Dodge City times. [volume] (Dodge City, Kan.) 1876-1892, 1883-04-26

man who owns and crlltivates his little
piece of ground can snap his fingers at
Mr.. Lofty, and sit on his fence with his
hands in his pockets when the Great
MOgul goes by; tor he is getting his liy-
ing at first hand, and need ask no ia
vors of anyone. The average mechanic,
on the other hand, is little more than a
hired serf while he remains mechanic;
he surrenders his individual liberty to
his employer for his wages. and works
through another mans brains: he is an
autOmaton manipulated by the golden
wires of capital. He learns to gauge
his work by what is required of him, not
by the standard of intelligent and con-
scientiOus service. Unless he is an ex-
ceptional case, his self-respect is I'M
dermined by the temptation to g loaf
while the s. boss" is not looking, and to
work industriously under his eye. He
becomes school-boy instead of a man;
learns to look furtively and fearfully at
his employer. and brides his manhood
through the necessity OF pleasing him or
losing his work. The mechanic is a
subordinate in his department.; the
farmer is chief officer in his; and it is
better to be captain of a canal-bOat and
preserve your independence, than to be
second-mate on the Great Eastern and
have no mind of your own.
Secondly, the farmer has health: Or
the means of getting it free of cost if
he does not possess it. His business as
sures him, in larger measure than al
most any other, natures grand con-
servers of health-air and exercise.
These are better tOnics than any which
90 into peoples stOmachs. City pa
tients get them after paying for doc
tors prescription, but to the farmer
they come ''as free as air. Better
chan any one else the farmer can COM
bine business and the hygienist's golden
rule:
Follow natures laws to the very letter;
Let the doctors go to the Bay of Biscay,
Let alone the gin, the brandy and the whisky.
Freely exercise, keep your spirits cheerful,
Let no dread of sickness ever make you
fearful:
Eat the simplest food, drink the pure cold
water,
Then i 20" will be we'l-0r at least you ought
The farmer is free from many of the
temptations which beset workingmen
whose occupations bring many men
into close association. The seductions
of the dram-shop and Of fast society do
not appeal to him as they do to the
townsman. He can choose his asso-
ciates instead of having them forced
upon him. He is not compelled to lis
ten to the idle story or the profitless
gossip if he does not choose to hear it.
Statistics show that farmers live longer
than men in any other pursuit-except
Washington S body-servants. The farm
er can look forward to an earthly eX-
istence longer by several years than
that of the blacksmith, the carpenter,
the machinist, the mason, the printer,
or any other artisan, and as long as
that OF the average professional man.
Third, the farmer has the means of
obtaining mental culture if he has the
will. The dissatisfaction with which
many farmers and farmers boys look
upon their lot in life comes from their
having too much hard work and too
little spare time. They have not yet
learned to adapt themselves to the mod
ern ten-hour law of labor. They toll
fourteen or sixteen hours day, and
come home from their work utterly ex-
hausted and fit for nothing but supper
and bed. They feel discouraged and
disheartened at such a prospect through
life Overwork is the thief that steals
the farmers happiness. But it ought
not to be so. A farm can be made
to pay on the ten-hour plan. l have in
mind farmer who makes his farm
pay good dividend, takes an active
in the worlds work, has fair
library, keeps abreast of the thought of
the age, spends his evenings in reading
and writing, is teaching his sons the
value of study and work combined, and
does all this on ten hours daily work
1t is not the amount of labor that we
put into thing that determines the re-
suit. it is the intelligence. The King
of Spain, you have no doubt read, spent