| OCR Text |
Show "RUBE" IS NO MORE B FARMER FULLY THE EQUAL OF H ' THE CITY MAN. M March of Progress Ha Done Great H Thing In Broadenlrg Out the U Dweller In the Ct-untry H I Now a Leader. H Our comic papers will contlnno for M n tltno to represent the countrymen ns U n person with hay In his hair, a double M handful of heard on his chin, clothing H with many patches and hoots of cow- M hide. This blithering bumpkin la do- M plcted as buying green Roods of city B men, whose wickedness Is supposed to B count as wisdom. Hut the truth Is 1 that the country man of to-day has cut M his cyo tooth upon, expcrlenco and M keeps them sharpened on hooks and H newspapers, for which ho has moro B uso and rovorenco than those who havo M hourly editions thrust upon them. M The rustic can no longer remain tho M clodhopper of comedy, oven If ho U would. Those material changes that H wo fondly count as progress nro as In- M escapable among tho hills as they aro 1 In the toncment. Tho village now has U Its telephone, Its electric light some- M times ns many ns two Kb frco library, m Its high BChool, Its Improvement asso- H elation, Its health officer aud Its occa- H slnnal lecturer on cows and agrlcul- H ture; whereas tho solo center of nil- U thorlty, Intellectual endeavor and bo- M clal activity was formerly the church. U Nor Is the farmer dlstlngutshablo by M his recent acquisition of hand-me-down H clothes, for they nro shaped after re- H cent patterns and nro mndo of a good M materials as are other folks', Indeed, H If he lives near one of thoso Now Gnu- B land mills, where they weave wooolon H cloth that Is three-fourths shoddy tho M chances are that ho knows better than 1 the city man what to avoid and gets M better clothes tor less money. He H drives a shiny carriage, has a melo- H deon If not a piano in the house, M takes a dally pnper as well as a coun- M try weekly and has been to Uoston or M New York or Chicago. M Differences between tho farmer and U the city man aro even less In respect M of ways of llfo and modes of thought B than In these matters of clothing and M custom. Tho farmer has broadened M out of late. Ho has a concern In tho M business of tho nation, although ho H does not view problems and complex). M tloH at close range, having In his farm M enough for his needs and fowor ox- 1 penses than tho person who Is deep . fl In society aud wliojo station or oallliig M demands n largo and constant outgo. U It Is the farmer who for yearn has fl been receiving tho least for his prod- M uct nnd paying most for his "bought- . en" necessities, and It Is tho farmer who has been systematically over- U looked by the politicians he has helped M to ofllce. Tho material gains which M linvo been forced from capital by trado B link -s havo iou3oil his Interest, per- BBb haps his envy, and as ho broadens nnd BBl becomes Increasingly worldly minded Bl his demands and Ills needs must bo BBm heeded. Bl Tho sons of this ruddy-faced nnd M hearty citizen fill the pulpit nnd tho bench, and they nro known on 'chango nnd they hend compnnles, When ho Is chosen to congrebs, ns men of strength nnd morlt nWays l Is-U clng chosen, H tho onco bumtikl!) will have a voice Hi In tho conduct of affairs. And this 1b ns It should bo. Men must bo grounded firm!; In natuio or Hi they decny, Individually and socially. All that will lead men back to tho soil, to places of strcnr.'h and health, to calm, to readiness In self-rcsourco Hi mnkes for tho ondurauco of tho stato nnd of tho Institutes of civilization. Crlmo nnd discontent da not pertain to tho tillage of our Holds; envy Is not n trnlt of villages; small places havo M small vices, It Is truo, of which' tippling Hi and gossip nro tho wtirst, but they aro nurseries of men who tuko tho placo Hi of thoso weakened by tho life of towns. And It Is for theso men of red blood nd frco spf ch that p'ro must bo inn do. Tho outward marks that pro- claimed thorn country men being lost, we shall tho moro freely coucedo thoso merits thnt qualify them for station. The bumpkin has passed because his ago nnd his country hnvu called to htm to bo not a man among cattle, hut a man among men. Drooklyn Haglc. |
