Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1894-06-29

Senator Proctor Goes TO Headquarters
for Argument on the Wool Question,
and Makes the Senate Laugh I'm Do
ing So.
Senator Proctor's dry wit and his early
Sunday school training were combined last
week in speech upon the tariff, which
was an oasis in desert of dreary talk. 1t
is not the first time that the Vermont SEN
ator has brought a smile to the faces of his
colleagues by his keen sense of humor.
"The first recorded attempt to break
down the interests of sheep husbandry,"
he began, twas when Cain slew his broth
err Abel, who was keeper of sheep The
motives and purposes which actuated Cain
were plainly the same as those which actu-
ate his followers today. 1t was Jealousy
of preferred and protected industry"
Apparently oblivious to the ripples of
laughter. which now stirred the usual quiet
of the Senate chamber, Senator Proctor
continued:
"Cain was 'tiler of the ground, and
brought of the fruits of the ground an Of
ferng unto the Lord This offering
might have been of rice of cotton, or Of
sugar, the record does not state. More
laughter) But Abel brought of the first
lings of his flock and of the fat thereof to
the Lord, and the Lord had respect unto
Abel and to his Offering, but unto Cain and
his offering he had no respect The pun
ishment melted out to Cain fairly foreshad-
ows that which will be meted on. by the
people to the promoters of this measure.
The mark shall be set upon them, and
when the time of retrbution comes they
will say with Cain, My punishment is
greater than | can bear
II .1, Nr~;t do nj ovid
that sheep husbandry was considered from
the earliest times favored industry, and
recognized as one of the first importance.
Abraham rendered eve lambs as witnesses
of an oath in one of the earliest rea-estate
transactions on record. The first success
full effort at improvement of the breed of
sheep was made by Jacob, and grew out of
a bargain with his father-in-law, Laban,
and is described in the Both chapter of
Genesis.
The shepherd and his calling and his
flock are often alluded to in the Holy Writ,
and furnish some of its grandest imagery
and most beautiful illustrations. Many of
those specially favored of the Lord were
| shepherds, and everywhere that calling is
referred to as one of the highest character,
plainly recognizing its importance to the
welfare and prosperity of the people. Jacob
'roled the stone from the wells mouth
and watered the flock of Laban' as the
first evidence of his love for Rachel. Saul,
when in trouble with the Philistines, said
unto Jesse, "Send me David thy son, which
is with the sheep
The fate of those who attack this indus
try aud the tlocks of their country is plainly
foreshadowed and prOphesied in many
places
David said unto saul Thy servant keIt his
fathers sheep, and there came llon' and bear
| and took a lamb out Of the flock.
| And went out after HIM. and smote him, and
! delivered it out of his IN uth. and en- he arose
against me, l caught hun by his beard. and
THY servant slew both the lion and the bear
aud this uncircumssed Phi>tiue shall be- as one
! of them seeing that he hath dched the armies oil
| the living God.
The senator continued, 1.-THE same fate
will surely be melted out to the political Phil
istines of the present day in November,
1894 and 1896" After quoting numerou,
passages from the Bible to show the re
wards which are foretod for those who ar,
faithful in sustaining the industries of theil
own country, Mr.. Proctor ended this par
of his speech by saying: LAS furthe
evidence of the Divine preference it i
written that He shall set the sheep on Hi
right hand, but the goats on the left
Naughter.) The proper application o
this sentence to the present situation is s.
obvious that it need not be stated. (Mor
laughter)
Senator Proctor then went on to estab
lish the connection between the shee
industry of our own country and the flock
, of Bible times, through descent frpm tn
} Spanish Merinos, a breed originally brougl
from the East to Spain by the Moors. ii
+ closed his speech with an earnest plea fc
the preservation of the sheep-raising an
wool-growing industry in this country
The American MerinO' he said lead
= the world, aud always will unless we viii
fully and wickedly surrender the advar
tages which nature and opportunity an
the enterprise of our farmers have given u
= | claim that the development and improve
. ment of the Merino sheep by intelligeI
and scientific breeding is the greatest sing
q achievement Of the American farmers. 1
strike down this industry is not only
. bring immediate ruin to the wool-raiser'
y but also to surrender a great national il
! terest and, by making the breeding of til
9 best sheep in the world Improbable, to pl
+ it out of our power for generations to con
- to recuperate and recover our present pos
ton in sheep husbandry and wool-growins
which are of such great national impo
lance"