The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1898-03-25
The Practical Farmers Club

and there is marked difference between
the Pennsylvania farmer clubs and those
in Maryland. III the former
the farmers wives are mem
bers of the club, attend and take an active
part in the proceedings, which seems
decided improvement over the one sex
policy.
The:questions handled are not confined
to the farm and farming but embrace
many of public interest, political, or eco
nomic, but not of partisan class. Postal
savings banks, emigration, ETC., were dis
cussed by the club whose minutes sug
gested this article. Farmers above all
other classes should be familiar with gov
eminent matters and understand eco
nomic questions. they have ample time
to study them especially in the winter
season, and what is of fully as much im-
portance they have degree Of indepen-
dence which allows them to freely express
their opinions OH public affairs that no
other class has. The merchant, the man
ufacturer, the professional man, i'll short
almost every other class is open to coersive
influences more or less strong from the
moneyed class that cannot be brought to
bear on the farmer If he takes pains to
inform himself he can dare to speak out
boldly in public and any and everywhere
in defense of his sentiments. There could
be no better school to discuss public ques-
tious independent of the political boss
than in a we'll conducted farmers club
where the farmers and their wives, SONS
and daughters met once a month. 1t is not
an uncommon thing to find the wife
knows good deal more than her "lord"
about public affairs, and she has the advan-
tage of not having party "boss" to fear.
The last twenty years has been trying
time OH farmers. They have lost their
farms by foreclosure of mortgages by tens
of thousands. When prices were renun-
erative they risked borrowing money TO
make needed improvements and when
they were caught in the tolls ofdebt the
money loaning class so engineered finan-
cial laws that there was universal fall in
prices of every product created by indns-
try, which made it impossible for farmers
and other producing classes to get out oil
debt. All they could rake and scrape
went for interest, till human effort, unable
to do more, gave up the battle and the
mortgage took the farm. And this is
still going on. The most melancholy
feature of all this is that three-fourths Of
the farmers do not know what hurts them
The predominating question of the day
among farmers-or what should be that
question-is not how to raise the most
abundant crops, as important as that is,
but how to keep their farms and enable
their families to hold on to them. The
last twenty years has been hard era on
farmers and the next two decades threaten
to be still harder unless radical change
for the better is created. A change for
the better is impossible OH the economic
lines they are now placed.
The money of the world is now cor
nered under gold trust. This money
corner is as complete as any corner in
wheat or stocks ever worked in Chicago
or New York, and infinitely more far.
reaching and harder TO break. 1t not
only has its strangling hand on America
but extends to every nation in Europe,
Its object is to force down prices and
secure possession or absolute control of all
property employed in productive industry.
When people become tenants in place OF
owners of farms they lose their indepen-
dence. When this money trust, in
another generation possesses itself of all
the land worth owning, as it surely will
if allowed to proceed in its plans I'M
checked, the tenant cannot quarrel with
his landlord and take another farm as
now. He will have no other farm to
move to. He will be blacklisted and either
work where his master assigns him or
starve i'll idleness.
We close this article with short ex-
tract from lecture delivered by Senator
Stewart on the money question at Scher-
ectady, recently, which is the ablest cpl
tome OIL that question ever produced.
The Senator says under
OPPORTUNITIES
From the landing at Jamestown till the
decentralization of silver in this country
there were opportunities for every indus
trious young man and young woman who
loved each other to marry and make a
home without the fear of poverty or want
Now the question whether it is expedient
for young men and young women to
marry is the subject of discussion in every
h ousehold where there are children.
There is universal apprehension among
all fathers and mothers of the land that j.
is dangerous for their sons and daughters
to marry in view of the poverty and want
which is almost certain to overtake them.
Falling prices destroy opportunities II
prices were stable or a little on the in
crease every young man and woman could
go forth and accumulate property, ex-
change it for money and be independent.
Under the gold standard if they work a
farm or attempt any other kind of bus
mess, the fall in price of their property
which they produced by their labor will