Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1888-06-16
ADDRESS TO THE CHANGERS
BY H. NJ. TURNER.

best to discharge the duty imposed mr.
me. must confess feel hesitaucy H.
attempting what to me is difficult tash
Not that hesitate to work in this wa,
for the good of our order and the al.
vancement of the farmer and his in
terests,- that l am unmindful of tho
important position which the farmer
occupies, as a citizen of our common
country and of the grand influenca
which this, his. organization. has had
and will have, upon the people of this
nation. morally, mentally, and political
"; I say not that forget all of theso
things do / hesitate, but l feel for mo
to discuss them in public and to atte,nn,
what know / should fail to do becanse
like Moses of old | am slow of speech
and brain is as Glow to dictate as nv
tongue is slow to utter.
But Worthy Master, I know that
every one present has learned that scrn.
tural lesson, where little is given n.
tie is required, and remembering thai
the talents of public speaking have been
doled out sparingly to those who 4" plod
the plowman's weary way will not OK.
pect to gather very abundant crop of
figs of knowledge, from the thistle Of
ignorance before you.
Although / can't entertain the audi.
ence with deep and able arguments, vet
l can ask the members of this order 10
look back over the past, take up the his.
tory of our great country, study its set.
Element, its development and progress.
and see to what class of people the Amer
lean nation is most indebted When
the Pilgrims landed on Massachusetts
soil and the ships of the English Colon.
lists anchored in Virginia's waters, bar.
barians roamed unmolested by ciyiliza.
ton and the wild fox dug his hole I'm.
scared The shrek of no locomotive
sounded in the forest, and the clatter of
no merry mill wheel broke the stiffness
along the ripping waters no low.
ing herds decorated the thousand hills,
and no fields of golden grain ripened in
the MONDAY sun. The scenes that met
the eyes of the colonists, were grand Der.
haps, but yet they were gloomy the
aspect of the land which was to become
our future homes was picturesque, but
desolate, on every hand was wild neglect
and before the new found world should
become a fit habltation for civilized
man, it was apparent to the bold adven-
turer, that many days of hard and pa.
tient toll should pass and many anxious
hours of suffering should elapse. Al
though with their difficulties before
them they resolved to do or die and by
their resolute character and patient labor
the wiidness was changed to fertile
fields and the desert places of the earth
to sites for happy homes. The question
rises up before us, who were those people
that brought about this great change,
were they the clergymen, the lawyers,the
doctors or the merchants? We can on
ly answer no. Then who by patient toll
cleared away the forests and cultivated
the newly made fields We answer the
farmer from the time Adam dug in the
soil of the garden of Eden, until our
forefathers dug in the soil of America,
the farmer had been developing the re-
sources of the world and from the time
of our forefathers. cultivated few
square yards of cleared land on the At
lantic coast, until to-day the farmers have
been developing the resources of the
United States. Although we would not
say that those of other occupations have
not rendered assistance, yet we assert
that the bulk of the work of developing
the American Continent has fallen upon
the shoulders of the farmer and been
done by him. The minister of the
church may have given some spiritual
comforts, but with deep reverence for
their calling, preaching didn't clear
away the dense forests of America. The
lawyers may have written some ten dol.
lar deeds or given some high price ADVICE
upon the legality of IMMIGRANTS. made by
the nobility of Europe to the colonists,
but Latin and law--green boys and stove
pipe hats, never dug up stumps or culti-
waited fields. The doctors may have pre-
scribed for the bodily ailments of set
tiers but blue mass pills as big as base
balls nor prescriptions as long or as short
as the merchants yard stick, never SOW
ed a crop or reaped harvest. / would
not belittle or underestimate the other
occupations of mankind and in referring
to these things. only wish to show how
the American nation at large is indebted
to the farmer for the development of the
country, / only wish to prove that the
calling of the farmer is as exalted and
his occupation as honorable and honest as
the occupation of any professional who
stands in the pulpit, pleads at the bar,
or who amputates an affected limb.
1t is therefore Worthy Master. not a
thing improper for the tillers of the
soil to refer with pride to these facts Ia
ken from American history. And it is
a duty assumed by every member of the
grange to uphold the dignity of farming
as business, to elevate the position OF the
agriculturist in the social world and by
developing the moral faculties and men
tai faculties of the rising generation, in
time to come, place those who feed the
world upon that place of prosperity and
dignity, occupied to-day by capitalists
and the professional gentlemen of our
land. But the great question always
asked. is how is this to be accomplished.
The answer most proper to give is by
unity of action and by conforming to
other principles set forth in the laws
concerning the grange. 1t is a granger's
duty and a farmers right, to demand
that which he is denied-namely prop
er equality, equity and fairness. Res
traint upon the strong monopolist and
protection to the weak agriculturist.
And as we are exhorted in the very dec
laration Of purposes of the order strive
to bring about justly distributed bur
dens and justly distributed power" To
do this we must make certain de-
mands, Tor ii we remain as dumb and as
docile as Mary's little sheep, we must
always expect to lose our place. | say
6AcA6O 10 ihtCuutu ny
unity on the part of its members 10
bring about equality and fairness. In
order to do this the farmer must not do
more work for one dollar than those Of
other occupations and professions. If il
IS right for lawyer to earn five dollars
In one hour, it is not right for a farmer
TO work week and sometimes a month,
70 earn the same amount of money. II
it Is necessary for farmer TO do a GER
lain amount of work and employ a Ger.
tam amount of capital to earn one dol
lar, 1t should be necessary for a mer-
chant to do the same amount of work.
and employ the same amount of capital,
70 earn one hundred cents. But we are
told that it requires brain to draw up
legal documents and to sell dry goods or
weigh out sugar we answer so does it
require brain to raise wheat or cultivate
Iruit and vegetables no cracked brain
IDIOT ever handled a plow skillfully or