Norwich bulletin., 1919-09-05

, field-not so very many years ago 1 They were the men who worked in the | United States armory of that Massa- ! chusetts town the men and their fam lilies Skilled mechanics-drawing wages which. while infinitely less than ] those paid for similar effort today, were then regarded as satisfa ctory and good-they formed distinct class in their community.
 The men looked life as it was in the l face and found it good. They re- spected themselves and each other and 1 their feIlowmen. and were in turn re- spected. They owned their houses and f there made homes for their families. With no prospect of immediate wealth, their point of view was not en1bittered by the fact. and they watched their savings accounts grow with pride and satisfaction. They were not ashamed Of their work, knowing it to be a use full contribution to society. They were democratic in their point of view. took a keen and intelligent view in politics and lived the life of free men to whom that condition meant high responsi- bility fully met.
 The women folk wives of these men, met life with a no less healthy which their husbands earning capaci- ty builded for them and put their minds and their hearts into the prob lem of managing it efficiently. Theirs what was theirs. and they found it. Their happiness lay in their healthy children, i'll their pleasant homes and in the consciousness that they were aiding their men folk in the work that was theirs"
 That picture could have been dupii- cated in hundreds of other places in AInerica-tweuty or even ten years ago. Listen to Speaker GiIIett again:
 This was in Sprin gfeld-not so many years ago. Today we see q diff ferent picture throughout the nation. We see men clamoring for the immedi- ate attainment of extravagant alnbi- l tions-restless and discontented in the estate which is theirs. We see their women agsravating the condition by seeking costly and ephemeraI excite mentS under the miSconception that they constitute the source of true hap piness. We see the boys and girls of today enlulatins the mental attitude of their parents toward life, thinking far the dances and so forth. than of how | they may best develop sound minds and healthy bodies for the life that lies ahead Of them
 Brother farmers the time is closing in on us when we have got to stand as a bulwark against the tide of greed anu graft and extrava gance and work shirl5ing which is rising so fast
 From the very beginnings of our l government it has been the sober. sta | hlc, conservative good sense Of the country and country dTellers which | has steadied tho nations helm and l
 
 fore has there risen q crisis with !, sharper demGnd fo- our continued ex- 1 erc'se of this nVality.
 The air is, fun of denunciat;ons o- the "profteer." Nor can any words | too strong be used concer,7inr him, whether he be. int-enc ched fehin the brf'a stwori5s of "6ig business" or marching in rre ranks of s'la bor" For il must never he overlool1e1 that l. e Is cutie a. b'amevorthv and even more Iangerot.e i1 the latter. role In either H9Se he is 2 miserable parasite, a so- cial 'cootie.' obsce~eiv and foulIy sucking away the blood worthy Of uohler spillinS.
 As farmers. our first duty not only fo -o'Tr countrv- but to our order and to is to see that OUT skirts ara Our rule must he. not to see how much we can screw from the necess ssities of 1 others. bu' to figure how ceuerouslv ve can afford to serve the less fortu- 1ates' needs Beyond all that. we must see to it l hat the ark of our covenant is kept l nvfolate from all sorts of Philistines. . [ Is not enough that we merely keen 70 be prepared to see that the republic | akes no harm. By that. do not $ mean the present. administration. nor he present congreSs nor the present f tate governments. etc. [ mean it fr ( he larger sense of our country as $ whole. esardless Of party lines or I political memories. | Speaker GilIett is right So far asi we have ''progressed'' beyond the old I and eternally uncha nseable laws of public morality. we must go back til I We get within their fences again, and ' ake the old road they mark Wet i need not slump into the old arI1ts There is no prohibition against usfnsi : he scraper to fill them in ( But we've simply got to get back into the old right -of-way or run +l,el : risk of spillinS our whole load over l some precipice. s-i : We farmers have duty in this re- spect which we cannot shiris and which will. call for all our "sumptio1" md all our reason, and all our fore sight, and all our self denial to per . ,oru. , Heaven help us to meet our re- ] 'ponsibifity braveIy and unfinching- y
 THE FARMER. I ta