Clinch Valley news. [volume] (Jeffersonville, Va.) 18??-2019, 1912-09-20
wilson TO FARMERS

Since his nomination for President
by the Democrats Governor Wilson
has largely confined his speech making
to New jersey and the surrounding
States. These speeches. as n rule.
were addressed to the farmers.
When Governor Wilson was a can
didate for Governor of New Jersey,
two years ago. he spoke directly to
the farmers throughout his whole
campaign; plain, clear. strong dis
cussions Of current public questions.
treating the farmers as intelligent
men having everything at stake in
the government, and calling upon
them to resume control of public aft
airs, to take them away from Ma
chine politicians and the big corpora
tions.
The farmers responded, and to the
establishment of the politicians DR..
Wilson, professor in a college, was
elected Governor of the State of New
Jersey.
At the close of August, Governor
Wilson addressed the Monmouth
County Fair, at Red Bank, N. j. A
great crowd was present and Cover
nor Wilson devoted his remarks to
agricultural topics and the tariff as it
affected the farmer. In the course of
this address Governor Wilson said:
1.-THE farmers of the United States
have not played as great part as
they might in the affairs of the coun-
try. One of the reasons is, it seems
to me, our farmers have not the
means of public agitation which lay
just at their hands.
There is one thing in which
have been very much interested in re-
cent years in this country. You know
used to be schoolmaster, and the
interesting thing about the schools of
the United States is that the United
States makes so limited use of
them. For example, you take our
schoolhuuscs, scattered all through
the countryside, standing here, there
and everywhere in the cities, and
they are closed for the most part be-
tween the school session of one day
the school session of the next day.
They are public buildings. They
belong to the communities. They
furnish ideal places in which to as
sembe and discuss public affairs.
They are Just what we need for
neic hborhood conferences of every
kind. And yet it was reserved for Il
recent date for somebody to suggest
That the schoolhouscs be made social
centcrs; that they he used for every
kind of Legitimate conference, and
just so soon as they began to he used
for conferences some politicians be-
gan to get very uneasy.
There is certain class of poll
ticians that dread nothing so much as
that the neighbors should get to
gether and talk things over. because
the minute you begin to talk things
over you begin to make that most
powerful instrument that exists in
any free country. mean public
| opinion. Just as soon as the people of
this country begin to have week ly
,, town meetings, weekly neighborhood
meetings, weekly meetings for dis
cussons, whether in the schoohouse
or in the church, then the primaries
will begin to mean something.
Nov, the farmers of this country
can agree upon anything they please,
but it will have no effect until they
get together and draw citizens of
other kinds together with themselves
in frequent conference in the build
ings that belong to us and begin to
make public opinion. This country
can have anything that public opinion
concentrates upon, and it cannot have
anything that public opinion does not
concentrate upon.
"You know, the trouble about IA
nation is that it has only this world
in which to vindicate itself. Most of
us believe-and | do believe myself
that there is another world for the
individual, but their isn't another
world for the State of New jersey,
and there isn't another world for the
United States of America. It's got
either to succeed or to bust in this
world. and therefore it's own savati on
and its own damnation have to be
played out on this platform here, its
platform of the fair earth itself. And
am so interested in the dramatic
propertiesa nd the plot of the great
play, that leads either uphill or down
hill, that | would like to see the up
wand incline begin right at my feet,
begin right in the country am living
in, and | would like to see the level
rise and rise and rise until we should
have reached the ou tlook of the i'm
mortal hills