Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1890-06-20
AGRICULTURAL.
EDrcAuoN or FARMERS.
A Portion Of nm Earnest Address By
gov. Huonrd Of Wtacousin.


Gov. Heard Of Wisconsin.
The following is the concluding part Of
an excellent address by W. d. Hoard at a
farmers institute in Wisconsin
The agricultural interest is attacked on
all sides but let me say TO you in all con
science. that | believe today that the far
mer himself in Wisconsin is his own worst
foe 10 his own well being. 1t is not the
monopolists, it is not the politicians, 1t is
not the capitalists, but it is the fact that
the farmer himself has not seen the broad
gauge 10 which he should attain for the
purpose Of emancipating his own business
from the thraldom that has encircled 1t.
That thraldom is lack of good, hard
thinking, not hard work.
Go where you will in Waukesha county,
show me the man who is intelligent, the
man who reads and studies, the man who
follows the lines of thought connected with
his pursuit and that man | will show you
almost invariably is the successful man OF
his class Now, then, if intelligence is the
stepping stone to success, we need to I'M
derstand that we must lay broad and deep
the foundations of intelligence.
read a little story when boy that
touched me deeply, concerning John Philpot
Curran, the noted Irish barrister. At
banquet TO which he was invited by the
Prince of Wales, the question went round,
what has education done for you Z" Ed
ucation is not schooling, it is thinking 1t
is the assimilation of knowledge, not put
ting on a man a veneer it is not cram
ming it is not polishing man on the out
side. but by filling him with digested
thought and digested understanding, max
ing him capable of doing something. The
question went around the board, and final
ly came to Curran and he rose and said
Education has doi this for me, my lord.
1t has enabled the son of a poor Irish peas.
ant to sit at the table of his prince" And
it is recorded that the Prince of Wales took
offence at this statement, and never again
was Curran asked into the presence Of roy
atty More shame be it to royalty
| am glad that my own country gives me
"a thousand such examples as this. The
poor boy who has struggled with thought,
who has struggled with ideas, who has
struggled with understanding, who has
reached up and asked day after day, 90,
Lord, give me understanding, in prayer
as honest as ever went out of the human
heart-that boy has right to feel that on
him has been stamped the insignia of God s
best grace, the hunger and thirst for knowl
edge The man in the old story was asked
which would he have, wisdom or riches,
and he chose wisdom and God gave him
both
We need in our relations as farmers, in
our neighborhood relations, in our school
district relations, to stand by our little in
situations with more loyalty, and that is the
reason | made a short plea fer the country
school house, standing like a ragged beg
gar by the roadside" the desks SCARED
with the rough touch of the rude jack knife,
the only temple of knowledge that | ever
found, and the only temple that ever gave
me a start on the road to a better under
standing | see it today as it stands upon
the rugged hillside in New York | see the
different teachers who came and went to
the last day Of my school boy life. re
member one teacher who took hold of my
understanding and held my heart, and who,
| am sorry 10 say, found no answer in the
thought or conviction of the people of that
district. He taught me things he taught
me to understand animals he taught me to
understand the plants by the roadside he
taught me to look out into the arcana of
nature, as far as | could go, aud said to me
Remember, my boy, that all these thing'
spread out before you are yours, and given
to you for your USE That man started
within me a thirst for knowledge that nc
other man ever did, but it was said of him
by the rude neighborhood, because he took
the boys out in the afternoon and let then
down into the secrets of nature, took then
down into the meadow and showed then
the difference in grasses-it was said o.
him. He is a consumed fool and don't hal
earn his money" Out of that little rud,
neighborhood there grew a class of boy
who will feel to their latest breath the slim
illus that man gave them. Now, we ough
to make our little country school house thu
centre of our civilization. We ought to en-
courage all these things that shall take hol,
of the boy.
We sometimes get discouraged as agri
cuturists out upon the farm, we think no
body appreciates us and we have har'
life but remember that out of this great
broad agricultural heart is coming the flu
ture of this country that from it is re
cruited the statesmen, the managers of tn
great business enterprises, the blood AM
the Drawn that is the hope of this nation
Standing in the Produce exchange il
New York city, a few years ago, l locke
over the 800 men who to day represent an
control the commerce of this nation, and
said to Mr.. Armour, one of the Armou
Brothers, who was farmers boy, "HoN
many of these 500 men do you think wer
born on farm Z, was astonished whe
he told me that 80 out of every 100 of thes
men who were controlling the commerce o
the nation were born on the farm.
Then | asked him, What about thei
sons y and he shrugged his shoulders an
said, degenerate sous of worthy sires
The city is great maelstrom it is a grea
hopper; it grinds up flesh and blood, bu
the farmers boy, of all other boys, is tn
boy who can stand the grind"
Stand by your own. Stand by your ow
farm, your little school house Stand b
everything that belongs to you magnif
your calling don't belittle it but magnif
it, and thus shall the blessing of God 70