The commonwealth. (Greenwood, Miss.) 1896-1923, 1899-02-10

asleep demands thatthey be awake, an
that they are sometimes ground be
tween the wheels Of onr great brail
manufactures; Aickened at the oftel
approach OF men who want complimen
tary newspaper notices, or who wan
newspaper retraction; n day sent Il
report a burial, the next day to repor
q pugilistic encounter; shifted from
place to place by sudden revolution
which is liable TO take place any day il
our great journalistic establishments
precarious life becoming more a1t
more precarious-if you understood j
you would be more sympathetic. b
afable when you have net an ak to bt
sharpened on their grindstone. Discuss
in your mind what the nineteenth cen
tury would be without the newspaper
and give encouraging words to all who
are engaged in this interest, from the
chief Of editorial department down tc
the boy that throws fhe morning OF
evening newspaper into your basement
window.
Encourage mechanics. They will
plumb the pipes. or they will calcimine
the ceilings, or they will put down the
carpets. or they will grain the doors, or
they will fashion the wardrobe. BE not
among those who never say anything to
a mechanic except to find fault. II lie
has done a job well, tell him it is splen.
didly done. The book is well bound, the
door is well grained, the chandelier is
well swung. the wsrk is grandly accom-
plished. BE not among those employ
ers who never say anything to their
employees except to swear at them. DO
not be afraid you will make that me-
chanic SO pulled up and arrogant he
will never again want to be seen with
working apron or in shirt sleeves, for
before the night comes of that day
when you praise him there will be Il
lawusit brought against him because he
did not finish his work as soon as he
promised it, forgetful of the fact that
his wife has been sick and two of his
children have died of scarlet fever and
he has had a felon on a finger of the
right hand. Denounced perhaps be-
cause the paint is so very faint in color,
not recognizing the fact that the me-
chanic himself has been cheated out of
the right ingredients, and that he did
not find out the trouble in time, or
scolded at because he seems to have
famed a herse by unskillful shoeing
when the horse has for months had
SPAWN or ringbone or springhalt. You
feel you have the right to find fault
with a mechanic when he does i'll. DO
you ever praise a mechanic when he
does well?
Encourage the farmers. They come
into your stores, you meet them in Ike
city markets, you often associate with
them in the summer months. Office
seekers go through the land. and they
stand on political platforms, and they
tell the farmers tie story about the
Independent life OF a farmer. giving
tlattery where they ought to give SYM
pathy. Independent of what? was
brought up OF a farm: I worked on a
farm; know all about it. | hardly
saw a city until | was grown, and l tell
you that there is 80 class Of people in
The country who have it harder and
who more need your sympathy than
farmers. Independent of what? OF the
%curculio that stings the peach trees,
Of the rust in the wheat, of the long
rain, with the rye down? %Indcrend-
ent o. the grasshopper. of the locust.
OF the army worm, OF the potato bug?
Independent of the drought that burns
up the harvest? Independent of the
cow with the hollow horn. or the sheep
WITH the foot rot. or the pet horse with
a nail in his hoof? Independent of the
cold that freezes out The winter grain:
Independent of the snow bank out of
which he must shovel himself? indie
pendent Of the cold weather when he
stands thrashing his nulnbed fingers
around his body to keep them from
pCihk AicShSh' independent VI tlc
frozen ears and the frozen feet? In
dependent CT what? Fancy farmers
who have made their fortunes in the
and go out in the country TO build
houses with all the modern improve
ments and make farming a luxury may
rot need any s%olace. but the yeomanry
who get their living ont of the soil ard
who that way have to clothe their fam.
lilies and educate their children and
pny their taxes and meet the interes,
on %mortgagsd farms, such men frd a
struggle. demand that Office
seekers and politicians fold up their
gaseous and imbecile speeches about
The independent life Of a farmer and
some word OF comfort
drawn from :he fact that they nre free
from city conventionalities and city
Hpidemics and city temptations.
My most vivid remembrance Of boy