LABOR AND EDUCATION. 223 



exaggeration of advantages to be enjoyed, and the wildest and 

 wickedest assurances of tiie wealth, the honor, and the happiness in 

 store for those that go to the new States, man}' 3'oung men have 

 abandoned the peaceful pursuits of home and have rushed heedlesslv 

 into tlie strifes and contliets of an adventurous and unsettled life. 

 While few have been successful, many have realized the disappoint- 

 ments and mental anguish of an unsettled career. As a conse- 

 quence the industr}' of the country has not l)een stimulated to 

 higher and more persistent labors, and our wealth has been seriouslv 

 repressed thereby. The prosperity of the farmer is dependent on so 

 man}- influences, and is affected favorably or adversely by the wise 

 or the unwise conduct of so many classes of men, and is subject to 

 so many casualties, including climatic, that he is required to be vigi- 

 lant and circumspect in the investigation of everything that ma}- 

 interfere with his business. If he shall hope for success in his voca- 

 tion he must not onl}- intelligently seek after the causes which 

 injuriously affect his interests, but he must use such means, apph- 

 such corrections, as may be appropriate and necessary. To do this 

 efficiently and wisely, to perform his duties in all the manifold rela- 

 tions of lite, the farmer ought to be thoroughly furnished for every 

 good work. He should have a very liberal as well as practical 

 education, the more liberal, the more full and comprehensive, the 

 better. With farmers as well as with other classes of men, such an 

 education is not attainable by all, because of the want of oppor- 

 tunity, of means, and sometimes of mental capabilities. Then the 

 more urgent the need and the higher the obligation upon others who 

 have opportunities to improve all their advantages, and to acquire 

 a sound, thorough and complete education. I am not unaware of 

 the fact that some men are shocked at the idea of giving to sons of 

 farmers as good educational advantages as are furnished for young 

 men belonging to other pursuits of life; a ver}- meagre, starved, 

 special education, in the opinion of some men, is best suited to the- 

 wants and conditions of young farmers and mechanics. These 

 gentlemen repudiate the old aphorism that "knowledge is power" ; 

 they have no faith in educated labor when the education shall have 

 passed the bounds of mere rudimental knowledge. Those who pre- 

 scribe a restricted course of education for voung men connected with 

 agriculture and the mechanic arts, assume an odious responsibilitj-. 

 By implication, at least, they deny the necessity and propriety of an 

 advanced education for those engaged in such pursuits and thercb}- 



