Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1886-07-07

CIRC UMSTANCES ALTER CASES.
In the discussion Of the eight-hour
movement 1t is well to recognize the in
Guence the character of an occupation
may have upon the number Of hours that
occupation may be daily pursued. That
the kind OF work man engages in modi-
fes the time of his lsbors is generally
known. Among workingmen the farmer
is frequently referred to as working from
sun up till sun down, or from dawn to
dusk, a period considerably Ia excess Of
eight hours All who have lived in the
country or who are familiar with planta-
tion customs will admit this to be true.
But there are other things to be consid
cred II must be taken into account that
while farmers and their hired hands
pu, In the maximum hours Of labor, till
darkness calls cessation, there are
great many days out OF the S65 that they
do not labor ut all. Reference is now had
TO the agricultural system OF the South,
especially in those states where cotton
planting Is carried on. In all this large
region there are times OF comparative
idleness on the farm, when hardly any
work Is done. The period known among
Southern planters as "laying by time"
lasts several weeks during every summer.
The wheat and oats have been harvested,
the corn has been ploughed the last time,
the cotton has not yet commenced TO
open, and about all there is to do is to
attend the camp meetings, which yet re-
main an interesting feature OF rural life
in the South.
Again there are many days during the
year when the soil is too wet to be
worked. When such times Of leisure
and Sundays (no Southern farmer breaks
the fourth commandment are excepted,
1t is apparent that the farmer will not la
Dor as many days during the year as his
brother workman In city mill or man
ufactory. Therefore, though his hours of
work be longer, the total will not be
greater or even as much as in the case of
the man who quits work at the end Of
eight hours,
That the farmer deserves these periods
OF intermlssion Is cheerfully granted, for
the tilling Of Mother Earth is severe
toll. But even though he works
longer hours, his condition is preferable
to the town operative who may quit at 4
O'Clock in the afternoon. The latter as
rule lives in a rented house and knows
nothing Of the comfort and independence
of working for one's self instead OF an
employer He cannot ride about on
horse OF his own and knows nothing Of
the fun of trying to extract milk from an
unwilling COW, He sees nothing Of ma.
ture in her sweetest and happlest aspects
and never breathes the pure air Of heaven.
SO when we come to figure II all up the
balance is very much on the side OF the
sturdy farmer. In the very nature Of
things the eight-hour system, which will
suit the tolling artisans and mechanics OF
the towns, will never do for him. AS
long as the sunlight fingers on his level
fields he will stay to gather the snowy
locks of cotton or reap the golden grain.
He does not fame aud fret and curse the
capitalists for having worked more than
eight hours. Why should he2 He doesn't
have to ask any man how long be shall
work. He is, or ought to be, the happlest
of all men, for of all men he is the most
independent.