FAEMERS' INSTITUTES. 249 



of labor, but, necessarily, often one of hardships. They sought the State 

 when it was a wilderness, being protected in person and property, to make 

 them a home wiiere they could enjoy the fruits of their labor in safety. And 

 those other improvements are the natural outgrowth of a prosperous agricult- 

 ural people. 



AVar may pass over a nation, lay its cities in ruins, destroy its internal 

 improvoments, change its form of government, and make sad the hearts of its 

 people. If it at last leaves the ])ursuit of agriculture unoppressed, without a 

 destructive taxation, it will soon renew its powers and restore its greatness. 



Palestine once supported a large population, but for centuries their land was 

 ravaged by the crusaders, death and destruction followed in tlieir footsteps, and 

 at the close agriculture was not protected, and to-day they are like the valley 

 of dry bones seen by the prophets. Their ancient towns and cities are destroyed, 

 their land is but a desert beneath the foot of the oppressor. They have removed 

 the fcnmdation stone and broken it in pieces. 



Tills meeting is representative of the prosperity of an agricultural people. 

 We are here, as tillers of the soil, to consider not only our present but our fu- 

 ture condition ; not in arrogance and pride, but in the spirit of candor and 

 firmness ; to do that which will not only be for our benefit but for the good of 

 those who shall come after us. 



The history of the past shows tlie necessity of laws as a rule of action enforced 

 by the courts to govern and restrain the passions of man. Therefore would we 

 ask at the hands of our legislators wise and judicious laws, not only for the 

 farming community, that in tlieir prosperity tliey may not forget the rights of 

 others, but for the corporations throughout tlie country, that in their money 

 getting it may not be oppressive upon the producers. We look upon them as 

 a necessity to our prosperity, and our prosperity is for their benefit. 



And may the intelligence of tlie people in the future be such that if man, 

 to expend his surplus energies, has to make war and meet upon the field of 

 battle, that they may say to the military, touch not the internal improvements 

 nor the interests of the producer, for with these two a nation's damages can 

 be restored. Societies, social as well as political, require a basis more or less 

 stable upon which to erect their structure, and to-day what are the elements 

 principally composing such foundations. Do we find intellect, the moulding 

 of which would not only add beauty but strength to the union? Is virtue com- 

 bined so plainly as a part that in order to enter such societies and stand securely 

 upon its foundation all material must have an affinity for the same, not only 

 would it be necessary for the class deemed the weaker but essentially so for the 

 stronger. Does morality and enduring substance, but many times not easih' 

 obtained, rank as one of the first in the combination? 



If these unite, forming the compound called the foundation stone, then so- 

 cieties formed upon such a basis would be alike beneficial to the purchaser and 

 consumer and as lasting as the rock upon which they are built. 



If we would see a beautiful State, we have only to look around us, then can we 

 truly say our homes have fallen in pleasant places, where we have the privilege 

 not only of thinking but of expressing our thoughts ; where we labor and enjoy 

 the fruits of our labor, and have learned to respect the rights of others. 



Mr. Bacheler, of Osceola, read the following essay on 



33 



