The Montgomery advertiser., 1908-09-05
BRYAN MAKES TWO SPEECHES Both Were Avowedly
 Non-PoliticaL. AT NEBRASKA STATE FAIR Words of Praise and Advice to
 Farmers. The Nebrssl<an Declares That There Has Been Much Di.crimina-
 ton Against The Farmer
 fin This Country.


 ediy non-polltical speeches to his home folks.
 The first was at the State Fair grounds where he participated in the dedication of the new auditorium ana the second was at the Tabatha home near Fairview. where a new building was dedicated as a hospital Tor the aged In his fair ground speech, ne was introduced by Governor sheldon, who has just been renominated py the Republicans for Governor and who was a captain in Mir. Bryan's regi- ment in the Spanish American War Mir. Bryan referred somewhat humor- ously to his own experiences as sol dier and said that among the candi- dates for President this year, he was the only man with a war record. He said that underlying partisan feelings in this country was patriotism, deeper and stronger than all else. as fndi- cated by the ready response to the call for volunteers in the Spanish American War His personal experience typi- fled this. And less than two years after his defeat by Mir. Mckinley, he had volunteered his services at Wash ington for the war. This offer, now ever. was not accepted and he return ed to his own State which gave him A commission and he raised regiment of Nebraskans. Most of the officers of the regiment like Governor Shell don, he said, were Republicans though the majority of the enlisted men were Democrats.
 Addressing himself to tho farmers he said:
 Address to Farmers.
 My friends, we are moro stingy in making the appropriations for the far mer than for any other classes of our
 people. Why, it was century after our government was organized or about that before we succeeded in get ting a department of agriculture es- | tablished. We are the greatest agri~ cultural country in the world ana yet almost hundred years elapsed be- fore the farmer got a seat around the Presidents council chamber How backward we have been in recognizing the farmers place in, our government and among our institutions. In the time that has elapsed since the creation
 of this department of agriculture, great deal has been done and yet that apartment is in it's infancy. What will you think when I tell you that for every dollar we spend on that depart ment, we spend more than $25 on the army and navy More than $25 spent in getting ready for wars we ought never to have than we spend on agri- culture. The agricultural school is developing; it's advancement is one of the great marked characteristics of this generation. I think I am safe in saying that in no other department of learning has there been so much pro- gress as in that department which re- lates to agriculture. I am glad to en- courage the agricultural college. Why, for years it has been deemed part of the duty of the stae to train
 lawyers through law schools estab- lished by the government. And we have trained doctors through schools connected with our state institution, but my friends. we are just beginning to learn that the training of the far mer is just as important as the train ing of the doctor or the lawyer. I ex- pect great things from our agricul-
 tural colleges. believe those col- leges will lift the average of general industry of the farmer; expect those colleges to equip an increasing num- Der of young men for public life.
 we will read the roll of United States Senators and we will find but two farmers among them Run down the list of Congressman and you will find but very few farmers among them. Considering the people engaged in farming, the farmer has very in- adequate representation in the Ma tional Congress. And what is the re- suit? The result is that the farmer has been neglected more than any other man and his interest disregard ed more than the interest of any other class and with this larger training of our farmer boys and farmer girls. expect to see the farmer associate him self more with and gain a larger representation in the making of our laws, and the shaping of the nations policies.
 Discrimination Against Farmer.
 The discrimination that has been going on against the farmer has tended to drive the people from the farms to the town anu I believe that that sys- tenn is dangerous. l am going to dwell at length upon this discrimina- ton. l am going simply to point out two or three ways In. which 1t mani fests itself Our Federal taxation is almost all collected through methods that bear upon consumption and when we tax consumption instead of pos
 session. we make the poor man pay more than his share and the rich man | less than his share, and there has here tofore been constant drain of the f farms in the matter of collecting taxes, and when the taxes are appropriated | and expended. the money Is nearly all
 spent in the cities and very little of | it upon the farms. The farmer there- l fore. has not only suffered in paying more than his share to the tax collec-
 tor. but he has been the least benefited
 directly by the expenditure of the money that Is raised. Read the amounts spent on ships and then figure
 if you can. what portion of that gets | to the farmer.
 Take up the other large appropria tIons and with the exception of pen
 sIons. I do not know of any large ap- propriation in which the farmer has anything like his share in proportion to his number. These have been some of the methods of discrimination. I believe that with more farmers in the councils of the nation more farmers prepared to exert an influence upon public thought through the pen and pencil and by the tongue. that we shall have a change and that that change
 will help to retard. if not 10 stop, the tendency now from the farm to the
 town. But what. my friends, Is the danger of the concentration of our population in the great cities, I do