Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1894-08-07
rst FARMER AND FARM ufs.
run SOCIAL POSITION ~ fAHNERs
DRIVES ruEN tn TOWN.

We take fr,m The National S,ockmi an
and Farmer sn .rticl. With which Ne
are not wholly la acvord, Yet II prcseni.
we'll q truth th-t has long imppsssd us.
The socisl positioa ot farmers has been
not Car from What the writer has pistur-
cd II. This u now changing Tor the bet-
ter. We fini thst our rcsd-rs are disin-
cllaed to take part Ia the discussion of
problcms that certainly are of Inter
est To them. We shall, however, leave
thi. question for While open to them
Tor di.eussion. l. the writer Ia the srii-
Gle quoted belos right ss Ia the social
position 20 farmers, IT, hiusncc an the
sttitad. of f.Fmer.' toys to agriculture.
aud u the remedy that prcs,rioedr IL
se arr no, ~rongly Impressed. the arti-
Gle r.lses an Important question:
among IN. inlnor matters which
greatly concern the present aud fature
farmer !. his social position. Ills morc
deeply Interests the Young farmer, but
th. older ones oaght Ia d. quite ss much
concerp.d, becsus. Improvement sloag
this line depends chiefly upon the inter
est snd the desire for = higher standing
In public.
~ shlefcsuse thst drives the 10y tothe
city Il the slmo.t universal fact that ~her-
,,.r the farmer Il fospd Ice Il Doomed by
his yocstlon to BE- trv.ted slsays aud
e,ery~ here a. the so, isl infrrior of the
ton nsm4n. There are exceptions, though
fe~. when you reflect that to h.
farmer L. to be considered rude, igno-
rant snd common; wben you remember
that farmers "a class are poorly dress
cd and that 'unClc josh u used as
convenient butt for the townman's ridi-
culs, do you wonder that the bays scon
choose the hard, exscting city lie whrrr
they may az hast drcss well aud event
uslly hope To Get rid of country wsys's
IL Il only what any bay of spirit Ill do.
whsn IN. urchln. of the street cry 'farn-
er' st him when he ps.ses, when the
children 20 larger growth laugh at his
lack 90 self-posessioa as shown In awk-
ward movements. and when th. grown
up children snab him whenever II BE-
comes convenient To do 80, u u not Ia be
wondered at N bs leaves the farm aud
seeks employment In the city 10 escspe
icing treated everywhere as an Inferior
being.
II confess In former years II Vas u
matter % surprise to me that so many
shoald b. willing to slave la the city
when In the csautry they might be- their
Own masters In . far more cong,nisl
work. The thought which h<,- given
the matter lead. me to conclude thst the
r,ason for such living u simply that the
prriudice against farming IL so great that
the ,erie.t hot CARRIER would t'e insulted
AZ being called a farmer. Some hue
theorist suggests that the unemployed
In the elite. o. colonifei In the country.
The theory i nice enough. They would
be Infinitely better OF, hat II would te
impossible On keep them In the country.
They would not endure the rIilcule
heaped upon thsm aud their work
good nstured rldicule, perhaps, but
nevertheless wounding To sny sensitive
man.
"for this decr-rcoted prejudice there
must be some reason. the, ] think, u
the fact that so many farmers can see no
benefit In being educated, no advantage
ln making the farm look prosperous aud
attractive, and take little Interest Ia sp-
psarances as applied to their own per-
sous. The result % this csrelessness on
the part of the farmer shows In the
treatment which he and his children re-
csiye when they 20 to town. In any
average community little obser,a-
tlon will show that large majority OF
the boys and girls 81 the farm are afraid
If those la town, Who are their Interiors
Ia everything bat assurancc. The only
thing needed To chang, this matter is
better and broader education aud rea-
.onable amount of leisure, used right
ly.~-Mirror.