The Abbeville messenger. (Abbeville, S.C.) 1884-1887, 1886-04-06
Thomas Jefferson on the Farmers Move
ment.
BEECH ISLAND. S. c., Mar. &c.

BEECH ISLAND. S. c., Mar. &c.
Editor Edgefeld Advertise. The
alarm excited by the Farmers move
ment, having led some patriotic jour
nails to forecast many fearful things,
among others a McClane and Russell
raid on the solid Democracy Of the
State, I have thought the following
extracts from the letters Of Mr.. JEFF
ferson bearing directly on the present
movement might relieve the anxieties Of
some.
Letter Of Thomas Jefferson to Daniel
Williams. OF 8. c., Nov. 4th, 1903.
agriculture is a science Of the first
order. 1t counts among it's hand maids
the most respectable sciences x x in
every college and university profess
sorship of Agriculture and the class Of
it's students might be honored rs the
first. Young men closing their acade-
mical education with this az the crown
Of all other sciences, fascinated with
its solid charms and at time when
they are to choose On occupation, in
stead of crowding the other clnsses
would return to the farms Of their faith
ers, their own, and those Of others and
replenish and invigorate calling now
languishing under contempt and oppres-
sion. The charitable schools instead of
storing their pupils with lore, which
the present state Of society does not call
for, converted into schools of Agricul.
ture might rest" re them to that branch
qualified to enrich and honor them
selves, and to increase the productions
of the nation instead Of consuming
them. ~ The general desire Of men
to live by their heads rather than by
their hands, and the strong allurements
Of great cities to those who have any
turn for dissipation threatened to make
them here as in Europe the sinks of
voluntary misery"
One Of the last letters ever written bv
Mr.. Jenerson wS1 to wM.B.ssGlIes, Of
Va, 26th Dec, 1926. After alluding to
the attempt of the Eastern States to
dissever the Union, of which the Hart
ford Convention WAS subsequent chap
ter, he says, the next chapter "opens
with vast accession OF strength from
younger recruits who having nothing in
their feelings and principles of '76, now
look to single and splendid govern
ment of an aristocracy founded OH bank
ing institutions and monied corpora
tons, under the guise and cloak Of their
favored branches Of manufactures, COM
merce and navigation, rioting and ruled
beggared yeomanry."
Since those days the proportion of
town to country population has increas-
ed seven fold; the MONEY power has
developed financial network sensitive
to the slightest variations in the great
markets, about every interest and per-
son however remote and obscure the
monied sristocracy have become giants,
more astonishing than those of ancient
fable, while agriculture and every rural
interest languishes. These results are
in part to improvements in the mechan-
ical arts, but in still larger part to legis-
lstion which these improvements have
suggested and rendered practicable.
How far they are desirable can not be
discussed here. But certain admitted
facts must be borne in mind the death
rate Of cities greatly exceeds that Of the
country the proportion Of crime and
poverty are much greater there; the
cost of city governments is many times
greater than that of administering the
laws in the country and they are the
breeding grounds Of political corrup-
ton; they seem to be morally, politi-
cally and physically an unhealthy
growth.
therefore commend to the consid-
Grafton Of the public the opinions of
the great father of our Democracy.
Very Respectfully,
HARRY HAMMOND,