FARMEES' INSTITUTES. 211 



staud forth yourself as the representative of tlie principle yon would see victor- 

 ious. It is this independence of thought Tvnich we need in this country ; but it 

 should be thought and not the guidance of mere jirejudice or spite. Why, a 

 man once told me that he voted contrary to his own convictions because I 

 publicly misinterpreted a remark he had made. I did not intend to misin- 

 terjiret his position ; but so bitter did he feel toward me that he would not vote 

 for the change I was advocating, although he believed it would be for the 

 better. This man was not doing justice to his own better natnre. Neither 

 does any man who, out of personal ill-feeling, allows himself to forget the 

 truth and desert the cause he knows to be right. These petty jealousies and 

 animosities are ofttimes the cause of much bad legislation, when men should 

 rather rise above these into the realm of a true statesmanship and do valiantly 

 for their country and for society what their own intelligence and reason, guided 

 by an enlightened conscience, tell them to be right. 



Intelligent citizenship ! It means vastly more than the average of the world's 

 intelligence. Shall we exercise it? Let every farmer feel the real burden of 

 this responsibility resting upon his shoulders. Let him attend the political 

 meetings of his party to see that demagogues and political shysters do not control 

 the nominations or secure the delegates that make them. This is a duty every 

 man owes, not merely to his party, but to society. The State and country will 

 be better off when we drive from their places of honor and trust all who are dis- 

 honest ; all who are prostituting their position to their own aggrandizement ; all 

 who seek blind partizan ends first, and place their country's second. "Let no 

 guilty man escape." When the arm of justice falls, let us see the vacant 

 places filled with men of known integrity, wisdom, and patriotism. 



Have I placed the standard of the farmer's duty so high that he cannot attain 

 unto it? Not at all. We must reach it, if we expect this nation to be grandly 

 successful in the work of social progress we believe she has marked out. The 

 farmer can attain unto it. It should be his ambition to reach the highest point 

 of excellence. The young men will gravitate toward the farm if they can feel 

 that the avenues to honor and social distinction are alike open to them. There 

 is nothing in the business of the merchant that entitles him to greater resjoect 

 than the farmer. If this difference do exist, it is because the farmers have lost 

 their first estate, or have sat down in supineness and allowed others to ride over 

 them rough-shod, — sat down, like some pardoned criminal, not daring to even 

 hoiJe for favor or consideration. The fault is the farmer's. The pathway is 

 open. He must rise to the dignity of his own calling, — brush away the scales 

 from before his own eyes. To assert one's right is half the battle. 



Let us give every thought and purpose to the noble work of improving and 

 elevating ourselves, and then to training those whom God has committed to our 

 care. Educate them for the responsible duties of life. Teach them to concen- 

 trate their greatest strength upon their business, that they may become the best, 

 most intelligent, and successful farmers. Then let them feel the importance of 

 American citizenship, and farming will be honored and the country made bet- 

 ter, because the average of American intelligence has been raised. 



FEIDAY EVENING. 



The closing session of this Institute was devoted to an address by Mr, E. G-. 

 Baird, Secretary of the State Board of Agriculture, on ''The Prospective Ben- 

 efits of the Centennial Exhibition." 



