The Lexington intelligencer. [volume] (Lexington, Mo.) 1901-1949, 1903-01-17
EDUCATION FOR 10Th CENTURY FARMER
Synopsis Of an Address Before the Teachers Associa
ton by Sound Educator.
H. BLACK'S VIEWS ON AN IMPORTANT THEME
He Should be Educated to Produce More Enjoy More Rear
his Children Better, be a Better Neighbor, be
More Useful Social Factor

brains, more Heart, more money, more
intelligence, more religion to raise
them, than for whole herds of cattle.
The responsibility is greater; the daily
draught upon ones time, wisdom,
patience, forethought is vaster; the
result after years of toll and thought
and waiting is more fraught with
veal or wee, comfort or diSappoint-
ment, happiness or sorrow The
missing of the goal In the rearing of
children is worse to the parent than
u financial panic, or than fiery
drought, or than pestlenee in his
herd. A college education will not
always prevent failure in the bring
ing up of children, but it will steady
the fathers nerve, give him greater
resources upon which to draw, yield
confidence 10 his methods Of home
administration, teach him the differ
ence between whims and reasons,
make him more free, more heartsome
and more rational. Fullness Of
knowledge, breadth Of sympathy,
penetrative insight, promptness OF
decision, kindliness Of purpose, will
aid him in his prodigious task Of
moulding the characters of his off,
spring These are the very qualities
which education induces. 1t is for
the good Of church and state for the
farmer to raise more and better
children-and for him to be better
qualified for doing it.
| 4. The farmer should be educated
for better neighborship. The prob
lem Of neighborship is a serious
one In the country. 1t involves ques-
tions of fellowship, courtship, the
care OF the sick, the comfort to the
bereaved and the burial of the dead
Pioneer customs still prevail. The
habit OF spending the day" in social
visiting is a result of primitive con-
ditions when the country was sparsely
settled and people had to make long
journeys to see one another, AS the
community has become more thickly
settled, the custom has not material.
ly changed, but the burdens Of hospl-
tality have become greater to the
women aud 1t is feared there is waste
OF time on the part of the men. With
fair roads and conveyances, there Is
no more occasion for spending the
day" in the country than in the
town. The fashionable 'call" In the
city is the other extreme but there
, is rational medium both for towT
and country The "breaking of bread
with our neighbor is one of the beau
tiful forms Of hospitality, but it Il
abused and often takes the form o
CRUELTY to women and self indulgence
in men
Courtship is beautiful, honorable
necessary, and to be encouraged 1
is an institution, and is highly i'm
portant to the purity, peace ant
power of home, church and state. Ii
no other way can genuine affection
be discovered and cultivated. But 1
. is often regarded as weakness, as al
occasion for ridicule and rough Jokes
so that lovers become self-consciou
: 10 public and marriage engagement
are kept secret. All OF which is de
grading to a noble Institution. Will
the enlIghtments of education ant
the refnements of culture, conrtshil
; will be relieved in considerable meas
ure Of these course views and becom
10 truth normal, natural and refining
With reference to the care OF tn
sick, the comfort Of the bereaved an,
2 the burial Of the dead, the power o
custom, which is often baroarOuS
still holds sway in rural communities
: The habit Of visiting the sick room
: Of befoullng The air which the patien
breathes, OF telling horrid la'es Of sick
ness for the aggravation OF the suffer
er, OF whispering about the room Il
7 ghoulish sympathy, of haras~ing lh
patient BY having everybody to ad
; minister medicine, Of protracted Wis
: its, and trenching upon hospitality !
the name OF neighborly kindre.s-a
these and more show how geouin
9 neighborship is strained aud d Stortc