Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1908-09-18

|
ing, and it must not and will not be al
lowed to creep into this one. But our
influence upon the enactment Of just
law for the regulation of transporta-
ton problems and for protecting the
rights of property has been large and
effective We do not hesitate to take
the initiative in legislation that vitality
concerns our membership, and our ev-
cry aim is to encourage lofty ideals Of
citizenship.
| Speaking Of legislation, want to tell
you that my experience at the nation
] al capitol during the last session Of
congress, assures me that the Farmers
Union is recognized with reverence,
even awe, by our law makers. These
gentlemen were never too busy with
keeping those troublesome fences at
home from tumbling down, that they
didn't have time to discuss with me
pending or prospective measures which
| would affect our membership and our
aims.
What we have accomplished has
been made possible through education,
patience and persistence. We have
spent hundreds Of thousands Of dol
lars for lectures and teachers, for
newspapers and literature which should
rouse the producers Of this country's
wealth to the meeting of our mission.
My time personally, has been. cease
lessly occupied n supervision OF the
work at all points, personal visits at
points of weakness. I have not hesi-
tated to discipline, and discipline
harshly where disaffection, petty jeal-
ousies or failure to abide by the rules
seemed to me to threaten the future OF
any particular state or local organiza-
| ton.
I have made enemies in this process
I regret it, but am willing to accept
unpleasantness in the larger end Of
holding in solid formation and advanc-
| ing the interests of this Union
1t has been my ambition in this con-
nection to make my duties with the
Farmers Union carry out every hour
of the day that fine Scriptural phrase
He who would be greatest among
YOU, let him be your servant" Do
you realize what it means to be good
servant to the Farmers Union? When
you do you will appreciate the vast
ness of the organization and the de-
mands its affairs make on those whose
l. ion
the process, then, Of being good SER
want in the biblical meaning, I have
travelled more than forty one Thousand
nine hundred miles since last Septem-
Der. That means a distance Of nearly
twice around the world and many
times across this continent.
The good servant does not either
count his own comfort or his own
pleasure when it comes to being about
his masters business. My master Is
the Farmers Union, and in advancing
its cause 1 have spent in the neighbor-
hood Of three hundred and twenty
eight days Of the past year away from
my home. A mans wife and mans
children, next to his Maker, are the
freshest, purest, brightest influences in
his life It is the thought Of the wife,
the woman who has fought hard times
and good times by your side, and who
believes in you when the rest OF the
world forsakes you, that keeps you
vigorous and hopeful and cheerful dur
ing the hours Of the day when the task
bears hard on tired muscles and tired
brain. The knowledge that she will be
at the door to greet you when the dusk
comes, makes the heat Of the sun less
exhausting, the weary round OF duty
less fatiguing.
It is an inspiration, too, to know
that at nightfall the little children
with which God has blessed your life
will be climbing over you as you rest
rn the porch, laughing and playing in
loving way, chasing away the
wrinkles of worry, letting a bit Of
heavens sunshine into your heart.
wonder how many Of you have felt
keenly the absence Of this consolation
of home when you have been forced to
leave il one or two or three days, per-
haps a week? I confess to you that
during these weeks that 1 have not
known the smile Of my wife, or the
smile of my children, or the quiet OF
home, sometimes the ordeal has been a
hard one. 1 have been sustained by
the remembrance that she whom the
Almighty sent to tighten my life was
in thorough sympathy with the work
we are all trying to pursue faithfully,
and that she wanted me to do mans
part in the greatest work yet undertake
en- for the toiling masses Of our coun-
try.
have INDUCED in this personal talk,
friends, as a means Of showing you
how strongly I feel the obligation rest
ing upon all of us. ! want you to un-
derstand the task that confronts US
all merely upon the threshold of our
work It is my belief that ultimately
every farmer in the country, large or
small. will see that his personal inter-
ests lies in affiliation with us. Con-
stant education and inspiration are re-
quired, too, to maintain the ground we
have gained and to record further
progress. The instant we imagine we
have the fight won and relax our eff
forts, that instant is sounded the
death -knell of this organization.
We are faced also by the crafty and
powerful enemies ready to exert force
and to spend money literally to break
I'D or weaken the army we have formed
with such patient toll. AS l firmly be-
lieve that the great prosperity of the
south for the last four years has been
largely due to the efforts of this order,
believe as firmly that any blow aimed
at it's integrity will rebound to the in
Jury Of every industry and every man,
woman and child in the south.
We have gained the farmer reputa-
tion and clothed him with ability as a
business man in a manner new in the
history Of the worlG. We have merely
begun to teach him the power his re-
sponsibilities to himself and to the