The Owosso times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1897-1926, 1902-12-26

Cook delivered at the annual meeting o
the State Association of Farmers Club
recently held in Lansing 1t will wei
repay careful reading.
1t is most pleasing duty which de
wolves upon me on these two Decembe
days, of presiding over the delibera
tions of the tenth annual meeting O
Michigan's State Association of Farm
ers Clubs
The honor which has been extende,
to me as the chief executive of an As
ISOLATION of Farmers Clubs share thi
year with no man and but ten men hav
ever enjoyed this honor.
| Our dear old Michigan is obliged t,
divide honors with many states, in fac
sister states stand ready to contest he
supremacy on nearly every proposition
but in the production of sugar ani
Farmers Clubs Michigans superiority
is unquestioned and we believe that the
energy and progressive spirit which
caused our farming classes to extend tc
the beet sugar factory their warm and
cordial support is the same energy, the
same spirit, which led to the organiza-
ton of the first typical Farmers Club
ever organized, and to the organization
OF score of Clubs, to every one found
in any other state and, lastly, to the or
ganization of our State Association, the
only organization of its kind ever at
tempted.
We referred 10 o II position as one of
honor. We surely deem it such. This
body of people, the delegate body of the
Farmers Clubs of Michigan, represent,
we are pleased to believe, the best of
the agricultural class of this state Our
| sister organization, the State Grange,
which is now in session in the other end
of this magnificent building, also repre-
sent the best of the agricultural class of
the state. This is true for two reasons
Only neighborhoods who are alive to
their needs and wide-awake and pro-
gressive will organize and maintain a
Farmers Club or Grange or both.
And, secondly, such neighborhood
with Club or Grange in its midst
represents the ideal condition for pro-
gress along every line related to farm
life.
AS greet you this evening, my fell
low farmers, it seems altogether appro-
pirate for me to congratulate you upon
the conditions which surround us. For
a number ofyears we have been enjoying
time of prosperity such as has been
rarely equaled. Nearly everything we
have to sell brings good price and
crops have, in general way, been good
in this state. The national government
has given to the most of us free delivery
of our mail. Our state government
has been liberal in its dealings with our
agricultural college, with our farmers
Institutes and has shown disposition
to assist the farmer to what he wants,
when able to ascertain what we as
class do want. Private enterprise has
lined our highways with telephones and
given to thousands of our farm homes
the inestimable privilege of instantan-
eous communication with the outside
world and has extended the system of
trolley cars until many farmers have
the blessed privilege of the comfortable,
quick transit which these cars afford.
In short, the advantages which have
been limited to the city have been ex-
tended to the farmer and we still retain
the charm of country life. To be sure,
these all bring with them things we
may not like. We may be one that the
free rural delivery does not serve. We
all know that the line of poles on the
roadside do not appeal to our aesthetic
nature and the electric Car may scare
our horse, or run on high grade in
front of our home, or run along a field,
but the very best things of this earth
carry with them their disadvantages
and when these things, which are in
the line of progress, come our way, for
the love of our families, for the sake of
all, we must not kick, we must not
knock, we must extend the glad hand
and say welcome thou wonders of these
later days, WE welcome you to our rural
communities.
Life becomes more intricate, more
complete more intense each year. In
the country we are slower to feel the
change, but we feel it nevertheless. 1t
has been truthfully said that this is an
age of combination, capitalists combin-
ing their capital and find it in the line
of economy so to do. The laboring
classes are combining their interests in
unions and find that the voice of num-
bers is the voice that commands atten-
ton. Nearly all lines are organized
and we may like it or not as we please
but it is in the line of industrial adj
vancement and is with us to stay. AS
the years go by and the superior power
of united effort becomes more clearly
perceived the condition is going to be
intensified. These great organizations
of capital and these great organizations
of labor will no NTH SIC W. .,,..I