great region. either IS respects
production or population. Your own
state, peoplsd no more densely than
Nav York. would haye = population Of
nine millions; peopled as deosely a.
Massachusetts, you would hsve pnp.
nlation of sixteen millions. With the
transfer Of political control from the
old states to tha new. there is also
transferred vast weight Of responsi-
hi'i'p It a yours to day; il Will bs
yours still more tomorrow Take it;
use it wisely and we'll for the advance
went Of the whole-for the honor Of
all. The pa'ri"tic traditions Of the
''old thirteen" that f.ught the battles
of the Revolution. formed the union Of
TIE state- and planted liberty in the
organic Law, will be your safes, guide
your highest inspiration Many o.
YOU to day miogle with your love for
Min"es"ta, your earlier affection fr
tho lid hosDe aud the old state far to
the E.st. where an hcnored ancestry
lie buried. snd1 where the tenderest
memories cluster around the familiar
scenes Of days long past. It is this
kinship Of blood. these ties!of relation
ship. that makes US indeed one people
uniting the Est and the West, the
North aud the South, in the indissolu
be bonds Of . common. and l trust,
always bene6cient government.