The patron of husbandry. (Columbus, Miss.) 1875-1883, 1880-05-29
How the Lawyers RuHe.


The following speech was deliv-
cred in the Lower House of Con-
gress few days ago, and gives a
good idea Of how the lawyers in
Congress defeat every practical
movement to promote the interests
of agriculture. 1t is a burning
shame that the farmers of America
have SO little intelligence, public
spirit and pride of class that they
can not unite and concentrate upon
their own men as candidates for
Congress. They have SO few of
their class in Congress that the
Committee on Agriculture, the most
important one to the agricultural
interest, is made up mainly of law
yers, the chairman of which is
lawyer from New York, who has
it in his power to defeat any at
tempt to enact laws that the inter
ests of the farmers imperatively de-
naand should be enacted at the ear
liest moment. And yet,with all these
facts before them, the farmers re-
main inactive, listless spectators of
the contest that is now going on in
almost every Congressional district
in the country, in which lawyers
are the only contestants, Worse
| even than this. Thousands of
farmers permit themselves to be
made the tools of these law yer poll
ticians, and obey their orders to get
up beat meetings and attend the
county conventions just as the ne
groes used to obey their carpet-bag
masters. This ought not to be the
case with any member of the
Grange. If there is one thing that
the Patron ought not to be, it is the
ignorant tool of a lawyer politician,
and if the Grange can only open
the eyes of its members to the folly,
the degradation, of a blind obedi-
ence to the trickery of these politi-
clans, it will have accomplished a
work that will justly entitle it to
the respect and admiration of all
patriots. The farmers of this State,
and of every State, can easily. unite
and elect men of their own class to
represent them, and thus secure a
majority in Congress who will have
some regard for their rights and in
terests:
Mr.. GILLETTE. l wish to address
this body for moment with reference to
the system by which we do should say
fail to do, things in this Congress 1 de-
| sire for one moment to call the attention
of the House to the rules under which we
are trying to manage the affairs of the
people of this country.
The greatest interest in the United
States is the agricultural interest, and un
der our rules that industry is consigned to
the care of the Committee on Agriculture
This House has nothing whatever to dc
. with the selection of that or any Other
committee. One member, representing
no larger constituency than any of the
rest of us, coming from a city distric
which takes no interest in agriculture, ane
having himself no experience or practica
knowledge of it, has supreme control ove1
its makeup. No other member has has
word to say with reference to wht
should constitute that committee. ID
not wish to find fault with our Speake
nor with any member of this House: fa
from it. do not wish to assail the chair
man of the Committee on. agriculture O
anv member of that committees but I d.
wish to find fault with the rules of thi
!, House, with a system by W hich the mem
bers of this House, representing the grea
agricultural districts of the West and th
South are hampered ansi tied and crowde,
out in all these debates before this BODY
And wish to show flow that is done.
Of the fifteen members of that com
mite, eight, clean majority, are lawyers
one other is a judge; one is a president O
one national bank and director of anothe,
i though he has Aad some experience upol
farm; one is clergyman by education
and practice, though lattcrly he has pre-
sided over an agricultural college,; an
Just four are practical farmers. Seve
members come from the Atlantic seaboar
States, New Y ork having two, while th
great West, that mighty domain wher
nearly all the people are farmers, tina
great garden which feeds the East as we
as the West, and then sends its vast sur
plus to Europe, has extremely little repre-
: scntation upon this committee, and 0nl
one farmer. Missouri, Nebraska. an
Kansas are the only States west of tn
a Mississippi River that are represented i
a territory comprising more thau half on
country with a thousand varieties of so
and climate and productions. The mag
niicent States upon ong western seaboar