Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1882-08-23
Farmers Hardships.

"Our readers will remember that we
have hardly been able to see the oppres.
sion and especially harship which some
have so persistently claimed that the
farmers have been and are being made
the victims of. We think the farmers of
the present day know very little of the
hardships to which the farmers Of fifty
years ago were subjected"
We clip the above from the agricultural
columns of the GREEN MOUNTAIN FREE
MAN. The language implies that because
the farmers of the present time are better
of than were the farmers Of fifty years
ago, they have no cause Of complaint and
therefore there ia no need Of making an
effort TO better their condition. l. If the
farmer "of fifty years ago" had ventured
70 complain some one might have told him
that they labored under no oppression
and especial hardship" and that they
knew very little of the hardships TO
which the farmers of the feudal times
were subjected" and that because they
were better of than were their ancestors
they would do we'll to keep very quiet
and rest contented. 1t is true the farmers
are better of now than formerly, for the
Time was when the agricultural laborer
was serf, a sort of real estate, being
bought and sold with the land, and having
the same and no more political and social
rights than the animals which were hi.
companions upon the farm. 2. From that
day till now the world has moved forward
with long stride. Then those high in
power as well as the lower classes were
grossly ignorant. To-day there is no ex.
cuse for gross ignorance on the part of
any one born in America But in the
progress that has been made it seems to
u. that there yet remains n few relics or
renainders of the feudal times. 1t seems
TO us that farmers as well off as they now
are and as much improved as is their con.
dition over that Of their ancestors are vet
Little behind in the race. This remark
applies to the education and educational
privileges OF farmers and their families.
We even now hear something like the
following: This boy will be farmer
consequently there is no need Of his going
to school any more" 8. The school dis
trict system of the state is an especial
hardship" of which farmers ought to
complain, for under it the children Of farm
ers in the remote districts cannot enjoy
equal educational privileges with those
living near the graded schools of the large
villages. Under the old idea, one which
has not yet been wholly abandoned, that
the farmer needs no education farther than
to know passably we'll the three Rs,
''readin', ritin' and rithmetic," the present
district system is we'll enough, but il
farmers are to act we'll their part as citi.
zens as we'll as to hold the pillow or ride
the moving machine, something more is
needed. Have the farmers no cause oil
complaint in the relation 10 the corporate
interests of the country? Is everything
for the best when few railroad magnates
can meet and while slipping their rum and
putting their cigars can by word raise
the price of freights so as to levy tax OF
millions of dollars upon the producers Of
the country? 4. Is it no oppression or
especial hardship" that the farmers Of
the state are obliged to pay taxes upon
the full value of their property and in
many instances upon more than is really
theirs, while the railroads are taxed very
lightly? 5. Is it no especial hardship y
that the farmers of Vermont are obliged
to pay as much for the transportation of a
ton of butter from this state TO Boston as
1t costs to transport the same amount
from Iowa to the seaboard? 6. Is it no
hardship that the farmers of Vermont
must pay a high price every time they
ride upon the cars, which price is greatly
enhanced by the multitude of free passes
that are distributed among favorites. Z
We suppose that the farmers must meekly
submit and of nothing complain when the
political machinery of the state is control.
led by the railroad ring: when governors
are named long before the political con-
vention meets, leaving nothing for com
mon people to do but to vote as hey are
bid. s.
The'ab)ve is from tue BtaGIcbIrJ III.
former" and is quite in the line of wha,
we have often had occasion to criticise.
There is more bosh written and talked
about farmers than on any other topic we
now think OF, finance perhaps excepted
and on that any number of people will
assume to lay down the rules for the
financial success of the nation who have
not been able to secure that OF their own
individual selves; so concerning farming
Ministers, lawyers, editors, oftentimes
men who never did Il day work on a
tirm or knew n month of farm life or
would know churn from Il washing
machine, will talk of farming an, the
farmer with degree OF assurance which
Is positively astounding. Concerning the
article above, we will rem ,rk Q)'th,t the
language implies no such thing; it lnplie.
Just whas it says, thu W. Ave no p,,n
able to see the "esDeH q htrd,A,D " to
which turner's have ben subjected more
than carpenters and black smlthI AN shoe.
makers and mill operatives an,l print, rs,
and, In short, all of the gre.: n.ny who
e work with their hands" aud of the
logic which assumes that because "A man
is in better circumstances than he &c
been, that he is therefore supcrlativeIy
perfect and has no neel to better his opn-
dItion little comm ,nt i. necessary. If a
ln'tn has two boils AMI one gets we'll he
has no need to cure the other is lust that
kind of logic.
No. has never HI the least appro 10
10 truth in America. rne eury SO tiers
had greater degree Of personal indie.
pcndence than can be had now when
social life is more intiutely naturally in.
dependent. Frontier life is ALWAYS more
free and Independent. and for some tn It
compensates for the gre ,ter degree of
comfort Of older and m )re advanced civil
liz .ton. The farmers life in AmerIc. h ,s
been one continual line of frontier life
from the time of the fest settlement till
they have wrestei from wild nature
homes and cultivated farms, from the
shores of The Atlantic acros ) the continent
t. where the sun sets in th1 wl,ers of the
Pacific
). Perhaps Bro. Davenport hears that
kind of talk. 1t is not heard in the section
where we live, and we venture the asser
zion TINT the farmers of Vermont are a.
well educated as any other class of people
'Ihou mn nab hn Il