The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1895-11-13
THE MEN OF THE PLOW.
The Farm Is the Fountain Source of Ma
tional Prosperity.

The Farm is the Fountain Source of Ma
tional Prosperity.
DR.. J. B. Hawthorne preached to the
Farmers National Congress during it's
recent session in Atlanta. The dis
course was pitched on high ground,
and he declared that all national
prosperity rested upon the shoulders
of the farmer, and that love and self
sacrifice should be the dominating
principle of his life. The following
extracts of the sermon will be read
with interest. The eloquent preacher
said:
Agriculture is, and ever will be, the
basis of all other material interests.
To foster this industry is to befriend
every other industry and to cripple it
| is to impair every activity which con-
tributes to the welfare of the people.
The race could possibly live without
manufacturers, or merchants or dem
fists, or physicians, or lawyers, or
even without politicians, but without
the farmer it would soon be extinct.
The absolute essential thing for every
human being is bread, and the pro-
duction of that is the vocation of the
farmer. To legislate against him is
to weaken the very foundation of ev-
cry lawful and useful history. Nine
tenths of the men who have risen risen
| to enviable distinction were born AID
reared outside of the cities. The ma
iority of them were born in farm
houses and had some actual expert
ence in cultivating the soil. Look in
| to the catalogues of our American col
leges and you will find that nine
tenths of the medalists and first honor
graduates were from the country and
country villages. Without the new
blood that is constantly coming in
from the country in less than fifty
years the cities would be intellectual
| " impoverished. Withouta constant
| infusion of men and women from
country churches, religion in the
cities would degenerate into the dead
est Journalism. Let agriculture -four
| ish, country school houses multiply
and country churches continue to be
true to the faith and worship of our
country fathers and mothers and our
nation will be safe, prosperous and
happy.
1--WE speak the words of truth and
soberness when we say that the power
which propels the wheels of our pres
ent civilization is not love, but greed.
In politics and commerce there is
premium on shrewdness and deception.
answering honesty and true Chris
tian generosity are sneered at as vir-
tues too sublimated and ETHEREAL to be
practiced by creatures who wear earth
about them, and who have to grapple
with such prosaic questions as What
shall I eat, what shall I drink, and
where withal shall I be clothed?" A
civilization that is based solely upon
self-interest, and that magnifes and
rewards men who succeed by their SUI
perior cunning, has no power within
Itself to secure justice. There is moth
ing that needs saving so much as a
civilization that is guided by no great
ethical principle, and that marches on
without regard for God and His
Righteousness. The country that
boasts of such a civilization is on the
high road to anarchy, nihilism and
barbarism. Civilization is not cause,
but an effect. It is the product of
human character. 1t expresses the
good and evil in the hearts of the peo-
pie who support it. Any government
| is Just what the people make it. If a
state or municipal government legal
| ICES or tolerates such an iniquity as a
bull fight, or a gambling house, or
barroom, an indecent theatrical ex-
hibition, it is because the people are
depraved enough to desire it. The
fountain of any civilization is in the
character of the people. If the civill-
zation is corrupt, it is because corrup-
ton reigns in the hearts of the people.
This being true civilization can be
cleansed only by cleansing the people.
"What then, is our hope? How can
society be redeemed? How can our
lcivilization be transformers How can
the State be so reconstructed as to fur
nish adequate protection to its sub
iects and to all of their legitimate in
terests2 Our answer to each of these
questions is: BY substituting for the
law of self-interest which now domi-
mates our social life the law of love
the law of self-sacrifce-the law
which Christ illustrated when He be-
came poor that we, through His pow
erty, might be rich-the law which
makes each man his brothers keeper
and requires us to bear one another's
burdens The cross of Christ is the
solvent of all the great social problems
OF the world. There God unveils His
heart to men. There He reveals His
redeeming love-a love which ex-
presses itself in absolute self-renuncia-
ton. He who knew no sin was made
sin for u.s. He bears our sins in His
own body on the tree. Hedied foru
He was wounded for our transgres-
sions. He was bruised for our iniqui-
ties. And by His stripes we are healed.
''Is it your purpose to be useful
to your fellow2 If that is not your
purpose, and your supreme purpose,
you have no claim upon the respect Of
mankind. If you intend to be disci-
pie of Cain and repudiate all obliga-
ton to care for your brother man, you
deserve to be treated as Cain was
branded as an outlaw. If you will not
be your brothers keeper and burden:
bearer you are his enemy. You will
seize every opportunity to defraud,
Cypress and degrade him. The spirit
that controls you will make you a
monopolist, or a gambler, or a bank