Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1902-04-09
Mexican
Mustang. Linifnent.

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mence your parsimony only on one
class of citizens.
do not wish to impugn the mo-
tives of members upon this great
committee, but it does seem to me
that it is move toward disorganiz.
ing and destroying this great system
of rural free delivery which the
farmers have 80 much interest in,
about the only thing the government
does to help make country life more
desirable. Who is it that fights your
battles for your Who is it that
pays 80 per cent of the taxes if it is
not the people in the rural districts :?
And i say that whether you intend
it or not, if this bill should pass it
would prove the death ,knell of free
rural delivery; and, in my humble
judgment, there are some gentlemen
here who would destroy that system
under the pretended head of econ
omy.
When the agricultural appropria-
tion bill comes in here there is always
some smart Alec who gets up and
moves to strike out the appropriation
for the small pittance to purchase
seeds to send out amongst the farm
ers. Strange it is that there is
always somebody here to fight that
great class who have the burden of
this government upon their shoul-
ders. | for one am sick and tired of
hearing these silly little cries again.
the appropriation for these great
people. | am an economist. I stand
for economy but at the same time
[ stand for an efficient service in the
affairs of this government. Under
the contract system you cannot get
an efficient service. Why is it that
you say it costs too much ? | care
not how much it costs, 80 we get
value received, and so we give this
service to the people of the country,
who are always ready and willing 90
defend it in time of peace and in
time of war, and this service will
eventually pay for itself.
You may say you do not intend to
cripple the service but, my friends,
the spider may not have said that he
intended to eat the fly when he in
vited him into his parlor. SO it is
with you here in your cunning way.
You ask men to vote for something
here that will deprive the people Of
the country of this convenience-of
this great ciyilizer and enlightener-
which will let the people who live in
the country know that we regard
their wants in some other way than
by sending the tax assessor and tax
collector to them. Let them feel
that they have an interest in this
great government as well as all the
other classes who are safely living in
the great cities and towns.
Now, / do not stand up here to
claim that the farmers own this
country. 1t is not their country; it
is not the lawyers country it is not
the doctors country it is not the
city mans country but it is our
country, and all should work together
for the mutual upbuilding and bene-
fit of each and every class. / say
do not make fish of one and flesh of
the other. Give to the country peo-
pie the same conveniences and the
same amount of money as you do to
the people who live in the cities.
Alb, my friends, if it was not for the
sturdy yeomanry and the honest
nobility who live in the country,
with their conservatism and virtue,
to stand out against the corruption
and vice of the congested cities and
towns, it does seem to me sometimes
that the great Creator would have to
burn it up in self-defense.
Of course / speak in a general
way, because know that thousands
of good and virtuous people live in
our great cities. But say give us
something that will enlighten the
country, that will do justice to the
country boys who are already too
willing to leave the farms, to
leave their homes in the coun-
try and go to the over-crowded
towns and cities, where they can
part their hair in the middle and