Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1886-12-15
Tss white saIphar Agricultural Raj


Tes white suIphor Agricultural ssii
10 the Editor Of the Dispatch:
In the WSpdic, Of December 9Th acfll
q made FOR IN assembly OF farmers 10 meet
spccial committee appointed By the
EarIn.rs' Assembly, held at Richmond last
October 10 consider n "biil for The sd.
,arcemeut Of the agriculture! interests OF
,hc state" PROPOSE By gentlemen who
prepared It at White Sulphur Springs last
AUeusi.
lie leading members Of the October As
.,miLy W Richmnnd seemed ~ have but
ore idea n 10 ibe business Of that body
which was the approval OF That b'H. Twas
q new member. and hsd come with great
Cxpectaiiors IN The direction oil discover
iLg n solid foundation for the Coalition OF
cur farmers. had read the slogan from
he Agricultural Congress, "Organlze,
o,ganlze, organize - and hoped sincerely
thai movement was on foot Ivy which the
farmers could ask and demand from orr
Government justice and fair play In the
struggle for ]iic.'
The presiding officer Of the Assembly,
~ taking his seat, requested all dcleglte-
ures,nt To walk up 10 the secretlry and
give i'm their names. Tom, Dick, AID
Harry Ill came up. suppose, a. no call
was made las The constitution rcqulrcsj Tor
rc,titica'os Of election. The next move
mrpt was 10 cut down all speeches 10 byc
minutes, and .hen amendments to the con-
rnuiioD were in order. The representa-
ton from counties was based originally
i;pon "twIcc the number OF delegates IN
~ lower branch of the General Assembly
OF the state" which WAS cumbersome
,ncugh in all reason, but they added an
amendment that any club IN the State num-
rering twelve should be entitled to repre-
~e,taliye. II ttcy had proposed TO organ
We the State into a committee OF the
whoIev on the interest OF agriculture, or
substituted the call for "mass- meeting
Of Virginia farmers TO take the place OF the
Assembly, H could not have done greater
viol nee to my crude ideas OF what "or-
.auizalion" meant.
The bill framed by the "Whitc sulphur
SPRINGS farmers" was next pressed before
the As, emily a. a question OF the graycst
Importance. and from It's introduction to
tue last minute before Adjournment il was
q ade TO Oycrshadow and crowd out every
thing else. And when the committee to
1hom it was referred failed TO agree upon
a report an effort was made to force 1t un-
der onsideratiOn. and one Of us most en-
thuslastic supporters chided tho Assembly
in bitter tones with having done "ab'o-
lutely nothing" In q loose, disjOinted way,
and at the last mOmeni the question was re-
icIred to a special committee. OF which Mr..
lis. LYMAN was made chairman, gentle
man, by the way, who uttered in Anew words
morc concentrated good sense than any one
10 whom | listened. What the exact duties
were OF that committee | do not think he
brCw or any one else.
The fourth section Of the Whitc.SuDhur
iii X the taX.ridden farmers OF the State,
Aho were 1T home between the Dlow-ban
dies while tins bill was being framed under
tie shade Of the trees at White sulphur. TO
-ur-idize the most prosperous agricultural
slir~ OF the state to the extent Of S2j,oOO.
IL is sugar.co1cd with a proposition TO
mike experimental stations in sundry
Ilces.
I attended The last fair at LynGhburg. ]
Jaw a lot OF cattle which | was told had
been brought mainly from the Roanoke
Fair. | saw lots Of agricultural mp'e-
ments and some cra2y.qulis, but the giftN
Of Ceres were conspicuous by their an
Scncc. As an exhibit Of the agrlcultprll
condition Of the region Immediately con-
tisuous to Lynchburg any c1n1ii m IN
would pronounce 1t total failure. The
whole Thing seemed 10 be cryStilirng
around Jockey club At the Richmond
Fair | saw those same cattle which had
taken the rounds, with some additions, aud
FLOWS. reapers. traction engines, &c, with
out number. The productions directly from
The bowel, Of Mother Earth c0ull have
been carted away in about three good loads
Nothing Is more common now tlan 10
read in our city paper, % the successful
raids bv the police upon gambling den'.
TO one Interested il seemed, III reading II,
that a sound moral sentiment wa' wiSing
. successful war against this monster wee
in its dirCiul assaults upon the we1Nc'l
pcinis in the aTmOr Of poor weak human
nature. This Richmond Playground. Ia
-vcak plainly, VAS stupendous Gambling
bclI i'm broad daylight This was cnrir'
md bv rice.cour,c where an attempt wa
u.dr To present the ngila1niL sport ~
lie highest -tylc Of the art. THIS -ccmcI
30 hc The nucleus around which ~ else re-
| rllNed. The plOw-handle farmers % tp'
81 t. sre asked for SjD.C0O by thIs bill, Il
| &c placed manly in the hands II these 50
| cjctic-. that IN opportunity may De gNti
! those who are able TO swap some Of thcil
.mplus Thousands upon the ha1lrd II d
hor,c-race. The ycarlug race-eolt5 o
kentucky averaged at the last spring -Ile
- 900 each. An cXper. jockey can max
more money in three months than thr 5fsi
psry farmer can IN twelve. They do no
need subsidy, and / DO not think the
| viii ct il.
II the State would do IS Mississippi hn
done IN the ease OF rs agricultural college
and supplement the income 0i BiacksDur.
college with 100000 year. it would looi
like promoting the lntei eats OF agriculture
Le' ne add that I saw two things on M
frip to Lynchburg ana Richmond whic
Impressed me most profoundly. The
were the two magnificent buildings bein
erected for the Yong Mems Christian ~
ISOLATION. NAY all good people stand D.
them, and make an evening there moro at
tractlyc than the fumes and yomi Of ia
saloon and gambling hell. BEDFORD.
| December TO- 1856.