The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1892-04-30
An Interesting Query.

An intelligent correspondent writes as
follows to the New Jersey Mirror:
Nv hy is 1t that the average Burlington
county farmer is t" all appearance a
failure in his calling?
This is verg important question, vet
| ask it from the meIest curiosity, for
am neither farmer. nor Indirectly
interested i'll agricultural pursuits
Every year and 10, these many Yeas
during the winter months our local
papers TEEN with public sales Of personal
property of fara ers in all parts OF tie
county, and appart ntly there is no
diminutlon IN the number as tine years
come aud go. No such transfer OF guGds
and Gu .ttels is noticed in any other call
ing.
Why is il? Land yearly cuchances III
value as population increases, and the
farmer is contil ually berg brought
uearer his market and the cost ot pro
ductiun is thereby reduced; the farmer OF
to-day also is more Intelligent md has a
better knowledge of his business than
those of former yeats. There has been a
campaign OF ecu ion ard even the
resources OF the State and Ma ion haye
been 5!onghC to their aid. Ever,
domestic animal used Tor labor and Tor
food has been advanced 10 high
standard OF per!e elton. Machinery has
s0lv,d the help que sion, aud it would
seem that nothing has been lei; urdoue
that would help the farmer To prosper.
And yet, to all appeai aucrs, farming
does not pay. This conclusion is deduced,
from this iact-every year scores OF
farmers ADVERTISE tor sale their stock
utensils, etc aud remove from the iar ms
they have titled for Que year, two or
twenty years, as the case may be. Ol
course, other men 50 on these farms, re-
stock and till them, but the great annual
selling off is none the less.
Am mistaken i'll my deduction that
these sales are an evidence of failure?
Yet L can conceive of no other con-
struction. The real estate does nc,
change hands in any such proportion,
the major part of it being forced upon
the market to settle estates of deceased
owners. Merchants, manufacturers ne" s.
paper publishers, nor any other industrial
pursuit is not Unidentified with this aunua
selling Oft is confined almos5 exclusi
vely TO the farmers.
Again 1t is fair TO assume that the
M jority of them are tenant farmers
The exception is when an owner retirtt
to private lie, or others who are pusheC
by creditors and fal! into The hands o.
the sheriff.
Mayhap some intelligent farmer whc
has been through the mill may enlighter
us upon this mater. l. canuDt help bu'
interest the multitude; the Information
may prove valuable in other ways
Tell us whether it is exclusively The
tenant farmer who suffers. Whether
starting with small capital, perhaps upol
overwcrked land for which he pays al
exorbitant rental, OF cut throat sharing
process, in which the profits are si(ttc
that which manages 20 pass rhrougb
whether in starting he purchased BIZ
outfit at public vendue. on long time
and, the crops not reaching expectations
forces sale to avoid the sheriff; whether
when he devotes too much time to hi,
2 30 horse, politics or the farmers meet
ings which deal so largely with theory in
stead of practical effort
We know that farming is the fouuda
tion of all prosperity. The soil renders
up directly and indirectly everything
necessary to our existence. Nothing evel
has and never will usurp it's place. Ii
must continue forever and forever. Blu
must the great annual public sale go OF
in its wake. And il so why?
can imagine some men reading this
query aud then replying that it is the
tariff or lack Of tariff, political corruption
excessive taxation and Other state
questions that are the sole causes OF
dege, eracy in the first and greatest call
ing of mankind. But this is rot
Other industries thrivs in spite of these
things. The farmer might do better,
perhaps, il these things were properly
adjusted--so would the manufacturer
the mechanic, and all other producers
but the cause does not lie there. Thers
is something else.
Perhaps the fault lies with the farmer
himself, but they must be strange faults
that affect SO large class with such
similarity.
Mr.. Editor, have asked my que. tion
and stated that it vas curiosity tha'
promoted me to do SO. Yet the matter
is a grave and serious one, noue more so
it seems alnos. like the Irish evictioHs
to see these hardy sons Of toll after a
brief struggle yield 20 the inevitable and
put their goods and chattes in the
market aud seek some other calling
What is the reason?
In conclusion let me say that am not
invested with any pessimistic notions.
believe that few men ever started out il
life with firm determination to make d
success OF their calling, DO MAJ ter what
it might be, who, il they remained
true 10 themselves, did not III measure
succeed. Tee farmers hereabJuts are
undoubte :ly to be classed among ouI
best ctiz sus-iut elligeut. indus IIUus,
law abiding, and in ereI5 way or il, a.
their calling. They live III one Of the
country's garden SPOTS, contiguous TO
the Two greatest N srkeis III our wan.r
domain, every thing seemingly clusp'T
ing TO their al .us4ge and the success III
issue OF their la bors. Nowh re else do
the advantages to this large class seem
more suspicious. la the very heart of
civilization, in IL prosperous Safe with
every facility Tor progress ini success a.
hand. and the great anu II public sals,
goes on. Tlere is som ,tHllg wrong
What is ii?
Tue Telegraph Age rell this one OF a
farmer who enters an office in Central