BASELESS FABRIC OF A VISION. 55 



Hon. Richakd Goodman, of Lenox. When you, sir, drew 

 such a vivid picture, this morning, of the condition of Fall 

 River, showing to what a height of wealth and prosperity it 

 had attained through its manufacturing industries, I felt that 

 agriculture had sunk below an immeasurable distance. But, 

 sir, you failed to tell us of the difference between the profits 

 of farming and the profits of manufacturing. I felt, however, 

 somewhat relieved, when I began to consider the subject, by 

 this consideration : that without the assistance of the farmers 

 and the food which they supply, your spindles would cease to 

 run, your mills would be empty, and the prosperity of Fall 

 River would fade, " like the baseless fabric of a vision, nor leave 

 a rack behind." I was reminded of the story of the organist, 

 who, whenever he spoke of his instrument, always said, " You 

 and I." One day, while he was in the midst of his music, 

 the organ stopped. He turned round to the boy who had been 

 blowing and said, " Why don't you go on ? " He replied " I 

 will go on, when you say we." 



Now, having listened to this discussion on the hay crop, I 

 begin to feel that we can say, with some satisfaction, this hay 

 crop is to us farmers, what manufacturing is to Fall River. 

 And, often as we have discussed it in the Board and elsewhere, 

 although we do not arrive at a satisfactory conclusion about it, 

 we do get some information. One of the most interesting 

 points of this discussion is the question of the time for cutting 

 hay, and I think that if the chemists and scientific men would 

 study this subject accurately, acutely and scientifically, they 

 might arrive at the precise day when our hay should be cut ; 

 but that rule would not apply equally well to all sections of the 

 State. Take the western part, for instance, where we have a 

 great deal to cut. We have to begin early and cut late. It is 

 a long while before we can get all our hay in. We cannot 

 always cut it when it is just in blow or just going out of blow. 

 We want some general rule on the subject. And, sir, the value 

 of this discussion is this : that it will tend to establish some 

 general rule which we can try to live up to. It is a remark of 

 an acute historian, Mr. Froude, that there are some laws which 

 must be placed upon the statute-book, not that they can be car- 

 ried out, but « that men may live up to them as nearly as pos- 

 sible. That same rule applies to the prohibitory law; it 



