far:siers' institutes. 107 



Well directed effort has its origin only iu arduous study, and our success as a 

 nation depends solely upon general education. 



Is it not commendable in every good citizen to promote his nation's glory by 

 forwarding the cause that will elevate both the moral and educational condition 

 of his fellow citizens, and by devising feasible means for the improvement and 

 purification of the demoralized state of our national politics and debased civil 

 service? 



It must be the duty of every honest citizen to fully prepare himself to aid in 

 preventing the election of barroom demagogues, and township wire-pullers, 

 whose shout of ''reform" is, in their minds, the very reverse. 



It is but a few years since we passed through the terrors and trials of an inter- 

 nal conflict, whicli at one time bid fair to sever the ties of our imion forever. 

 To-day the bitterness of an ill-digested election pains the heart of every sincere 

 citizen. Business is stagnated and the wolf is raging at the poor man's door. 

 Hundreds are being tlirown out of employment, and their families are famish- 

 ing. The vices and dishonesty of our politicians are widespread. Yes, indeed, 

 they have ramified to every hamlet in the land. Every community, though sit- 

 uated in the fastnesses of the Sierra Nevadas, or on the far off shores of Puget 

 sound, is rent and torzi by the feuds of political factions. The desire of all sen- 

 sible citizens must be to replace these wily politicians by men of integrity ; men 

 who have in their hearts the more noble cause, the welfare and happiness of 

 their country ; who are willing to sacrifice their own individual interests to those 

 of their fellow, by promoting (as our patriot forefathers did) the blessing of 

 liberty to each and all. But do they work for it? Do tliey make the long prep- 

 aration and put forth the energetic action which the times demand? Though 

 the ultimate intentions of the farmer be never so good, yet if his intellectual 

 acquirements do not enable him to study the experiences of the world, he can- 

 not judge correctly of the best course to be taken. 



It must be no easy task to decide in such a vital question as "inflation," which, 

 wherever tried, has resulted in extreme danger to the nation, and brought such 

 hardship and misery upon the working classes. Nor can it be denied that the 

 study of the relation of capital and labor gives a problem in its practical workings 

 so complex as to demand the highest intelligence. 



To-day's calm is disquieted by riots, turmoils, and the debasing influences of 

 strikes. To-morrow, as a natural and logical result, there is no bread to fill the 

 mouths of the perishing children. 



Is it an exaggeration to assume that the tiller of the soil owes to his country 

 at this critical moment his untiring efforts, to be faithfully and wisely rendered? 

 Aye, the long and bloody strife of our forefathers to rid tiie clanking chains of 

 British rule ever from our land, conjures us to work, and to act wisely this rela- 

 tion which we sustain. The tears that were shed, the prayers that were offered 

 for the poor bleeding soldiers by our maternal ancestors, penetrate tlie bosom of 

 us all. 



But alas ! A country so broad, so dear, and so high in the estimation of 

 other nations, to be defiled by the influences of partisan calumny or the 

 dishonesty of our government olScials ! Men who have been able to manipulate 

 the persuasive to secure their nomination for a certain office, not because they 

 are the most popular or the real choice of the people, but because through their 

 base shrewdness they have been able to make promises of fat contracts, fat 

 offices, thereby satisfying the political factions in the district. 



To the husbandry falls a major part of tlie great and mucb needed work of 



