The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1892-03-22

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SO citizens. as fathers, as husbands,
Won have no right to engage In a 6usl-
nnss which will condemn you and your
children to a life of unrewarded toll
if is \ orr DUTY to abandon it at Onc
R,It T do not believe that we need De
driven to this alternative. l do believe,
indeed I know. that agriculture, as IL
has always been the most anclenI as
we'll as the most honorable calling In
life. so also, under proper business
principles and its due rights, may De
made the most profitable avOcaJlon Oh
our people. But right here IS the greag
difficulty. We 9G0T6 too much ana
think too little. We make hands
too hard while our brains are too soft.
| The day is long past when muscle ruled
the world. Brain is the motive power
| of this age and muscle but a feeble in
strument. The locomotive, flying
along, Earring the earth below, out
stripping the winds above. and bearing
in It's train the beauty, honor and
treasure of a nation, represents brains.
The dusty, sweaty fOOtman, YEARLY
plodding along carrying a pack on his
back, symbOlizeS muscle. The steam
boat, blowing its way with ease against
the strongest current of Our swift and
noble rivers, Is brains. The slow NOV
ing canoe, propelled by the Indians
paddle, is muscle. The Sc wing ma
chine, which stitches as fast as the eye
can follow and never tires Or eats, is
brains The weary, pale and worn
wife, patiently tOiling over the mid
night task, is muscle. How futile the
attempt then for muscle to compile
against mind in the great battle of life.
| I6 is not alone the skilful hand, the
strong arm or the watchful eye that
will in these days bring uccess to the
farmer. These are needed, but a Guilt
waited intelligent brain to direct them
is Of ten times mor Importance.
Aagain l say we work too much and
| think too little. Throughout this
try you will find ~numberle5s cases of
men with crushed energies and stunted
| souls, women the slaves of habits of
excessive labor more fatal than the
perniciOus and much-cOndemned Gus
toms Of fashionable society, and chill
dren prematurely old with the bright
lights of childhood eXtinguished. Most
Of these evils can be traced directly to
OverwOrk. Is such work necessary or
even profitable for a farmer? Most
certainly not. Such work IS a losing
business. They find at the end that
they have no. accomplished what they
/ attempted or expected. Why? Be
cause they have worked like oxen and
rot like men; they have depended on
muscle alone instead of making it aux
iliary to mind. and then treat them
selves to the luxury Of a good, long,
hearty growl at the members of all
/ other industries for combining against
the poor farmer. They groWl at the
shoemaker; they growl at the Nor
chant; they grOwl At the railroad they
! grOwl at the commission men; they
grOwl at everybody and everything
that lives by using It's wits in spong-
ing, cheating and depressing the hard
working farmer. The hOrdes OF CAPT
talists are gaOwled at, whined at,
Snarled at, because they force from the
farmer his hard-earned dollars and live
in luxury and ease thereon. Speakers
at agricultural fairs and political meet
ings, and writer's in agricultural papers
repeat these complaints and ring the
same charges over and owe again, III
season and out of season, until most
farmers really believe hat The tiller5
of the soil are the most industrious,
moral, intelligent, hard worked. abused,
prosecuted lambs in the world and
everybody else are thieves and robbers.
Now as one who was born on a farm,
reared on a farm, and who is proud to
own himself the descendant Of a long
line of farmers, l know my brother
farmers will forgive me If [ do not fol
low in and repeat this strain, but tell
plainly the naked, d~isagreeable truth.
Many of these complaints are true and
we ought to be ashamed of ourselves
that such is the disgraceful fact. Here
is a class of people exceeding any other
in numbers and wealth, claiming su
perior industry, intelligence and NOR
atty, comp planning of being oppressed.
We ought to be ashamed Of ourselves
and either cease boasting or our
whining.
That the farming class is the victim
Of wrongs and abuses is true, and it is
not only his privilege but his duty to
set matters right. But let us take a
candid look at the situation and see if
we cannot discover what is the matter.
Let us see if there is any good reason
why the great majority should be gov
erned and oppressed by the small mi
nOrity.
Part of the suffering of farmers is
plainly due to unjust La VS. n unequal
taxation. Mono metallism, deficient
or defective circulating medium, pro
tective tariffs, trusts. speculation in
farm products, over greedy middlemen
and exorbitant transportation rates are
some of the cause working rgalnst
them. But most of all the farmer has
failed to make his influence felt.
While he thus slept his enemy has
sown tares in his tax laws and he
awakes to find the weight of his bur
dens greater than he can bear. I have
no palliatioiI for unequal taxes, unjust
determinations, or any form of injus-
tice to any man. But emphasize this
as we may, the inequalities of taxation
cannot alone account for the present
agricultural depression. Iordinate
pensions, billion dollar Congresses, the