Weekly Jeffersonian., 1907-01-24
THE WEEKLY JEFFERsONIAN.

that the south and the west had sim
ply become tributary provinces, roll
ing up to New England every year
royal tribute, making her rich "be-
yond the dreams of avarice." AS
southern man, my blood boils with In
dignation when I consider the injus-
tice of these conditions and the con-
sequent poverty Of the south. The
poverty of the south is law-made. The
wealth of New England Is law-made.
Those who wrote the statutes deliber
ately intended to confiscate the prop
erty of the one class and the one sec
ton and give it under the forms of
law to the other class and the other
section.
Farmers of the south, rouse your
selves! Shake off the apathy Of dis
couragement. Look upward to the
high purpose of making the future re-
deem the past. Once upon time the
country home was the delight of
American life. Make it SO again. This
going to the cities has not been done
of your own free will and accord.
Conditions drove you to do it. Change
those conditions. Make it possible to
live safely and happily in the country,
and let the cry of the future be, "Back
to the country home!"
What is the dream of the prosper
Gus man of the city, who has grown
rich in the city, and who looks about
him to see how he shall enjoy his
wealth? Is it not to have an ideal
home in the country?
Your Rockefellers, your Goulds,
your Vanderbilts, each and every one
of your millionaires dream of the ideal
country home, and no matter how
lavish may be their expenditures in
their city palaces, it is the loving
touch that they put upon their coun-
try homes. Why can't you now, with
out going to the city to get rich, have
the ideal country home? What is
necessary in order that you may have
it? To get a fair price for the prod
ucts of your toll and to receive from
the IaW-makng power square deal.
Given these, and the anxiety, the wear
and tear, the squalor and the misery,
the strain and struggle will pass away
from the farmers life and into it will
come some of the ease, the leisure and
the comfort which would make the
south the happiest country in the
world.
lily Sell W USIlGNG CndC
the glory of the south is thing of
the past 1t is impossible for me to
abandon the hope that there is life
in the old land yet. We have had
farmers movements in the past which
promised great things. They did not
entirely succeed. They fell apart and
died away. That is no reason why you
should not rise and come again. Let
your failures in the past teach les
sons that will insure you success in
the future. To the extent of my power
to aid you, count on me. Heart and
soul l am with you. You shall never
be embarrassed by my candidacy for
any office. | have no axe to grind.
When a younger man, the ambition for
place and power was natural to me,
as it is to most young men. All that
is gone. There is not an office which
| would accept. There is not one
that l could afford to accept. My work
calls me and keeps me in a different
field. Loving that work as I do, it
will not be abandoned. There is not
money enough on this earth, nor a
position so high as to make me lay
down the pen. My mission for the
future is to WELD a good influence
upon public opinion to the end that
better conditions be brought about.
To the extent of my ability want to
help you to better your conditions. |
want to help you make strong and