Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1910-05-06

l answer, unneSltatlnSly: knowledge
of the farmer. tempered with infinite
patience, endless forbearance, contin-
ual self effacement, incessant making
of allowance for his frailties as well a:
his strength.
| derlore the note of self or of appar-
ent egotism that may run through d
part OF this address But / am help
less in this matter. l know of but one
neutrality-suspicious.. 1t has been mine
through actual contact with the Amer
lean farmer, under every conceivable
condition Of prosperity and calamity
And, at the risk Of misunderstanding
am simply giving you the benefit OF
my experience, in the hope you will
find some of the lessons | nave learned
profitable in the great mission toward
which we are all addressing our efforts
1t Is doctrine Of aid based on knowl-
edge that 1 am preaching. II l could
do so, would cheerfuly dissociate my
personality from the equation.
The Tragedy of the Leaders.
The cemeteries of our country. both
literal and figurative, are filled with
men who thought they knew the far
mer. and aspired to lead him. The ad-
vancement of tine well-being Of the ru-
raj masses of America is today the
most tempting and inexhaustible field
Of human endeavor. but the qualified
workers in the vineyard are tragically
few.
Not one man in a million q make
this statement advisedly) knows the
A. B. c Of the American farmer. Look
at the Wheel, the Alliance. the Grange
in places and the Southern Cotton
Growers association-any number OF
large and small agricultural OrganiZa-
tiOnS that have sprun" up, run shor,
and troubled course and gone to decay
Incompetent leadership Is the explana
ton in every instance.
Organized and captained by those
VINO understand how to handle him. the
farmer can get or do anything ne
wishes. His power is irresistible, al
most inconceivable. But the first es-
sential Is to understand him. Without
this, all the earnestness. all the energy
all the determination and zeal in the
world will do nothing.
The man who would aspire to leac
the farmer and whose motive Is pure
must make up his mind that the far.
mer sooner or later will disappoint
him. He will do tnat, not once. but
many times. l have seen hundreds ol
farmers meetings, at which the mem.
bers, wrought up into enthusiasm by
impassioned speakers, agreed to do
anything or everything for the good OF
the order. At moment when they are
ablaze with emotion and conviction
they would take their coats off theil
backs, sell the roofs off their heads tC
aid a militant cause, whether theirs
or that of some other element.
But let them cool off, and ah! that Il
a different matter. Going home, the
fever will subside, his genuinely Sooo
Intentions will be forgotten, he will gel
busy about mis- place, mending fences
planting, plowing and reaping anC
eventually forgetting all about his one
time attack of enthusiasm and his
well-meant promises.
1t Is in refusing to be discouraged by
display of this nature, that effectua
leadership of the farmer must vindi-
cate itself. When you have been dis
appointed a dozen times, after you
have failed over and over arain tc
achieve what seems a simple 1T OF
progress go at 1t again! And don't dc
it in a rasping, irascible spirit Of re-
sentiment, hot-tempered, sullen, dicta-
torial. Just remember that you are
dealing with a class unlike any other
class under the sun, and that the labor
you would spend upon foreign mission
airy work in China or Japan or any
where else, under the most hopeless VI
conditions, is childs play beside thi;
labor Of helping the man Of the acres
to help himself
An Uncharted Sea.
The would-be leader Of the farmer
will find, too that he must make his
own trail. He has no helpful charts. nc
happy precedents, no wise counsellors
to guide him. His own horse sense, his
uuickness in a thousand unexpected
emergencies always developing with
farmers movements, and his never-dy-
ing devotion must be mis- only guides.
You have heard it said that we need
smart men to lead the farmer Some
of the generally accepted smartest men
in this country have been absolute fools
when they attempted task OF this ma
ture. Mere brightness is not sufficient
II it Is not qualified with knowledge OF
the mental processes of the farmer
with respect for his prejudices. with
knowledge how to dissipate passion and
prejudices and, above all, the gift OF
patience, it will ANONYMOUSLY fall IN
it's mission.
Give me effectual leaders. and l will
guarantee that scientific education
business agriculture, rural sanitation
purity in rural politics, all and singu-
lar of tine rural reforms for which the
country Is clamoring. would be speed
lily forthcoming. First, last and all the
time, it is a question of leadership.
regard proper leadership as so pre-
eminently the keynote to the rural SIT
uation today that l shall risk wearying
you by making my meaning yet more
explicit.
leadership may, roughly speaking, be
divided into two classes:
|. Constructive, sincere, upbuildine
leadership.
2. Selfish, venal, ignorant. hypocriti-
cal and dangerous leadership.
leadership the Need.
In the degree that the former pre-
walls, now and in the days to come, we
shall solve the agricultural problems
perplexing the best and most cOnse-
Grated thought of this country.
The leader in the first class Is today
the hope of the American nation
Whether his influence is national or
limited to a precinct, history will reck-
on with him as a true and discerning
patriot. He makes it his business. first
to understand the farmer He Is new
er afraid to tell the truth to his fol-
| lowers, "IltI llt biiiiC N''''N'.'
though the truth be temporarily un-
palatable. He develops, or must deVel
up, the courage everywhere to unmask
the demagogue, the hypocrite. the self
seeker. whether large or small. whetner
in the ranks of the farmers themselves
or outside mis- ranks. He must never
hesitate to sacrifice comfort, If need
full; popularity, if that is essential 70
serve to the best permanent purpose
the men who have intrusted their COM
bined welfare in his hands.
1t Is the leader of the second class
who has retarded the solution OF the
agricultural problem in our country and
whom we, as Americans in town or on
the farm, should be interested In
scourging from activity. This man
does not scruple to use his personal
popularity with the farmer for selhsh
advantage, even though he may wreck
the welfare of the farmer and make OF
him a cynic, dstrustful of all men, dif-
ficult to persuade to again listen to the
voice of the man who would truly aid
him. He truckles to and incites MS
passions and prejudices. rather than
his reason. He appeals to his greed
rather than his sense of justice or MS
intelligence. He fatters the farmer, IN
preference to showing him the weak
ness of his contentious or his position
This class of leadership is inevitably
;,,o,1;nr,- onl destructive. For its al