San Marcos free press. [volume] (San Marcos, Tex.) 1877-1892, 1884-09-18

among the States. There 10 q fixed
ness and reliability in agricultua
pursuits which are not always found
in other branches Of industry and
human effort The soil remains in
its place ready TO be titled, and the
farmer, with ruddy health and brawny
arm, depends alone upon the work ol
his hands and the aid Of kind Prov
idence for o reward Of his labor.
Thus, our farmers are the most in
dependent Of our citizens, They
produce, or have within their reach,
all they need for their necessities and
for their comfort Their crops may
be more abundant at one harvest than
at another, and their products may
command o higher price at one mar
ket time than another, and these
conditions may expand or contract
their ability to indulge In luxuries or
expenditures not absolutely needed,
but they should never be in want Of
the necessities or comforts of life.
This is the sure resalt Of patient and
we'll regulated farming. When the
farmer fails and becomes bankrupt
in his business we may, ! think, con-
fidently look for shiftlessness or too
ambitious desire to own more land
or stock than he can pay for, or an
intermeddling with matters that bear
no relation to his farm, or such mis-
management and ignorance, as DEM
onstrate that he has mistaken his vo-
cation. Fortunes may be quickly
amassed in speculation, and lost in q
day, leaving Q bad example, and per-
haps demorilization and crime. The
tradesman or the manufacturer, by
the vicissitudes of trade or through
the allurements of the short road to
wealth, may in q day be overcome
and bring disaster and ruin upon
hundreds Of his neighbors. But in
the industrious, intelligent and con-
tented farmer the State finds o safe
and profitable citizen, always contrib
uting to its wealth and prosperity.
The real value Of the farmer to the
State and ration, is not however, fully
appreciated until we consider that he
feeds the millions of our people who
are engaged in other pursuits, that
the product OF his labor fills the aven-
ues Of our commerce, and supplies an
factor in our financial rela-
tions with other nations.
have not come to attempt to
please you with cheap and fulsome
praise, nor to magnify your worth
and your Importance; butt have come
as the Chief Executive of the State
to acknowledge on its own behalf
that our farmers yield full return for
the benefits they receive from the
State Government. I have come to
remind you Of the Importance of the
interests which you have in charge,
and to suggest that notwithstanding
the farmers independence he cannot
and must not be entirely unmindful
of the value and importance to the
interests he holds of q just and econ.
,mical government. It is his right
md his duty to demand that all un-
lust and inequitable burdens upon ag-
riculture and its products however
caused, should be removed, and that
while the furtherance OF the other in
;erests of the State have due regard,
his important one should not be neg
ected. Thus by his labor as farmer
md in the full performance of his
luty as citizen he will create and &C.
,ure to himself his share Of the result
If his toll, and save and guard for all
;he people most important element
n the prosperity of the State