The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1897-10-26
YOU ARE on THE WRONG TRACK
MIR. TYLER.


In recent speech made at Alexandra,
Mr.. Hoge Tyler described himself as "a
plain Virginia farmer" lie added COM
ments upon the continued poverty Of the
state of Virginia and said that mot one
fifth of the land is under cultivation"
closing with this very agricultural cs-
max: "The land is so poor that we will
have TO fertilize our graves in order TO
insure a resurrection" Mr.. Tyler has
invoked good deal Of criticism for this
irreverent reference to our future state
but we do not propose TO add any hostile
comments TO those that have been made
upon him. lie is a very religious man
and we have no idea that he intended to
be sacriligeous in what he said. He was
no doubt thoughtless. and nothing more.
But he was not thoughtless in the tenn
poral aspect OF his remarks. His philoso-
ply Of life is 10 go around preaching
about the poverty Of Virginians and
arguing the way to end their poverty and
make them all well TO do is for the gov
tIuhitNA ol the tIllth otdN'H " PUT oNs
vast quantities of deprecated money.
That is his cure for poverty.
But cheap money never yet improved
the condition Of any but heartless specu-
lators, and it never will. There is but
one way for a poor farmer to improve
his condition. and that is by hard labor,
and the Virginia farmer who win attend
closely to his business and live eco
nomically will prosper as all other farm
ers do who pursue that method Of life
We knew personally the following facts:
The lower end Of Fauquier county is as
poor as any part Of Virginia. There
lives in that lower end a man who served
all through the war as a private soldier
and he was one Of the best soldiers in
the Confederate army. When The war
ended he had absolutely nothing but the
clothes on his back, indomitable eIgy
and his brave heart. lie soon married
bought a small piece of poor land on
credit, built himself house by his own
labor, worked hard every day and lived
with the closest economy. He has pros
pered from the day he started He has
raised a large family Of children and he
now owns one Of the most beautiful
farms in Virginia, on which he has a
modest but comfortable dwelling house
and all necessary outbuildings including
one of the finest barns in the state. and
he Is the well-to-do man Of all that re-
gion of country. lie has done all this
without any assistance Of any sort from
any one and by his own arduous and
persistent toll with economical habits.
What this man has done every man in
Virginia can do IL he viii labor as this
man has.
But IL is useless TO ignore the fact.
There are a great many people in Nir-
gina who will not labor as the Fauquier
man has done. and IL is principally these
who clamor for free silver and great
abundance Of cheap money. The indus
trious and frugal Virginlans have some
thing else TO do besides wasting their
time at country stores discussing politics
and cheap money. They have their crops
10 tend and their stock 20 look after. and.
by sticking to these employmcnts they
are adding to their substance while the
others are consuming the little left TO
them in useless wranglings over poll
tics.
There is a great deal to be said by way
OF excuse for the thriftlessness Of many
Of our people Prior 10 the war many
Of the older Of them were slave owners
ana they were not accustomed to manual
toll. II Is q very difficult thing for a
man who has grown up unaccustomed to
labor to turn suddenly in middle life into
q laborer al manual toll. and as these
men were themselves unaccustomed 10
hard labor so they have raised their child
rem in imitation Of their habits to GER
tain extent. and this accounts for MANY
Of the latter being poor workers. But.
after an excuses are made, the fact re-
mains that we have a large body of citi-
zens who will not do hard labor and
their failure TO prosper comes from this
fact rather than from natural conditions.
II they would all labor like the Fauquier
farmer all Of them would prosper as he
has prospered.
Our agriculturisis are undoubtedly re-
pressed. and cruelty repressed. by want
Of medium Of exchange. But IL is a
sound and not a debased medium Of ex-
change that they want. They want lib
erty TO have their local banks that can
issue notes upon the security OF such