The Nonpartisan Leader Newspaper, July 15, 1918, Page 20

T THEY HARNESSED THE DESERT AND THEY STAND FOR LIBERTY A scene in the Eureka flats wheat belt south of the Snake river in eastern Washington. country has for two generations been yielding the finest wheat grown in the Pacific Northwest. Hot as a défiert, but productive as a garden, the great Eureka flats It is the men who pioneered and harnessed the wild land and still drive it to maximum production to eke out the rations of the world, who believe in organization of the farmers,.and maintain that. farmers have a right through organization, to use their power at the ballot bex and in making laws. AsTrue Nowas It Was Forty Years Ago Agriculture Is the Basis of All Prosperity—An Old Oration on What the Farmer Should Demand of Life Forty years ago a meeting of. Illingis farmers invited Robert G. Ingersoll, then in his fame as an orator, to address them. Follow- ing is a part of his speech, in which he indicated his idea of what farm life should be: KNOW enough to know that _agricul- ture is the basis of all- wealth, prosperity and lux- ury. I know that in a country where the tillers of the fields are free, everybody is free and ought to be prosperous. Happy is that country where those who cultivate the land own it. Patriotism is born in the woods and fields—by lakes ‘and streams—by crags and plains. The old way of farming was a great mistake. Everything was done the wrong way. It was all work and waste, weariness and want. They used to fence 160 acres of land with a couple of dogs. Everything was left to the protection of the blessed trinity of chance, accident and mis- take. In those times most farmers thought the best place for the pig pen was immediately in front of the house. There is nothing like socia- bility. THE ROUTE TO PROSPERITY . Farming must be made more at- tractive. The comforts of the town must be added to the beauty of the fields. The sociability of the city must be rendered possible in the country. Farming has been made repulsive. The farmers have _been unsociable and their homes have been' lonely. They have been wasteful and careless. They have not been proud of their business. In the fint place, farming ought to be reasomably profitable. The farmers have not attended to their own interests. They have been rob- bed and plundered in a8 hundred ways. mfier thing—it is just as cheap to raise a good as a poor breed of cattle. Serubs will eat just as much as thoreughbreds. If you are not able te buy Durhams and Alderneys, you can raise the corn breed. By “corn breed” I mean the cattle that have, for several generations, had ;w“%&mrmmm&mmm. mm:«mmm..mm g enough to eat, and have been treated with kindness. Every farmer who will treat his cattle kindly, and feed them. all they want, will, in a few years, have blooded stock on his farm. All blooded stock has been produced in this way. You can raise good cattle just as you can raise good peo- ple. If you wish to raise a good boy you must give him plenty to eat, and treat him with kindness. In this way, and in this way only, can good cattle or good people be produced. Another thing—you must beautify your homes. When I was a farmer it was not fashionable to set out trees, nor to . plant vines. ADVICE TO YOUNG MEN When you visited the farm you * were not welcomed by flowers,. and greeted” by trees loaded with fruit. Yellow dogs came bounding over the tumbled fence like wild beasts. There is no sense—there is no profit in such a life. It is not living. The farmers ought to_beautify their homes. There should be trees and grass and flowers and running vines. Everything should be kept in order—gates should be on their hinges, and about all there should be the pleasant air of thrift. In every house there should be a bath- room. The bath is a civilizer, a re- finer, a beautifier. When you come from the fields tired, covered with" dust, nothing is so refreshing. Above all things, keep clean. It is not nec- essary to be a pig in order to raise one. In the cool of the evening, after a day in the field, put on clean clothes, take a seat under the trees, ’mid the perfume of flowers, surrounded by your family, and you will. know what it is to enjoy life like a gentleman. Young men should not be satisfied with a salary. Do not mortgage the possibilities of your ftiture. Have the courage to take life as it comes, feast or famine. Think of hunting a gold mine for a dollar a day, and think of finding one for another man. How would you feel then? We are lacking in true courage, when, for fear of the future, we take the crusts-and scraps and niggardly salaries of the present. I had a thou- sand times rather have a farm and be independent, than to be president. of the United States without inde- pendence, filled with doubt and trem- blmg, feeling' of the popular -pulse, " his brother PAGE TW'ENTY resorting to art and artifice, inquir- ing about the wind of opinion, and succeeding at last in losing my self- respect without gammg the respect of others. HOW TO HOLD THE CHILDREN Man needs more manliness, more real independence. ‘We must take care of ourselves. This we can do by labor, and in this way we can preserve our independence. We should try and choose ‘that business or profession the pursuit of which will give us the most happiness. Happiness is wealth. We can be happy without. being rich— without holding office—without being famous. I am not sure that we can be happy with wealth, with office or with fame. Farming must be rendered more attractive. Those who work the land must have an honest pride in their business. They must educate their children to cultivate the soil. They must make farming easier, so that their children will not hate it—so that they will not hate it themselves. The boys must not be taught that till- ing the ground is a curse and almost a disgrace. They must not suppose that education is thrown.away upon them unless they become ministers, merchants, lawyers, doctors or states- men. It must be understood that edu- cation can be used to advantage on a - farm. We must get rid of the idea . that a little learnmg unfits one for work. - There is no real conflict be- tween Latin and labor.:t ALL LABORING MEN SHOULD BE BROTHERS. You are in partner- .ship with the mechanics—who make your reapers, your mowers and your plows; and you.should take into your granges all the men who make their living by honest labor.” The laboring people should unite and should pro- tect themselves against all idlers. YOU CAN DIVIDE MANKIND IN- TO TWO CLASSES, THE LABOR- ERS AND THE IDLERS, the sup- porters and the supported, the honest and the dishonest. Every man is dis- honest who lives upon the unpaid la- bor of others, no matter if he occupies a throne. All laborers should be brothers. The laborers should have equal rights before the world and be- fore the law. And I want every farmer. to consider every man who labors either with hand or brain as Until genius-and lahor ‘labor. formed a partnership there was no such thing as prosperity among men, The farmers should vote only for such men as ‘are able and willing to guard and advance the interests of We should know better than to vote for men who will deliberately put a tariff of $3 a thousand upon Canada lumber, when every farmer in. Illinois is a purchaser of lumber. We should protect ourselves. We ought to have intelligence enough to know what we want and how to get it. THE REAL LABORING MEN OF . THIS COUNTRY CAN - SUCCEED IF THEY ARE UNITED. By labor- ing men, I do not mean only the farm- ers. I mean all who contribute in some way to the general welfare. THEY 'SHOULD FORGET PREJ- UDICES AND PARTY NAMES, and remember only the best interests of the people. Let us see if we can not, in Illinois, protect every department of industry. Let us see‘if all property can not be protected alike and taxed alike, whether owned by individuals’ or corporations. AN EASIER TIME FOR ALL Where industry creates and justice protects, prosperity dwells. When the life of the farmer is such as I have described, the cities and towns will not be filled with want— the streets-will not be crowded with wretched rogues, broken bankers -and bankrupt speculators. The fields will be tilled, and country -villages, almost hidden by trees and vines and flowers, filled with mdustnous and happy peo- ple, will nestle in ‘every vale and " gleam like gems on every plain. * . The idea must be done away with . that there is something intellectually degrading in cultivating the soil. .. Nothing can be nobler than to be use- ful. Idleness should not be respectable. Farmers should live like princes. Eat the best things you raise and sell - the rest. Have good things to cook: and good things to.cook with. Of all people in our country, you should live the best. Throw your miserable little stoves out of the window. Get ranges, . and have them so built that your wife need not burn her face off to get you a breakfast. Do not make her cook in a kitchen hot as the orthodox per- dition. The beef, not the cook, should be roasted. It is just as €asy to have things convenient and right as to have them any other way. 2