The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1894-01-23
BILL NYR AS A FARMER.
He Writes From London on the Present
Situation.
Attributes 1t to individual ErtrGUG
gance-Cloims, However, That He
Himself IS EntireIu Innocent.

OS~"SoJ AOUCOO6Tp AbUI LIZ
Htmseg IS Entirely Innocent.
Copyright. 1894. by Edgar w. Nye.l
LONDON, Dec. 80, 1898.
There have been few extended com
ments n England, so far as I could dis
Germ, regarding the Presidents mes
sage. In the first place it contained
10000 words, and 90, 600 words of
american news would last 3 London
paper for months. l take un~ paper
which has a column Of American news
every morning, but it is divided into
Two parts, viz: North American news
and South American news. The North
American news is divided also into
Central American news, Canadian
news and United States news, so that
the Presidents message would have to
be boiled down a good deal to fit the
space left for it.
find the full text Of the message,
however, in an American paper and
regret exceedingly that the President
should give the impression to citizens
OF the United States, as well as foreign
powers, that the lavish use of squash
seeds by the agricultural department
Is responsible for the great financial de-
preston and lack of employment
among the laboring classes.
AS a farmer, I feel that this is q stab
at u agricultural interests which is
i'll devised and almost certain to pro-
duce pernicious results.
Never in the history Of the republic
has the executive gone out of his way
to deal such a savage blow to the
farmer. 1t is generally admitted that
we are the producing class. Others
manipulate materials, buy, sell or
manufacture it, but we produce by
means of our toll that which not only
feeds the world, but affords honorable
employment for speculation and deal
ers in futures.
Without wishing to speak harshly Of
Mr.. Cleveland's opinions or to bring a
blush to his sensitive cheek, 1 would
like to inquire if there are not other
cause Of greater Importance than this,
to which we may attribute the sad con-
dition of business affairs at the close of
the old year and the beginning of a
new one.
The farmer makes mistakes, it is
true, but you cannot pervent his judg-
ment with pumpkin seeds. He feels
kindly toward those who send these
little gifts, but he reserves his opinion.
If the President was led to believe that
those who receive garden seeds in the
States of New York, Pennsylvania,
Ohio, Illinois and Iowa last spring
thereby bound themselves to indorse
certain principles this fall, he was in
error and should not allow his chagrin
in November to crop out in his message.
AS the proprietor of an upright farm
in the great commonwealth of North
Carolina, I resent the idea that as a
class we ctn be depended upon to yield
our political support to the party sup
plying us with the latest seed of the
full dress or crook neck squash.
We are perhaps ignorant of the
methods employed by professional men
and politicians of the post graduate
class. We are often victimized by men
whose leisure and social opportunities
permit them to study methods by
which we may be made to suffer, but
over two years ago we passed a set of
resolutions and a musical preamble, of
which 1 was the author, wherein we
pledged ourselvestO ignore the shackles
by which we had been tacitly bound to
the party, be it Democratic, Republi
can or scattering, which seemed most
free and open hearted i'll the matter of
mangel wurtZelg and tho seed of the
Little Early Low Fiat Drumhead cab
bage.
OF course we shall grieve if Congress
should hold the same opinions as the
President regarding the malignant and
dangerous use of seeds, both as a cor
rupter of the farmer and depleter Of
the treasury, but we shall comfort ur-
selves with the recollection that a good
many of the seeds never grew anyway,
and those which did 90 produced plants
as different from the picture On the
wrapper as the average party record is
from its platform.
But l find that quite 9 number OF
men, both here and at home, do not
agree with the President on this point,
and attribute u disastrous summer
and autumn to other and quite differ
ent causes. In some cases it vas due
to individual extravaganza. For one,
T hoo- 90 MT q economical 1r7rinp