The farmers' union. (Memphis, Mo.) 1891-1895, 1891-03-12
II THEIR LITERAT URE.
THE FARMERS DEMAND AN
HONEST PRESS.

THE FARMERS DEMAND AN
HONEST PRESS.
A SpeecI, by +. w. Meyer, Delivered at the
Farmers Institute ut Ida Grove. Iowa.
Jan. p, lS91-Some Chances for I'm
provement Noted.
The word literature might also be
called brain food Literature is also Il
companion to man. \ wise man once
said: SHOW me the literature Il man
reads and | will tell you what kind of a
man he is" This is true to large eX-
tent. We are all more or less suscepti-
Bile to outside influences. We are intlu-
enced by the company we keep. and
| those with whom me come in contact;
especially so ii said companions are
| agreeable and have winning ways. and
| try to please us. 1t is therefore evident
! that it is the irueSt wisdom TO choose
| companions for ourselves and our
| families who are true, noble and pure
| characters. y persons character never
! stands still. IL either moves upward
| and becomes purer. more noble and i'll
| telligent, or else il goes downward to-
! wards destruction. We should there
! fore choose companions who will lead
| and accompany lis upward instead OF
downward y true companion Is always
| uuS,liish: love and justice are his main
| motive power. OF strh companions we
| can not have too many: Let rs invite
them and encourage them until they be
| come Il mighty lhrong. pu the
| other hand. companions who are
| greedy. selfish. dishonest, and who
| disregard low. and Justice should not be
tolerated. However hard they may try
to seemingly, please us. we should not
| be fooled by their demonstrations of
| false love. Many Il family has been
| fooled by their sophi,try and gone to
| utter destruction.
| | do not know what the committee
| meant when it gave ne the subject OF
| Farmers Literature 10 discuss. unless it
| was that | should give my opinion and
| advice as to what kind of literature to
| read. and for this reason cannot do any
| better than to enter into the tar.her 5
home and see what he has been reading z
| in the past. In order that yosl may
more fully understand me shall have
| to illustrate by relating an occuranct
| which happened at hotel.
| A guest was eating meal-say at the
finished his meal he emptied his cup and
handed it to the: waiter The waiter
asked, What will you have: tea or cof.
fee?'' "Wcil. said the guest. If what
have had was tea. then want cotfee:,hui
if it was coffee. then | want tea" You
see he was notivery particular. he only
wanted a change. 1t is Just the sam,
with our literature. If the farmers lit.
| erature has been tea. then we better
have coffee, but If it was coffee, then
| would prescribe tea: and will be fail
| with the chief cook and let him decide
| himself whether it was tea Or coffee ht
has dished up to the farmers for the
past twenty years or more.
| l invite you all to come with me to The
| farmers homes. and taste Of the farm
| erS' literature. and So" for yourselves
whether it be Of the coffee or of the te;
| kind of literature. There are exceptions
III all things. and there are in this case
therefore we had better go to average
farmers, say TWO or three of them. Lei
| us also go III the years OF 1883 and lSS9
as in that time the color WAS more dis
! tInct, but in the latter part Of 1880, anc
| in 1891, the beverage is boiling. and 1
novice cannot tell which is coffee anG
which is tea. Well. here We are in
farmer Johns house. ! see that ht
has q Bible it is neither of the coffee mol
of the tea kind. 1t is OF the wine kline
of literature-thc Elixir of Life" see
that Mr.. Johns Bible is somewhat worn
he probably has it we'll read: but the
| main question i. has he read ii well: \
glance at his other literature indicate,
that farmer John has had too much cof
fee or tea and not enough wine: aud fol
- 81 e Iat,
Tom Father Kelly. Rev. Marston
Brother Classieader. Mr. Sunday Schoo
Teacher. etc. / will read a short poem
which take from a small Tower Tract
| 1t reads thus:
How R-adest Thou?
! LIKE 10 Y 26
'Tis one thing friend, to read the Bihl
| through,
Another thing 10 read. to learn and do:
| 'TiS one thing too. to reaG 1t With delight,
Ana quite another thing to read it right.
Some read it with design to learn to read.
But to the subject pay but little heed:
| Some read it as their duty once Week.
But no instructions from the Bible seek.
Some read to bring themselves into reljute
| BY showing others how they caa dispute:
, hist others read because their ne'elltnIs d.
| To see how long twill take to read it through
Some read the blessed book they don't know
! why.
| 1t somehow happens in the way to lie;
| While others read ii with uncommon care.
But all to find some contradictions there.
One reads with fathers specis upon his head
| And sees the thing just as his fathel did:
| Another reads through Campbell or through
| Scott
And thinks il means exactly what the.
| thought.
Some read to prove preadopted creed
| understand q no
| AS every passage in the book they bend,
! To make 1t suit that all important end.
| Some people read as have often thought
| To teach the book instead of being taught.
| In case Farmer John is relgiouy in
cliDed he will keep one or more reli
gious papers. Let us look at one o
them. The first thing that ! notice i,
very conspicuous. What is ito Why
1t is one of those flaming advertisements
everyone is offered something frce"-i
he will send d certain amount of money
Another advertisement offers "a rare
chance If getting rich fast, if you will
! only peddle the nostrum of tho adver
tiser. Still another advertisement i!
modest in appearance, it describes book:
of different kinds. Bibles, hymnbooks 5
etc. | see IN another column some
stories, some of them continued: CORE
!
particular creed which said paper rep
resents. These papers and an occa
sionel visit from the preacher, are abou
the only religious companions Farmer
John has. These companions, insteat
of preaching the .'kingdom of Heaven
to Farmer John, preach to him mayfair
Methodism. Presbyteranism Romansm
Mormonis,n, buddhism, or some othe
'ism," and watever religion there ma,
be in these ''isms'' Farmer John il
welcome to.
1t often happens that Farmer JOIN
has to swallow lot of ''isms" to get
little religion. Did you ask me If Farme
Johns religious papers are Of the coife'
or the tea kind? Well. l will not Judge
but do say that they are not of th
wine kind Of literature. II there is an,
wine in them it is of the ..mixed wine: