Audubon Republican. [volume] (Audubon, Iowa) 1894-1925, 1902-03-13
SOCIAL SIDE OF FARM LIFE.

Address delivered by Audubon She
ley at the resent Farmers Institute:
The question of rural sociability is
broad one and ON it depends many
of the pleasures of farm life. If every
person present this afternoon were to
speak on the subject they would pro-
baby all treat of it along a different
| line. 1t shall be my endeavor to call
your attention briefly to the various
| phases of farm life from a social point
of view. In the first place you will
agree with me in saying that every
occupation has its social side. For
instance, you may consider the man
who works in mine; although a part
of his time is spent where he is very
remote from society, yet his occupa-
| tion has social side after all. The
man who stands behind the counter in
Audubon, the man who works on the
streets, the man who pleads cases
| in court, the man who ministers to
our wants in sickness, and the men of
all other callings have social side IN
life. Along with all these other &C.
equations the farm has its social life
too. And it is perfectly right and le-
Ultimate that every calling should
have a social side. If the miner had
nothing to do but work in the mine
continually, life would soon become
unbearable. If the lawyer could not
break away from the daily routine of
office work, it would not be long till
| life would become a burden. If the
doctor had no leisure hours he could
not long stand the strain. And so the
farmer, if he had nothing to do but
labor from sun to sun, would soon tire
of his occupation and in little while
there would not be enough farmers
left to raise food products for man
kind. So | would have you observe
that no matter what our occupation
may be, we all have a time when we
love to mingle together and have
social time, as Divine Creator in
tended we should. In speaking OF So
cial life in the country there is one
feature which pleases me especially
well at the present time and that is
this: The social division that for
merly existed between the town and
the country has almost vanished. The
time was when our city cousins called
us hayseeds and we in turn called
them city dudes. But today the hay
seed and the city dude are dream of
the past-gone never more to return.
A new feeling of friendship has sprung
up between the people of the city and
the country folks and this is causing
marked change in society. Because
you live outside the corporation is
not considered the line of social de-
marcation today. On the other hand
because you live in the city does not
bar you from social gatherings in the
country. This is a fact which every
champion of social equality will well
come. In all social matters the one
important thing is to start right by
having a pure foundation. Civiliza-
ton begins in the home. | belive the
superiority of our community over
many other communities and the sup
| eriority of our country and govern
ment over the other countries and
governments of the. world is largely
due to the excellence of our homes.
Then let US reason together in this
way. If true civilization begins in
the home, the better that home is,
the higher will be our standard of
civilization. And further, if a
higher standard of civilization
gives higher social standard,
then we arrive at this conclu-
sion-that the social standard has its
origin in the home. So if this be true
let us do all in our power to purify our
power to purify our homes, raise our
standard of civilization and as ma
tural consequence we will have So
cial condition that will be the pride
of every true heart.
1t is argued by some that the far
mer has no time for social matters.
This | believe is a poorly founded
argument. | have always believed
that any farm properly managed will
give its occupants plenty of time for
the social side of life. 1t seems to
me that no person has so much time
at his command as the farmer. He
and his family are free to go when
ever they wish to. 1t is duty they
owe to society to help on with every
gathering in their community which
is for the benefit of the people. l do
not believe that Audubon county has
single farm where the occupants
are bound at home like slaves; but !
do believe that every farm home is
place of absolute freedom where every