The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1903-06-02
Bill Apps Letter.


Longfellow said. "All things come round
to them who wait" Emerson said the
same lhln9 IN substance before Longfel-
low. Both got 1t from the Prophet
lsalah, who said, Wait I say, wait on
the LORD, tor though he tarry He will
lulflll his PROMISES" And Jeremiah said,
Let a man hope and quietly wait" We
are all too impatient and if we cannot
recall the numerous .--.s chat disturb
Ell our peace through apprehension, but
t1at never happened. We did not wait.
There IS a good story about an old Per
sian KING who, on his %deathbed, sent for
an old sheik, his lifelong friend and
counsellor, and SAID, am about to die
and am troubled about my son, who is
to succeed me. He is good hearted. but
thoughtless and imprudent. You must
look after him and guide him. Can't you
give him a maxim to live by and that he
W. never forget?" So the old sheik
promised, and after the old king was
buried he had a long talk with the young
man and gave him a maxim of five short
words: Even this shall pass away If
you suffer adversely, it will pass. If
you have war and are defeated, victory
will come IN time. If your people sui
fer from famine or pestilence, health and
plenty will come again. But you must
wait.
I was Eliminating about this, because
the printers have gone to work, at last,
and my publisher has plenty of books
now. But the time is coming when all
this foolishness will have to stop.
1 take an Australian paper, and am in
telested in what the new parliament is
doing. England has recently given that
great country a parliament of their own,
and they are making laws to suit the
people. One of the first was to grant to
woman the right of suffrage. Another
was a vigorous drastic law against strikes,
and the law has completely driven labor
organizations out of existence. Parlia-
n,ent provided a substantial pension for
the families of those who had labOred
long and faithfully. Railroads and manu-
facturers were taxed to pay part of this
pension but parliament had to approve
it all, and the new law provides that any
IL borer who joins a strikers organization
shall be dropped from the rolls, and it
further provides that if more tina four
persons meet together to organize a
strike they shall be arrested and lmprls-
oned and tried for crime. The law was
f~ar-reaching and left no escape, and now
peace and contented labor prevails all
over the land and the price of their labor
on railroads and other great works IS
fixed by law and is uniform. The truth
is that this striking business, that drives
others from work under maltreatment
and intimidation, cannot stand the test
of time and reason. 1t is, close akin to
anarchy.
But now that Mr.. Byrd writes me he
" - oo1- ON hand ,v1ch
YOUR readers to know it and that single
orders will be filled postpaid for s1.35.
and ten copies will be sent by express and
charges paid for $11.
My old friend, Joel Chandler Harris
"Uncle Remus"-has kindly volunteered
the following commentator. 1t Is SPLEEN
did and I am proud of it for. like George
Washington. Uncle Remus cannot tell Il
lie. didn't know that I had gotten up
such a good book until I read that in
The Sunny South, and now I hope it will
be broadcasted through The Constitution
to the thousands of readers. For | Wish
the mothers and children to have it.
UNCLE REMUS' REVIEW.
Joel Chandler Harris wrote:
Il have lately been reading with great
delight the new book by Bill Arp. and
it is a very happy change from the
average current literature of the day.
There has been no adequate notice OF
this production in The Constitution or
Sunny South. and ! doubt If two dozen
of their readers are aware of the fact
that their favorite writer has put IN
book form the cream Of his work. Bill
Arp is a man to be envled. There Is
probably no other writer IN the lana
who is in such close touch personally with
his readers, or whose individuality IS so
we'll known to them. This Is not because
he has thrust himself forward, but rather
the contrary. In what he writes as III
what he has written we have the inter
csting spectacle from week to week OF a
good man giving the best OF himself TO
the large public he has made tor himself
in the course Of thirty odd years.
with a very simple style-he IS a
very simple and sincere mana natural
flow of humor and a complete absence OF
self he writes as we should
EXPECT to hear him talk. There are pages
and pages in his book that are so simple
and direct that they seem to be easy
writing: that is to say, the reader Will
inevitably imagine that he can do this
sort of thing himself and not half try
but if the aforesaid reader will take the
trouble to try the experiment he will
not rave written a dozen lines before he
| will find himself face to face with the
most difficult problem in letters. He
will find in spite of education and knowl
edge that easy reading is the hardest
kind of writing. and then he will be will
ing to admit that the feat has been or
can be accomplished by the fewest mum.
| Der Of those who write for the public.
The first two chapters of the book
| might have been turned into a novel
! The possibilities are all there-a lonely
| child hunting for her kindred. the lone
,raitinp and the final hanpY ending. What