The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1895-05-17
WHAT'S the Matter With Farminga ?

[ assume that something is the
matter, and have but little fear
that any reader of this paper will
take me to task for such an assump-
ton. When almost every industry
on the face of the earth is organized
for its own interests virtually a
vast combine shutting out all COM
petition-I say when all other
trades people are organized for
mutual protection except the farm
ers, why should farming be pros
prosperous
Let us take this CWarren) county
for illustration: AS an agricultural
county it has no superior in the
state of Illinois when area is taken
into account. But what do we find?
Our farming population is less than
it was ten years ago. The majority
of our farmers are simlpy working
hard for their board and seedy
clothes. A few getting possession
of large tracts of land and our
tenant population is rapidly in
creasing. I do not know of a farmer
organization in the county. We
will soon have nearly 100000 in
vested in a court house and Jail
(four-fifths raised by farm taxa
tion), and not a mile of paved road
in the county, and no county in the
United States stands more in need
of road improvement. There is no
provision for social recreation and
improvement, and nearly all of us
find it necessary to go to the city
for such advantages.
When such conditions prevail,
is it any wonder that our cities are
being constantly congested at the
expense of the country? Is it any
wonder that our brightest young
men leave the farm, and that farm.
ers' wives and daughters consiti-
tute the majority of the inmates in
our insane asylums?
The fact is we need a new stock
of farmers. We need change of
seed. { will admit this although
Pm farmer.) There is no longer
any demand for the so-called ebay
seed farmer" The foreign supply
of this article is too large and the
market is badly glutted and 1 hope
will remain so. We need class of
farmers that have enterprise and
sense enough to vote and combine
for their own protection; that know
enough about the money question
to decide that a single gold STAN
dard is the last thing in the world
that debtor nation needs. We
have found long ago that we must
mix brains with our soil or it will
not be very profitable, and profit is
the object for which we are all
striving, both on and off the farm.
When we realize about as much
for half-crop as we 90 for large
crop, and in either case only barely
enough to maintain existence at the
''seedy line," there is not much
incentive to improve methods in
farming. In this section of the
country find there isn't so much
trouble to raise crops as to dispose
of them at living prices. The bus
iness end of farming is where most
of us fail and this thing has been
going on so long that l am surprised
so few farmers take any interest in
trying to better conditions affected
by legislation.
In our last congress there were
26O lawyers, about 40 millionaires
and only 16 farmers, and the new
congress is no better. Yet some of
us are stupid enough to believe
that working people and farmers
will receive favorable legislation
from such a body.-HENRY E.
ALLEN, in Orange Judd Farmer.
The gold ring-ycleped "sound money"
-hupaar ;e ,,att;pc, ;ts ,,o-i -; .1ot