The Lancaster news. [volume] (Lancaster, S.C.) 1905-current, 1913-11-07
CLAIMS THAT FARMERS
''""''@'NS
ARE EASILY FOOLED
Generally by the Fellow With an
Axe to Grind.
LETTER BY c. S. BARRETT.
president Barrett of National Farm
SER Union Tells Why He Be
lieves This Is True.

To Officers and Members of the
Farmers Union:
In the nine years 1 have been
identified with the Farmers Union,
most OF the time as head of the ma
uonal organization, l have travelled
many thousands of miles, visited
practically every state in the Union,
addressed hundreds of meetings and
vast numbers of people, have come
intimately in contact with farmers of
all sorts and conditions, and 1 give
1t as my matured judgment that the
Things most the matter with men who
till the soil is the ease with which
they are fooled.
And unhappily, he is fooled ninety
nine times out Of a hundred by the
Fellow with an axe to grind. He who
owns the axe puts you at the grind
stone handle and tells you to turn,
mayhap making some vague prom
ises of reward. And you, trusting
and hopeful, turn and turn until your
back is aching, your hands blistered
and Sore. After awhile the axe gets
a sharp edge and you are told to go
your way, as the aXe-owner has no
further use for you. You insist on
your promised reward. He is amazed
at your credulity and wonders where
for your good offices.
So you gulp down your disappoint-
ment, rub your aching back, grease
your blistered hands and swear
you'll never trust another one of 'em,
so help you! And you go away
breathing fire and vengeance. Pres
emily the next smooth guy comes
along, smiles upon you, pats you
upon that weary old back, makes n
lot of fresh and hollow promises, and
you grab the grindstone handle again
and go at 1t for dear life. And the
fellow getting the edge on his axe,
grins slyly to himself and thinks
what an easy, gullible, credulous, un-
thinking old simpletou you are.
Now this may sound like pretty
after matured reflection and in the
absolute certainty that no living man
can refute them successfully.
You know me we'll enough by now
TO understand that / don't soft-soap,
trim, bubble or dodge. I have the
deep-grained and old-fashioned idea
of calling a spade by its real name.
don't believe in damning with faint
praise; / don't believe in avoiding
the unpleasant things If they are
necessary to handle for the ultimate
good.
So, want to lambast you about
this gUkvious and tormenting trait of
character you so unhappily possess
believing the tricksters, the man
with the axe to grind, the mean. sell
fish man who pats you with one hand
and robs you with the other. Heaven
knows, don't want to make you a
pessimist to any greater extent than
you are. but I want you to use your
intelligence in learning the difference
between your real friend and the
chap who fools you only for his own
selfish ends.
The difficulty lies largely in the
fact that the sort fooling you is
smoth. plausible, smiling, genial. 1t
is his stock in trade. He tell yo of
his profound interest in your well
fare, his sleepless nights and mental
travail in studying out your prob
lens, and, having minted them out
of his brain agony, he comes to offer
them as your salvation! He makes
you a beautiful speech, fairly drip
ping with honey and golden promises.
All necessary for your complete and
absolute emancipation is to listen,
heed, act.
And you disten, heed, act, and find
indeed that 1t is a wonderful scheme
for the man who presented it, but
worse than nothing to you and your
well-being.
My dear brother, when will you put
the boot TO this type OF scoundrel?
Legislative halls are filed with them,
the kind who use you for his own
purposes and forgets you as soon as
the returns are counted. How long,
Oh Lord, how long, will you continue
to thus blindly boost that rascal's
game?
All have said repeatedly. am
normally and naturally an optimist,
but sometimes I butt my head into
this wall and almost despair OF your
ever waking up. Over and over the
trick victimiZes you, and no ripened
knowledge of caution comes of your
experience. You only feel courage
and hope sink to the vanishing point
Yet, my brother, you are in a large
measure to blame for your predica-
ment.
In this day when progress marches
swiftly and surely to definite goals;
when big forces combine in purpose
full and genuine work OF uplifting hu-
manity In broad and sincere way;
when the drone, the vagabond, the
trickster, the migrate are being
crowded out, are you to be known as
the last and sole easy victim of sell
fish rascality?
Wake up, my friends, and show the
world you know your true friends,
and can tell a schemer who wants to
use you for selfish intents. We are
going to see some of these selfish
kind out at the old tricks next year.
They are going to make you all of the
old-time prediction promises, i'm
,,lora Won ~ stand IN fham inst fhfe