The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1904-09-02

Dor and telling his troubles to him, farmer
No. said, Come to the hotel and will
make you forget your losses for 10 cents
expenditure. In view of this my paper
is written to show that the cup is not the
true panacea for the farmers troubles, Oh
any man in distress.
Farming OH the moral side-If man is
an evolution of the monkey or tadpole,
then he has 10 need to give attention tc
the moral side of life; but none of us in
this presence today but what believe in
God the maker and preserver of us all.
And he it is that sendeth rain upon the
just and unjust alike; man casteth in the
seed but God giveth the increase by way
of the earth. sunshine and rain.
| When we discuss this question from the
standpoint of the farmer it is not seed
alone, and how to cast it into: the soil;
and it is not the soil and how to fallow
it; it is not the crops and to gather them,
that makes all Of the life of the farmer.
for be must think of his family and how
to educate them; and he must think Of
his children and how to train them, for
surely the latter are as important as the
crops in the growing soil, or the horse Of
so much value as servant of man, or the
corn fed OK in the stall.
The story is told of neighbor entering
the home of successful farmer and en-
quiring about his good sized family, as to
their names and ages, to be met by the
fact that he could recall all of the names
of the children but was nonp1used on the
ages of each; but the good housewife and
mother can always tell. But turning to
the farmer as he looked out upon drove
of swine on the hillside he observed TO
him: Your swine? Yes sir. You seem
to be quite successful in raising swine.
Yes sir, assented the farmer. How many
have you, said neighbor No.-2. Eighty
FIVE, said farmer No. I, without mo-
ment's delay. If I shall say that some
farmers do know more about the swine
in the field or the cattle in the stall, and
all the animals on the farm have had
more hours of attention and service than
the children now growing in their homes,
l should be considered out of order and
out of line with good, sober thought.
Yet is it not true that we let our children
grow up, just let them grow without a
moral training and expect them to grow
erect, straight, honest, and good without
much attention. am compelled to be-
lieve it is a grievous mistake we are max
| ing to look for so much when we have
given so little. How did my neighbours
daughter marry? Did she do we'll? Yes,
livery we'll, she married rich man. But
how about his morals? Oh we'll, of
course he takes drink occasionally and
gets off once in awhile, but that will all
| come right. But it don't come right, it
leads down to trouble in the home and
perhaps to great grief and sorrow. But
someone had wrong conception of life
You say. But where did it begin? Back
in the home of course. My child received
wrong estimate Of life at my hands,
and the outcome has Deen trouble and
sorrow. Did you exercise any patience
aud thought about the morals of Mary,
James, and John? Not particularly so; l
bought them enough of clothes and
secured them good comfortable living,
but did not venture TO say anything to
them on moral lines.
Farmers, friends and neighbors, does it
not seem to you that the fence rows and
corners are and have been neglected and
are now growing with the leaves of in
difference to religious life, and even a
discount is sometimes placed upon honest
and fair dealing. As man sows, so shall
he reap, the good book says. A story is
told of man who used to tell at the table
before his family how he used to beat the
railroad company by getting on the train
at certain place and getting off at an
other, and thus at times escape the con-
ductor and thereby beat corporation.
and it was no harm 10 do that. But such
acts and shrewd tricks on the part of the
father had their sowing and reaping time
and the results of the after life in the
children were TO develop-three boys,
whose careers were uubecoming and full
of shrewdness and trickery, until finally
they were all severely punished with i'm
prisonment.
am impressed that fathers and moth
ers will not be able to impress their chill
dren upon deeper or stronger lines of
morals than they possess themselves. We
impress them along political lines and
finance, good fleming, social or selfish
living as it may be, but feel we surely
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