El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1913-04-05
Farmers Have Best Of Ali
None Are MiIIfOnnfres, but Many
Have Things Which Rich
Men COVeI.
NJ RFaHFsnv q PeferH
BY Madison C. Peters

! THAVE something TO say to the young
( man in the country, in the words
/ \ Of Shakspere, 1T is better to endure
/ the ills we already have than ly tC
those we know not Of" To say moth
I ing of the hardships and temptations
( OF city life, the peculiar isolation and
| Ionesomeness of living among people
, whose names, even, you do not know
make you more lonely and isolated in
the city than in the country.
There is less nerve exhaustion and
consumption of vital forces, even at
harder work, amid the stiffness and
unexcitable surroundings of country
life, than amid the noises and cOnfu-
sion of city life.
In the country you will find the real
" prosperous peOple-in the country
prosperity is passed around, in the city
it is concentrated in the hands of the
few, and the magnificent misery and
gilded poverty of the city is too well
known to need more than passing no
tice.
Farmer the More Fortunate.
The farmer, even the farmers helper,
is better off, more independent, fares
better, lodges better, moves in better
society, and gets a better return for
his labor than the city tOiler. Witness
the frequent anOmaly-prOsperOus farm
ers and poor tradesmen.
The farmers gains may be slow, but
they are sure. In 1912, S9,532, 600, 600
was the grand total farm production.
Divided among 6,361.5O2 farms of the
estimating our rural population at
100000 it would be upward of 500
for every man, woman and child on
the farms.
The steady prosperity of the Ameri-
can farmer IS assured. The get rich
quick Will find agriculture disappoint-
ing Farming is a highway TO health,
happiness and competency, but not TO
sudden leisure
no business pays better in the long run
Tor the capital invested and the skill
employed. While it is estimated that
only 10 percent succeed in the business
very few farmers fail, few farmers pay
their creditors 81 cents on the dollar
No Millionaire Farmers.
There are few, if any, millionaire
formers, but more people on the farms
are surrounded with the comforts OF
life than any other class, and as the
farmers become more intelligent and
are getting more from the bOuntiful
earth, they are adding to their COM
forts the luXurles OF life In farming,
as in every occupation, Intelligent Ia
Dor commands success.
Agriculture not only gives life to
man and beast but it is the fOunda-
ton of all other business. When agri-
culture prOSpers, every other industry
flOurishes All business~is the result
Directly OF indirectly Of agriculture.
The wheels Of commerce, whether
moved by steam or water are only re-
holding the products OF the earth into
some useful form The ships which
traverse the oceans and rivers of the
world are merely transporting these
products. either in raw or manufac-
tured state Our merchants are only
mediums of exchange for the produce
o. the soil. The millions of money de-
posted in our banks represent &C
cumulated capital from this produce.
Our commOdious public buildings and
Iordly mansions. indeed all the repre-
q inns ~. r-al1 -ra ~
ANALYSIS the results from the earth's
products. Our resources exist mainly
II the soil
Farming a Dignffied Oecupation.
Not only is farming a paying busi-
ness, IL. is by common consent the
most dignified of all avOcatiOns. What
shall We do with our expresidents?
Nearly all of our early presidents were
position to the cultivation of the soil,
without loss of dignity. Washington,
Adams, Madison, jefferson and Jackson
were as dignified on their farms as
Buren, was as proud Of his cabbage
patch at KinderbrOok as he was of his
brilliant diplomacy in the white house.
Henry Clay, among his ShOrthOrnS at
Ashland, was as much a nObleman as
when his rounded periods delighted his
compeerS IN the senate. Daniel Web
ster, expounder and defender of the
constitution, was as conspicuous in
the guidance OF his farm as when ne
guided the affairs Of state.
Manufacturers today, becoming tired
Of the music of their waterwheels and
grinding the labOrs Of multitudes OF
men, are turning their attention to
agriculture and find in the new pursuit
an enjoyment they never experienced
before In draining sWamps and Great
ing fertile land from a worthless bog,
in tending herds and studying and de-
yelOping the good points of their ami
mails; in planting vines and fruit trees,
they find a pleasure which the factory
and store never gave. Young people
much nicer If they could be in the city
and work in an office, clerk in a store
or drive city team and see what is
going on, than the solitude OF the farm
and the lOnesOmeness Of the farm
house. Young women resort to shops
in the city rather than take service
in the farmers house where they are
received as members Of the family
chanic, who lives in the village, rather
than the farmer who must live in the
country.
Look Before Changing.
Before you leave a comfortable place
in the country to go to the city be
sure that You will better yourself.
The shop windows are attractive, but
there is little satisfaction to sensible
minds, in seeing and wanting and not
being able to buy. The city is nice
place while your money lasts-WithOut
money you might as well be in a des-
ert. For every opportunity in the city
there are a hundred standing ready to
seize upon it before it is an hour old.
Other things being equal, if you are
doing well in the country, let well
enough alone, and don't venture out
on an unknown and untried city sea.
where financial and moral shipWrecks
abound on every hand, and where pos
sible disasters multiply and thicken in
about an eual ratio with the popula-