The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1894-09-11
THE DUTY OF THE FARMER.
correspondence of the Progressive Farmer.

~ &CA AA41A0 S&~
important class of our people, adding
more than all others to the wealth n
stability of the nation, for they feed
the people and furnish three fourths
of our exports. While the main wealth
of this nation consists in its agrlcul-
tural products, and, according to the
census of 1890 50 per cent. of u popu7
lation are engaged in it, we do not exert
the influence in the State and national
affairs that the Importance OF our call
ing demand they should. If it be true
as it certainly is, that the essence OF
slavery consists in making one man
labor while another takes his earnings,
then the masses of American farmers
have been reduced to the condition OF
slaves, for they have had not only what
they have earned, but the capital they
had invested, taken from them.
In 1850 the total wealth of the United
States was 49, 600, 900, 600. OF this the
farmers were worth S., 600, 600, 900.
During the last 40 years the farmers
have more than doubled their crops.
While the farmers and their families
have been laboring to produce those
crops, those who are interested in ma
tional banks and other corporations
have procured legislation that has
given them the power to accumulate
fortunes off the vast amount Of wealth
that the farmers have annually pro-
l-41I cd tho aOncc nrTnn00 nF thI6
legalized robbery is that the farmers
in 1890 are estimated to be worth only
$15, 600, 900, 900, while the rest of our
population have increased their wealth
to $47, 600, 900, 900. Those figures do
not indicate that we are living in a Re-
public such as our forefathers intended
it should be. Equal rights to all and
special privileges to none" will no more
apply to American farmers today
than it would to the farmers of the
most despotic government of Europe.
Some OF the fruits of the special legis-
lation that Congress has granted a
comparatively few of our people in the
last thirty years, which has given them
the power to legally rob the farmers,
can be seen in the depreciation of
farms and their products, in the pres
ent heavily mortgaged and impover
ished condition of the farms, and in the
large number of farms passing into the
hands of the sheriff. The present
prospect for the farmers indicate that
unless we will resolve that henceforth
we will lay aside all partisan and Sec
tional preiudices and unite Jul ballots
to elect true and tried men from our
own ranks in the different State Legis-
latures and in Congress, a large mum.
Der of our farms will pass through the
same process in the near future.
The preservation of our homes and
the comfort Of our families should be
of far more Importance t. Us than par
tisan politics. The farmers have long
struggled with the gross wrongs that
have been SO generally practiced
against the m. The fortitude with
which they have borne them is abso.
lutely wonderful, but the time has
SOL4O 4C COLAOGAAAS AA0SG NC NSACS
for the fact can no longer be ignored
that the liberty and the serfdom of the
American farmers hang trembling In
the balance. There is great danger that
the latter will predominant unless the
farmers will unite their ballots and de
mand that they will have relief from
their onerous burdens-that the relic.
must come quickly and must be ade
quate to remove the great perils that
threaten our important calling.
The time has come for the farmers tt
come to the front in a united effort tt
remove the many wrongs under which
we are now suffering.
This country cannot prosper with
the present depressed condition of agri
culture. We as a nation may enjoy
prosperity for a season, but we havC
no history where a country or a ma
tion continued to prosper where agri
culture declined, and the indications to
day are that unless something is done
and done quickly, to relieve those VIII
are engaged in agriculture of the un
just burden that class legislation ha
imposed upon us, our much boasteC
country is doomed to follow in tn
footsteps of the Roman Republic.
1t is the duty Of every farmer t.
make a common cause against ever.
form of oppression that has made u
the burden bearers of the natior. W
should resolve that we will throw OF
the shackles of party bondage, stan,
together and vote solidly and unitedl,
for men who will secure for Us enne