The Springfield herald., 1912-05-31
FARMERS UNION HIGH TIDE
Gutter Indicts Himself as Less Than
Man and Works Injustice to
Himself and Children.
To the Officers and Members of th'

Farmers Union:
Peter, who denied Christ thrice. was
one of the greatest "quitters" In all
history. But he repented. And his
sublime atonement is one of the finest
chapters in the story OF Christianity,
standing forever as sublime lesson
to the great tribe of "quitters."
There are plenty In the Farmers'
Union who belong In that tribe. l
want to say few words of brotherly
admonition to them. For with the
organization stronger than at any
time since its founding. 1t grieves me
to see few short-sighted farmers cut
themselves off from Its advantages.
1t may be that you quit because the
order didn't revolutionize the earth
month after you joined. You forget
that tremendous results are accom-
plished slowly, that 1t took ages for
the little coral polyps to build up the
state of Florida. and big islands by
piling their bodies one on top of the
other.
1t may be that you quit because,
when you entered the organization,
you were full of steam and ginger and
spent 1t all in the first few local meet
ings without setting the brethren on
fire Steam and ginger are good
things = indispensable things - but
they ought to be nursed carefully and
distributed gradually as you go along.
If you gush out all your enthusiasm
in one grand spasm you won't have
any left to meet the big tasks and Or
deals that are inseparable from an
organization of this national scope
and unprecedented nature.
1t may be that you quit because you
had little streak of crookedness in
you. and saw you could go back on
the organization, or on some one OF
Its enterprises, and get a trifling mess
of pottage for your treachery. Bene-
dict Arnold figured 1t out the same
way. He got his pottage. all right.
But he died the most execrated man
in America, the man most held in con-
tempt in England. which had bought
him, and there were no loving. re-
spectful hands to smooth his pillow
as he passed away In that lonely Lon
don attic.
1t may be that you quit because you
found some deviltry in the organi-
cation. many specks of rottenness.
graft here and there. incompetence,
selfishness on the part of leaders. a
tendency to play the organization for
their political advantage. All these
things have happened in the Farmers
Union. Nobody with any sense or
candor denies that. They have also
happened in all the churches. In all
the secret orders. in all business. in
every feature of private life. You
don't lay down and die when you find
any one of these weaknesses in one
or more OF these places. But Just be-
cause 1t crops up in a farmers organ
ization-which is made up of fallible
human beings-you want to kick right
out. tell you right now that Joining
the Farmers Union doesn't make a
man automatically an angel. We have
| just as many devils as any body OF
similar size. You needn't be sur.
prised when you find them in your
immediate vicinity. If you desert be-
cause you do find them, instead OF
jumping into the ranks and helping
either to cure them or eject them, you
ought to be ashamed to look your wife
in the face.
look at the hundreds of thou
sands of faithful members who have
plodded along with the long, hard. pa
tient pull-enduring, fighting and see
ing just the evils you see-and then
regard you with feeling blended of
contempt and pity and a longing to
reason you out Of your folly. 1t isn't
the Farmers Union you damage when
you quit it in fit OF sulks. It's your
self, your wife and your children. For
every one of you who lays down his
musket and turns tail, or becomes a
knocker there are a dozen who enlist,
who boost and who develop the sense
to see that because the organization
isn't perfect there is no excuse for
their leaving it.
The deserter is everywhere held in
loathing.. He is about the lowest
creature under Gods sun. The cow
ard who finches in the face of danger
or inconvenience is no better. You all
know how the world feels toward the
few men who showed the white feath-
err when the big Titanic went down?
Well, the fellow who deserts the craft
of the Farmers Union for some fan
cied or real giievance-and there are
plenty OF the latter-doesn't deserve
any higher place in human estimation
than the bu2zards who proved craven
on the Titanic.
Come back, you cutters. Study the
story of Peter, of Benedict Arnold, of
all the great cutters. In Peters case
the gutter who recovered his nerve
and manhood did more valiant service
than many of those who had never
dreamed of deserting. You can do
the same. There is a nobler work on
the Almighty's footstool than sacrifice
and labor for ones fellows-work and
sacrifice when it seems that neither
is to count for much. when ingratitude
looks like your main reward and when
you are tempted to take the easy In
stead of the hard road. But bear in
mind we are engaged in the holiest
work in civilizations history-the ef-
fort to bring into his rights and his
full mans stature the farmer. that
member of the race who has suffered
most from neglect and from misunder-
standing, frequently from the ayarice
of his own fellows. not to mention
10 you uoipu f0 c,,y, ,,,II,