The Kenosha telegraph. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1860-1888, 1885-03-20
FARMERS AND "HIRED MEN,"
Are the Former as a Glass, Close-Fisted
and PenuriOus.

Are the Former as CLASS, CIoSe-E1SIe0
and Penurious.
It is rare occasion when .lrepresent-
alive of the men who Ia Dor on the farm
for wages undertakes to present in an
agricultural journal any views he may
entertain on topics that especially con-
Germs his class. For this reason we
give the grist of an article, in which
"a Hired Man. talks back quite
vigorously at the farmers.
We do not by any means indorse his
differences, however. Even though the
farmers, as class, were proven to be
the close-fsted, hard, selfish men the
writer would have them appear, we do
not quite see that the Indictment would
prove that the average hired man is not
an ignorant lazy, dissipated fellow, as
the agricultural papers and the talk
ing" members of the farmers club too
often declare him to be. And in judy
ing the agriculturists and their helpers
we are glad to differ with both sets of
men in their estimates of each other.
That there are to be found among
farmers some very poor specimens of
manhood-men who are utterly devoid
of honor or principle in their transac-
tions with their felloWs--ca can not be de-
MED. So there are among men en-
gagged in any other business or profess
sion. But, as a class, agriculturists
are fashioned morally and mentally
very much like the rest Of the human
race, and endeaYor to deal fairly by
those with whom they have business re-
lations.
The farmer, of course has his foibles.
So do other men. The farmer is eager
to get the best possible price for the
products from his farm. So, too, are
the merchant and manufacturer when
dispQsing of their wares. When the
farmer goes to town shopping, he does
not wish to pay more than he can help
for his clothing or other needful articles.
But the same fact is true of the mer-
chant, mechanic or artisan. 1t is hui
man nature; that is all
AS we understand it, the gist of the
complaint of "a Hired Man may be
briefly expressed thus: ssThe farmers
beard is poor; he pays as little as pos
sibls for wages; he desires to get more
work than no is entitled to from his
help, and in various other directions is
anxious to obtain something for noth-
ing
Tie truth of the matter is that the
farmer readily learns that success can
only be purchased by the constant
practice of economy in every depart
mentl of his business. Circumstances
viii generally compel him to pay wages
that represent the market value of
labor; he would be foolish to pay a
higher price for the help he needs. It
is a matter that regulates itself. Hired
help viii generally abandon situation
where there is danger of starvation.
But we believe that, as rule, farmers
have enough food on their tables. and
and the quality and variety of the fare
is above criticism. During the season
of raising and harvesting crops, many
minor matters on the farm have neces-
sarily to be attended to early in the
morning or late in the evening. But
there are thousands of workers
who would only be too glad to be assured
that their services would not be
called for during the hours which the
farm labOrer can call his own.
On the other hand, the farmers man
undoubtedly has to work hard and his
pay does not begin to be as big as that
Of che President of the United States,
but there are many pleasant and at
tractive features connected with his av-
ocation, and, at the worst, he suffers
no privations or hardships that are not
experienced, perhaps in greater meas
urs, by other laboring men. AS class,
the farmers helpers are pretty good
lot of contented fellows, proud of the
physical strength and rugged health
that comes from their simple mode of
lying, eager TO display ability to per-
form well the manifold duties of their
calling, and even to occasionally help
the women-folk at the farm house with
some of the heavier chores, and de-
lighted to take keen interest in affairs
around the place and in the success Of
their employers. Of course, as our cor
respondent admits, there are to be
found farm laborers who are ignorant,
wicked, dissipated and lazy. But it
would be unfair to condemn the thou
sands Of Industrious. painstaking hired
men of good character on that account
And it is no less unfair to write down
the whole body of farmers because a
feW of their number are guilty Of mean
less and selhshnesS in their dealings
with others Field. Farm and FprGe,