Shepherdstown register. [volume] (Shepherdstown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1849-1955, 1878-04-20
sbspberostowu Resister.
sArURDAY......APRILe go, ISIS.


BLESSED BE THE FAhMEHs.
That sterling and ably edited paper,
the Wheeling Standard, truthtully re-
marks "Fortunate is he, in these hard
times, who has foothold on the soil.
OF the three prime necessaries of life he
10 sure-food, and shelter and fire will
not fail him. He may have no money
for fine clothes, or journeys, OF diver
sions, but the roof-treo over his head is
his own, his fields yield him abundant
nourishment, and he has no bills TO pay
at the coal merchants, for his forest
feeds bis kitchen fire. He is subject to
none of the cares that Cypress the man
who works tor hire, and he escapes, too,
the worry and uncertainties which beSet
the man of business. No employer cuts
down his income below figure suffici-
ent to provide his family with the or
binary comforts of life, he is not dis
tressed about his rent, for he pays none,
and his grocery bills are easily settled
by barterirg the surplus eggs and but
ter from his barns and cellar. He has
no note to meet at bank, no payrolls TO
provide fer at the weeks end, no bad
debts to destroy years profit on his
business. The price of his produce
may be low, but he is sure of enough
to eat, and III his home, however plain
it may be, he is safe from the rude as
saults of outrageous fortune.
Good mother earth is not ohary of
her benefits because times are hard.
Seed time and harvest do not fail when
business is dull and merchants are sus-
pending. Employment may be hard
to get in the towns and wages low, but
the soil responds as readily as ever to
the husbandman's labor. He tickles it
with the hoe and it laughs with the
harvest just the same as in prosperous
times.
1t is a well-worn saying, We know,
that he who has good farm and is out
of debt, is the most independent man
in the community, but its true is more
than ever apparent just now. The far
mers are the only prosperous class.
Business men are seriously embarrassed
by the dizziness of trade, the incomes of
lawyers, doctors and other professional
men are so small as to scarcely suffice
for their needs, and the wage-earniDg
classes are suffering from lack of en-
ployment or from insufficient wages.
Never since 1857 has life in towns and
cities demanded such pincbing economy
and daily sacrifice as at present. The
farmer, meanwhile, is getting fair prices,
if not high prices, for all he raises to
sell; he is always sure of market for
bis products, for people must eat, and
his expenses are trifing, if he has cured
in bis own family the mania for fashion,
finery and frivolity which invaded the
rural districts as well as the cities dur,
ing the flush times, and has returned to
old-fashioned habits of frugality.
Then we earnestly recommended
every man who is lanGuishing for job
TO retire to the country; rent farm;
raise everything that you will need for
the support of your family; sell what
you cannot use; be frugal, enterpriSing
and industrious, and all tie panics that
the world has ever seen may come aud
GO, for they will not affect you IN the
least; you are your own man; you own
your own labor, and dig your own living
out of Gods free acres. Be farmers,
and be free