Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1885-08-13
A Letter From "FarmeI."

Several weeks ago, after having been
called out in public, gentleman, who
is professor in one of our colleges
came to congratulate me and to endorse
what I had said; and also said he had
something he wished me to read-s
lecture, by Henry George, upon the
crime of being poor man. AS had
intended to reply to the sermon of Rev
Mr.. Pennlman, as noticed by one OF
your correspondents waited for the
lecture till now, but not having receiv.
ed it, and having sent that copy of the
REGISTER to Prof. Penniman, of Wood
burn, ILL.,, must defer this subject to
some future time. 1t would be peril.
nent now, however, to observe what
few remark; and that is, that tho very
conditions that produce rich men are
the same that produce criminals. Now
this is not saying that rich men are
criminals, or that we should have nc
criminals il we had no rich men, but
that the same causes that p,ake one
make the other. The fault is with So
ciety rather than individuals. Make
government something better than a
cunnipgly devised scheme of robbery,
let every regulation affecting the dis
tribution of wealth be just, and no man
could get so rich that he could eat his
cake and keep it at the same time, or
live and yet gain without spending his
principal or working himself. All
might have plenty, but none could be
rich.
Tournaments and picnics are the Or
der of the day, with always plenty of
bucksters, to work the crowd for all it
is worth. To illustrate the free spirit
that more and more prevades society
let me notice picnic given by the Ro-
man Catholic church in this parish on
the 30th of July. First, lay member
gave a welcoming address; priest
spoke, and was materialist enough to
observe that the way to mans heart
was through his stomach; then follow
ed the three invited speakers, only one
being a member Of any church, and he
a Protestant. First, your correspond
ent with topic especially chosen to
demonstrate that mans moral and
mental nature grew our of his material
conditions with little or no regard to
creeds, or forms of faith, or spiritual
teaching; Doctor took Evolution"
for a topic; and a lawyer gave the sauce
for the serious discourses. You see the
day has come when secturianisnl, and
religious intolerance, must be thrown
aside, just as we have already thrown
aside our wooden mould-board plows,
and hand sickles.
We have just passed through spell
of hot, dry weather in which pastures
and growing crops suffered from drouth;
but to-day great change seems to
have set in; ii has turned almost cold
enough for fire, ami a drizzle from
the northwes set in.
Wheat has proved almost a complete
failure and with what was cut, and
what was held over from last year,
there will be reasonable quantity for
seed, but none for bread, if anything
like the acreage of last year is sown.
Corn is late but promises well. Pota-
toes, for late crop, have been stripped
of their leaves and flowers by the black
beetle with white stripes, which, Though
present every year, has done no dam
for nearly forty years until this season.
The mouse pest disappeared after the
last severe winter, and the rat pest
seems to lessening; but in consequence
of these animals having been 30 nu-
merous, minks and weasels increased
as their means OF substance increased,
and now the good housewife finds from
one to one hundred dead chickens In
the hen house in the morning.
Business in our towns is reported
very dull and likely to remain SO. as
there is nott ing short of foreign wal
that can revive it. II we could get a
few hundred thousand lives, and some
thousands of millions Of other peoples
property destroyed, we might get some.
thing to do in replacing the property
and, according to the MaIthusian theo.
ry, this thinning out of humanity