The patron of husbandry. (Columbus, Miss.) 1875-1883, 1882-07-29
Plain Talk.

11uAtoi oi tllC IliiiiOls otduC OId NEWS
When I read the extract from the
New York Tribune in last weeks
issue of the Grange News, [ felt the
Old Harry stir within me, and al
though right in the midst of corn
planting and behind at that, | kept
chawing and chawing it over until
my blood got to fever heat. Shade
of the illustrious Greeley! was it for
this that thy life was spent in free
dom's service? Why not let thy
ghost haunt these foul henchmen of
monopoly who are prostituting the
columns of thy great creation to
such baseness? But stop; perhaps
am going too fast Is there not
some truth in the article? Do we
not deserve to be called "fool far
mers"? Do we assert our rights as
men in sensible manner? In other
w, ,ds, do we do our own thinking,
and act from those thoughts in an
intelligent manner? Let us put these
questions honestly to ourselves and
answer them concienciously.
We, who compose so per cent of
the population of this great State,
have not single Representative on
the floor of Congress. True, we had
one in the last Congress, but his
sympathies were too plainly with
the toilers of the land, tand the two
great parties were determined that
he should stay at home, so they de-
feated him, and yet it is said that
the ballot is in every mnn's hand.
What, then, is the reason that the
agriculturists have no more repre-
sentatives in Congress? There is a
screw loose somewhere. Either the
epithet applied to the farmers is
merited, or there are none in their
ranks capable of filing the office,
and consequently they had better
"stick to the plow handles"
Is it possible that out of over half
a million of voters in Illinois twenty
men cannot be found among the
agriculturists capable of making an
average Congressman? | some
times think that if all the farmers
who are of age in each Congress-
ional district were gathered in one
mass and a ballot thrown among
them at random, with the under
standing that the first person it
touched should be Congressman,
that perhaps the masses would be
as ably represented as they are at
present and their interests be better
cared for.
l heard an able. and honored
leader of one of the great political
parties make the remark the other
day "that the most barefaced cor
ruption was made in the scramble
for Office" and he knew what he
was talking about.
If a man has money and impu.
dence, he is almost sure to be sue
cessful against worth and brains; if
he can charter a railroad train to
take his henchmen to the conven-
ton, and have his name emblazoned
in large letters on the same, he is
almost sure to get the nomination,
if his opponents are not able to
buySue similar course, for those
'fool farmers" you know, "can't tell
B from a bulls foot" they are
charmed with the glamour and the
glitter of wealth, and do not take
the time to do their own thinking,
but are willing to pay fearful price
to some 7 by 9 lawyer or some tai
ented genius on the staff of the New
York Tribune to do it for them;
why, they might as well dwell in
the jungles of India as reside in this
boasted land of freedom, so far as
real freedom is concerned.
Farmers of Illinois, mechanics
and toilers, how long are you going
to be the "drawers of water" and
the "hewers of wood" for these
graceless taskmasters of yours? Is
it not about time that you began to
assert your manhood, and like Ethan
Allen swear by "the Eternal Jeho-
vah" that your voices shall be heard
in the halls of Congress, that your
interests shall be represented by
men of your class in full sympathy
with you, ,'men above suspicion, ,whe
cannot be bought no matter how
poor they may be; and when yot
have sworn, be true to your oath
4 You have the power: see to it tina
you use it, and use it well.
E. A. GILLER.
/ Whitehall, Ills.