The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1898-08-04
The Fortunate Farmer.

1t has long been the habit Of GER
tein class of political- demagogues,
when electioneering on the stump, to
elevate 1.-The poor farmer as a special
object of compassionate solicitude. This
practice has never been especially flat
tering to the representatives Of that
class, and it has always seemed a. self
respecting duty on the part of the
farmers themselves that orators of this
class should have been promptly re-
buked for their voluntary effusiveness.
When the late Henry George delivered
his last speech, the evening on which
his death occurred few hours later,
he was introduced by the chairman of
the meeting as "the friend Of the work
ingman." Mr.. George promptly and
with much spirit and energy replied:
Il have never claimed to be friend
of the workingman. I am for men"
In this declaration he not only re-
f1ected his own nobility Of character
and the true nature of his mission, but
he elevated every really worthy man
in his presence to the same plane with
himself, by awakening him to a sense
of his own Individual privileges, rights
d
man.
The farmer has much to contend
against in his life struggle, but SO has
every one who is born to toll, no mat
ter what calling he may adopt. Among
other things, he must combat the
forces of nature as reflected in the
variableness of the seasons; and if the
rewards Of his labor prove less than
those of his neighbor. they are often
times more than those of others who
have toiled with equal industry in some
other direction If he needs many
things which he finds it impossible to
secure, his experience is the common
one of the average man in every walk
of life. Industry, thrift and hopeful
ness are the sustaining elements Of his
existence, and it is neither wise, COM
pensatory nor manly to rave over his
condition or permit any one to do the
raving for him. But, rather, let him
learn to labor and to wait" for COM
pensation is not always withheld.
And this fact is now being realized
by the farmers Of the United States
in an unprecedented degree. Prosper
ity has seemed slow to materialize, but
it's blessings have come. A glance at
the statistics shows that the value CT
ten staple products Of agriculture last
year reached the grand total of 1884,
74O,S17, distributed as follows: Corn,
$5O1, 672, 1852; wheat, $42S,547121; oats,
$147, 974, 419; barley, $25, 142 139; rye, ST.
239,647; buckwheat, Sc, 319, 1888; potatoes.
$S9,543, O59; hay, $401, 800. 72S; cotton, s291,-
u
proXimately $4,000, 900, 600 are represent
ed here, no account is taken of live
stock, the dairy, poultry and other mis-
cellaneous products, for which the Off
cial figures for the fiscal year just clos
ed~are not yet available. And not only
has the immense aggregate still to be
computed been distributed in the agri-
cultural communities of the country,
but the yield of another crop year will
soon have been harvested, and the
present indications are that the figures
of last year will have been surpassed
by several millions Of dollars.
1t is upon the prosperity of the agri-
cultural elements Of the country that
all other conditions of prosperity are
based. The farmer Is of necessity self
reliant and Industrious. If with intel
igence Of application he combines
thrift, patience and contentment the
end is more likely to be success and
competence than failure and impover-
ishment. If he does not receive the
highest prices for his products, let him
reflect that this may be due to the
fact that either he has not produced
so excellent a quality as his neighbor,
or that through an excessive surplus,
resulting from the combined industry Of
the class Of producers with which he
is identified, the demand is more ca
pable Of controlling prices than is the
supply. Furthermore, let him always
remember that he is a man, subject to
the tides Of success and failure to
which others of his kind are subject;
that there are other seasons yet to fol-
low those which have gone, in which
the deficiencies Of those Of the past
may be more than supplied, and that
there are hundreds of thousands of
other equally worthy men who would
gladly exchange their fortunes for his
own.
When Great Britain has seemed entangled
in ASiatic trickery, straight and manly re-
sstance to all restrictions of civilization and
commerce would have been felt by millions
I, trv- nr1y Tr;6