The evening times., 1899-09-18
The Enrmer's Existence.

The ripple of excitement which was
has not altogether subsidized. and. owing to
an inherent love of argument, some peo-
pie are still endeavoring to prove that
Mr.. Markham insulted and slandered the
farmers of this country. II may be noted
however, that most of the authors critics
have never been "the man with the hoe, -
while he has. He was brought up on a
Western ranch and knocked about the
world as day-laborer and mechanic for
some years before he made his way into
his present profession. He may thus be
supposed to know something about the
effects of an excess of manual labor.
Of course. any facts or arguments of this
kind will be lost upon his critics, because.
in the first place, they Intentionally mis-
represent the poem before criticising, and
people CT that sort cannot be convinced.
They persist in stating that Mr.. Markham
referred to the average American farmer
Of property and education as "a brother
to the OK because he does not study pro-
fessions or accumulate a library. They
draw idyllic pictures of farming life and
of the independence of the farmer and the
delights Of honest toll. These pictures are
pretty, and in some parts of this country
they are truthful. To other districts they
are grossly inappropriate.
The truth is that Millet's peasant is
type. not of the man who has just enough
to do, but of the man who has too much
He has receding forehead, foolish slack
mouth, an animal jaw and chin, and a
STOPPING, shutting walk. Like most tynes
it is to some extent an exaggeration There
are many farmers who are magnificent
specimens of humanity. But there are
numerous others who are really deformed
body and soul. The contention of Mark
ham is that these need not exist, and that
it is wrong-a deadly, dangerous wrong
that they do exist
1t is all very nice to say that the farmers
work is healthy and happy and productive.
1t would be under the right conditions.
But take the average rundown farming
community-there are hundreds of them in
the land, with only four or five prosperous
families in the village. Take the average
small farmer in such place. He rises early
about o'clock-and feeds his cattle Then
he eats breakfast, generally fried pork, po-
tatoes, and hot biscuit, diet which, in
course of time, relieves him of his teeth,
with the assistance of a more or less skill
full country dentist He then goes to his
work, in the broiling sun or the winters
cold. He may have rheumatism-the special
curse of the farmer in cold climate-or
dyspepsia, or pulmonary disease; the work
must be done or his crop will fail, and
it may fail under any circumstances. He
has the responsibility of its failure or sue
cess, and he cannot always tell what his
market will be-that is settled by the big
spectators in New York and Chicago. He
works until sunaown, and then does odds and
ends Of business till the early evening, when
he falls asleep in his chair. while his tired
wife puts the fourteenth patch on the boys
trousers. He cannot indulge in such lux
uries as milk, cream, fruit, or fresh vege-
tables, unless he has more than he can take
to market and IL there is such a surplus
it means low prices and debt at the cross