1883.] THE FARMER AND HIS FAMILY. 175 



regarded, the weakest point in the farmer and farming of to-day- 

 is this apparent lack of self-respect and self assertion, not person- 

 ally, but as a farmer and for farming. Hence the first duty the 

 farmer owes to himself, and his family, is to correct this weakness. 



Let me appeal to yeu here present and to all engaged in agri- 

 culture, to carry with you, wherever you may be, throughout the 

 year, the same honest and honorable pride which to-day is man- 

 ifest. Maintain the dignity of your calling, teach your children 

 to respect it and to love it, and help, in every way, to raise the 

 conditions and business of agriculture to its proper position in the 

 estimation of all. 



It rests mainly with farmers themselves, their wives and chil- 

 dren, to raise their vocation and the position of all engaged in it, 

 to the highest rank among the pursuits of man. If they desire 

 to see it duly honored they must honor it themselves. If they 

 wish to see others engage in farming, they must on no account 

 evince an aversion to it. If farmers would have their sons place 

 a just appreciation upon agriculture, they must do their part to 

 make the occupation more honorable as well as more lucrative. To 

 accomplish these ends, the chief requirements are that farmers 

 shall properly prepare themselves and their families for the bus- 

 iness, and shall fully and actively perform all their duties at home 

 and among their fellow men. 



The power for good, of the farmers of this country, is nowhere 

 so potent as in their broad relations as citizens. The men from 

 the farm should take more general and active, and, when necessary, 

 more united participation in public affairs, and thus make them- 

 selves a power in the body politic. They are strong enough 

 numerically, forming a full half of the voting population of the 

 United States. They only need to act, sometimes independently 

 and sometimes together, to exert the greatest influence for good. 



Every American, by birth or by adoption, acquires not only the 

 privileges of citizenship, but must accept therewith corresponding 

 obligations. The duties of the citizen cannot be honorably neg- 

 lected; his responsibihties can never be escaped. The good citizen 

 must watch the public interests day by day, for they are his own. 

 He must bear in mind that the moral law applies Just as fully to 

 political life and action, as to social and business life. There may 

 be sins of omission as well as sins of commission. If he expects 

 to enjoy the blessings of good government, he must give earnest 



