Show TE FARM The agricultural Interests are at the base of all prosperity and of all possibilities pos-sibilities o creating a commonwealth And this must be E because upon them depends the food of mankind This being be-ing so the condition of the farmers and I their standard of living are matters of common concern and whenever the one is improved the other Is almost certain to be raised I In a recent interview Secretary of Agriculture Wilson talked of the farmers farm-ers and contrasted their present standard stand-ard of living with what i formerly sHe s-He started out by saying he objected to the talk he hears about the ex iravasrance of farmers A farmer said he has the right to live as well a anybody provided he can afford the expense and I never yet have known a man to mortgage his farm to pay household expenses The condition of our farmers is growing better and better bet-ter all the time and I like to see i Formerly they used to have a homemade home-made rag carpet in the parlor and bare floors over all the rest of the house Now they have pretty Brussels carpets car-pets and have sent the rag carpets to the chambers Formerly people went to church and to town in lumber wagons wag-ons and if they were pretty well off hey had spring seats Xow nearly every farmer out in my country has a carriage and a handsome set of harness har-ness Formerly I used to be the I height ofa womans ambition to have i a melodeon or a cabinet organ Now she must have a piano Formerly the girls made their own clothes now they have their Sunday gowns cut out bi the dressmaker in the nearest town although they still do the stitching themselves And they are all the r bet 1 ter for it This advance has harmed nObody and has brought a great deal oC happiness It is the result of education edu-cation and refinement and the elevation i eleva-tion of the taste and Ido not think I those qualities are any more out of place in a farmhouse than in a brownstone brown-stone palace in the city While these advantages and enjoyments have added to the cost of living nobody has gone 6 I 2 j I to the poorhouse on that account The same degree of intelligence is just s valuable on a farm as In a counting I house or a manufactory and the mort sages that He upca the farms of Iowa are net due to extravagance but to I improvement They represent more land and improved implements and fine cattle and horss The farmer I gets a better crop and more of it and he keeps adding to his own wealth as I well as to the wealth of the nation The secretary has the farmers of i Iowa In mind no doubt but what he I says as to their Improved standard of j I living Is largely true of the farmers i everywhere I is in Utah They are I I not prosperous at present and havent I been for a long time but their standard I stand-ard of living has become higher and I higher And I is right that it should I The life of the actual farmer Is a hard one and whatever will make it pleasanter I i pleas-anter for himself and wife and chi dren he should get it if he can afford it I And there is no Extravagance if he does not run in debt to supply himself with comfort that used to be rtppmo i I I luxuries and were held to be Inappropriate priate to a farmer The higher standard stand-ard of life that the farmer of today sets up is a matter of mater rejoicing May times become so prosperous that he can realize all of his ideals |