The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1892-09-30
COUNTY FAIR.
Continued from Fourth Page.)


tion of possible remedies. 1t is i'm
portant first OF all to the young that
they should understand what city life
means. City life is not wealth, ease and
station as many seem to think. With
the great majority it is hard work
and often poverty and dependence.
To me city life has little to commend
it except for the opportunities that it
affords for social and Intellectual in
tercourse. On the whole it is cold
and selfish. The feeling of neighbor-
hood and mutually of interest that
is such strong feature of our crun-
try and village life is almost wanting.
The activity and liberty Of conduct
that we enjoy here is greatly curtail-
ed. Officers of the law and notices to
keep off the grass stare you in the
face at every corner-even in the lit
tie breathing spots they call parks.
In your own house. if you are fortu-
nate enough to own one, you are
practically prisoner. You have to
keep it locked and barred all the time
You can get breath of fresh air and
glimpse of green fields by paying
cash for it. If you hare to work for a
living, as greater proportion of the
people have TO in city than in the
country, you are practically galley
slave. Work stops and with it the
income, but not the water tax, or
house rent, or gas bills and other ex-
penses. No crops are growing when
you rest your head on your pillow at
night. No nest is being filled, nor
pork fattening while you are eating
your ham and eggs for breakfast. The
city Was made by man, you are de-
pendent on him and on his whims for
your very existence. You have this
feeling and can't escape a
sence of insecurity. You can't fall
back on mother earth in case of adj
versity. Special providence can hard
ly come to your aid. If an estrdy or
swarm of bees should come to you,
you would have no place TO put them.
Outside of your immediate circle of
personal friends. perhaps these are
your old country friends, you find but
little sympathy. You take a place in
the estimation Of your city neighbors
and even pew in the church accord
ing to the financial rating awarded you
by Bradstreet. Mammun is God and
fashion his prophet. If you remain
long enough you are pretty apt to join
in his worship.
That city life affords more pleasure
in the way Of social intercourse and
all kinds of entertainments is I'M
doubtedly true, and in this. in my
opinion, lies its only attraction and
advantage over country life. In ali
other respects it suffers in compari-
son.
Now look at life on the farm-say
in this county. The average COM
fortableness OF the homes is much
greater. Probably more than sew
en-eighths OF the dwellings are
occupied by their owners. That
means so many homes. Such
a thing as want Of the necessa.
ries of food is utterly unknown. On
most tables-I might say on every
the ordinary luXurles are present every
meal. The abundance and variety of
food is much greater. The supply Of
comfortable clothing and the general
standard of living is better. The far
mer works more hours but / doubt
whether he works as hard, except in
the busy part of the season. He is
his own master. He can go and come
when he pleases. His time is his own
and so is his vote. He is independent.
He is the peer of his neighbors and of
any man in fact as well as in law. He
is factor in his town and in his cOun-
ty. He has such standing as he has
earned. He is rated-nOt by Brad
Street-but by his worth. He is more
vigorous in body and mind and so are
his children. They are the stuff that
it takes TOR presidents and statesmen.
He is cooler in judgement, more de-
liberate In action. more sympathetic
and more patriotic than his city cou-
sin. The residentof the country is sub
ject to fewer temptations andIprobably
falls from grace less frequently than
the inhabitant of the city. We are
all made from the same clay, imbued
by the same impulses and hampered
by the same weaknesses. Naturally
there is no difference in the moral
bent between residents of the city
and of the country. But we are also
very susceptible to our surroundings,
and our morals are affected by our en-
virOnment quite as much as our opin-
ions. Morality is improved and per-
fected by practice and impaired or
destroyed by even occasional lapses
and transgressions. For these reas-
onS / believe that the moral stat
US of the people generally is much
better in the country than in the city.
L do not say these things to tickle
your fancy or to gratlfy your egotism.
L believe they are true. You are not
entitled to all the credit for it. The
atmosphere of the farm is moral
disinfectant in itself, just as much as
its soil is a physical one. When you
are unfortunate enough to cross the
path Of a pOlecat you bury your
clothes in the soil When the CITY
father finds that his son has become
a moral carrion he sends him on a
farm. Is not the object the same in
both cases?
Much more might be said if nv
time permitted, but if the COMPARE
son L have drawn is fair, have we not
a right to ask the young man and
woman who leave the farm. why do
you go to the city? You will be no
better off financially. l ask this oues-
tion earnestly. l have asked it of
many Of late. The only answer that
l could get was 81 am tired of the
farm. 1t is so lonesome. This NAV
not seem an adequate answer. It
does not to me: for know that in the
of instances they will soon
find the anticipated enjoyments of
the city delusion and the expected
pleasures empty. The time will come