The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1901-01-09
WISDOM FROM MANY LIPS
AGRICULTURAL So
CIETY
ARCHBISHOP IRELAND SPOKE
Taking the Place Assigned to
High Government Official
Who Could Not
Come.

gress, the sessions being held at the
commercial club and the state house.
N. P. Clarke presided at the session yes
terday afternoon and called upon the
various speakers
The most important speech made DUR
ing the day was that made by Arch
bishop Ireland. He delivered a ringing
ADDRESS to the farmers of the state
and when he had finished a rising vote
of thanks was rendered him and a re-
cess of five minutes was taken so as
to give everyone a chance to shake
hands with him. The speech was in
part as follows:
Il am delighted to be here and to talk
to you this afternoon. At the begin
ming, however, it would De well for me
to state that 1 know nothing of farm
ing, or any particular branch Of it.
can only talk as an outsider and in a
general way touching upon those things
that interest US all alike
Mr. Clarke in introducing me said
that [ have always been deeply interest
ed in the subject of agriculture. I have.
The subject is one of world wide inter-
est, one that commands the attention of
all who have the welfare of this country
at heart. 1 say this because the farmers
OF the country are the foundation of
our national prosperity. The are the
bulwark of the country. This is a tru-
ism that cannot be gainsaid. Many i'm
agine that the subject of agriculture is
of small Importance, forgetting to think
of where all our wealth comes from
'All the wealth OF this country or any
other country comes from the earth.
Where else could it come from? 1t does
not come from the heavens except in
so far as we get the rams from there.
We have got to rely upon dear old
mother earth, and that is all there is
to it. Outside Of the farmers we have
what l might call the middle men. They
lawyers, the physicians, all the classes
of business men who toll hard from
day to day, some of them earning little,
others much, but all alike dependent in
an indirect sense upon what the farmer
Of the country does. Is not that so?
If farming in this country should de-
generate our citizens would degenerate,
we would lose our national prosperity
and there would. be nothing encouraging
in the outlook for the future. The farm
ing population is the great conservative
element in our great political fabric.
1t is the bone and the sinew of our
government Ii is the great unseen
force
DO you farmers who are here today
know that If our great cities in this
country should be walled in and were
the country, something would happen?
The cities have got to draw new
strength, new life, new blood from the
country. That's where it all comes
from. There are, countless men and wo-
men in our cities who work for small
pittance They are not independent. To
many of them life becomes joyless, and
the world seems fiat, stale and unpro-
ftable. Why this? This is one Of the
toe -,1Ii hofOro American
people today. Why do all our farmer
boys have such an insane desire to live
in the cities? If they could only know
what blessings: are over them. They
have the BEST chance in the world OF
being happy and they spurn 1t only to
find out the mistake in later years. 1t
is pity that farmer boys should get
such ideas into their heads 1 have
noticed in our great schools of the var
ious states of the Northwest, and else
where for that matter. that where you
find one boy who wants to be farmer,
you find twenty who want to be doctors
or lawyers and e there not more who
are fit to be farmers than lawyers or
doctors? How proud is the man who
owns his own land and can say:
"'This is my land
.The farmer works hard on his
land it is true, but does not he work
for himself? He does not have anyone
say to him in the morning:
." You are two minutes late
'"Che farmer is the free man. He Is
almost as free as God made him. PIE
is not surrounded by allurements and
temptations that spoil the youth of our
cities. He has the opportunity of making
of himself what he ought to be.
II learned good many things while
I was abroad. The European countries
take a good deal more interest in agri-
culture than we do. They have to in
order to compete with US. The United
States has the best farming land in the
world and the best of the land we have
is right here in the Mississippi valley
We have millions of acres that are as yet
unused. France, Germany England and
the other countries cannot say as much
and therefore they have to resort to
science, the study of agriculture to make
the most out Of what they have. You
would be surprised at what they can do
in France. The farmers there live better
than we do In many respects and it
costs them little or nothing. A meal by
a typical French farmer is treat.
What is the soup made out Of? A bone.
Where do they Gget their vegetables?
Gardening. They make the most sout of
every acre. An SHre is an acre with
them, not fraction of an acre.
Talking about meals, farmers wives
do not know how to cook in this country
They ought to devote more time to the
science of making the most out of what
they have. Gardening ought to be much
more extensive than 1t is. 1t is not be-
meath the notice of American farmers
as many think it is. The great object
before you all is to make life pleasant
1.-THE farmers themselves ought to do
everything in their power to make life
pleasant for those in their family. They
17O1,H lfe-Or, !
the cities. The farmers themselves are
to blame for this, for the reason that
they only think OF themselves, live in
their own interests too much and for
get that young people have got to be
kept occupied with mental attractions
and work as well as farm labor. Do
something That Is the motto. Organize
libraries. Take sn interest in young peo-
pie and inatill right principles into their
minds. Many parents in the country
would weep bitter tears could they see
what their sons and daughters had to
contend with in the large cities. If they
could sec this beforehand they would
bring up their children in The right man
ner."
GOV. VAN SAINTS WELCOME.
At the morning session Gov S. R.
Van SAINT welcomed the members Of the
association to ST. Paul There was nc
doubt as to the ring of his welcome for
he was feeling good, anu made some allu-
sions to the offieeseekers that he had been
lodging. lie said he was something of
a farmer himself, as he had been pIow-
ing the Mississippi for years and had
hoed MS own way in life. In conclusion
he asked to be excused because herd
was waiting for him at the state house.
Following the governor, O. c. Gregg
told how the farmers of the state could
improve the cattle upon their farms. He
said few realized how much could be
gained by putting into operation certain
principles which he had gained fromsac-
tuaI experience. Amongst other things.