Southern standard. (McMinnville, Tenn.) 1879-current, 1891-08-08
The Bondage of Ignorance.

Knoxville Tribune.
1t is a common and chronic excuse
with thousands of farmers and work.
ing men that they have "no time to
read" With all due respect to them
this statement is not true. All of
them, no matter how busy they may
be, have more or less time to spare
for reading. The plea Of ignorance
and the claim of mo time to read"
are. poor and unworthy excuses in
this modern day of the omnipresent
printing press and era of cheap books
and newspapers. The man who has
no time read has no time to live, and
in fact he does not live in the fullest
and truest sense. He is merely a
machine without intelligent thought,
a mental slave who tolls for the
benefit of others and mere pittance
for himself. Those who have "no
time to read" are simply drudges
the benefit of whose labor is utilized
by those who do read and think.
The politician reads; the capitalist
reads; the schemer, the trader, the
campaign managers, the shrewd men
who live by the labor of others, read.
They read and think and plan and
study; they work with their heads as
well as with their hands, for they
know that knowledge is power and
that ignorance is slavery in its worst
form. The farmer and the laborer
who make the pitiful, unreasonable
excuse that they have no time to
read toll on like Issachar's ass bear
ing the burdens and receiving the
kicks and cuffs they can not hope to
escape while they are stepped in
ignorance, while their minds that
might otherwise be strong and pro-
ductiVe remain neglected and unculti-
waited. Intelligence rules the world.
1t holds the reigns of leadership, die
tates the policy of the government
and makes the laws of the nations
Ignorance grovels in the dust, is &
burden-bearer and slave to intelli.
gence and wears the shackles Of
mental and physical bondage.
1t is useless for the laborer to plead
ignorance and lack of time to obtain
information. Literature is absurdly
cheap and he who seeks the truth tC
make him free will always cOntrivt
to find time and opportunity. A
/. finished education is denied to the
great majority-indeed it is gained
$ by few-but common intelligence
+. and practical information are within
! the reach of all. The farmer whC
e claims he has no time to read forget
the rainy days, the winter evenings
the hours he idles away in town, thu
long noon hours, etc. Some of thu
q worlds greatest thinkers obtained
their education while following tn,
e plow. Elihu Burritt was educated
g in a blacksmith shop; there is wa!
where there is a will. The laborer il
! the shop or factory has time to reaC
if he will only take it; the Sundays
:. the rest hours, the occasional idl
!, days, the nights, the odd moment
that come to even the busiest. If ht
has no time to read then he has n
a "A time to visit saloons, to get drunk, t
3, frequent bagnios, to "take in tn
g town" and in other ways which ar
:, too common with many Of them
r. worse than idle away the time no
. given to actual work. There is not
! labOrer in Knoxville, or Chattanooga
1t or anywhere else, who cannot kee
n fairly well posted in political hjstor
II past and current, in social and politi
b. cal economy, literature, mechanic
science, ETC., if he 50 wills it. Mos
of them do find tine to keep poste
on baseball and. prize-hghting, an
similar matters. They follow thei