BROOKLYN INSTITUTE. 37 i 



History teaches us that the countless empires that have flourished and 

 fallen since man began to war on man, have risen as agricultural, pastoral 

 and manufacturing nations, and fallen when some despotic ruler has 

 ignored the rights of his husbandmen and placed them tributary to his wars 

 and warriors. 



To Eome belongs the crown of warlike glory. Under Cassar she stood 

 proud conqueror of the whole world, while today she sends us the most 

 degraded and despised of all civilized immigrants who seek our far too hos- 

 pitable shores. 



Greece, Persia, Carthagena, her fair sisters in glory and misfortune, are 

 but sad examples of the policy of degrading agricultural industry. 



The very life of a nation is as dependent upon the intelligence of her 

 agriculturists as the the mountain river to the snow that clothes the eternal 

 hills. 



We are told by fourth of July and campaign orators that under our starry 

 flag lives the best housed, best fed, best clothed and best educated agricul- 

 tural population that the world ever saw. That in our right of ballot we 

 hold the power to control the destiny of the nation. But they don't tell us 

 why we never make any use of this power. They point out the improve- 

 ments we have made in stock, in methods of growing and harvesting crops, 

 in our churches and school-houses, in our free school system built up under 

 the fostering care of the State, that educates the rich and poor alike, but 

 fail to tell us why we tax ourselves to educate and ennoble the rising genera- 

 tion and then allow the cities and villages to license saloons to entrap and 

 destroy them. 



What they tell us of our position is largely true, and we take pride in the 

 fact that the three counties embraced in the territory of this institute stand 

 in the front ranks as producers of wheat, oats, corn and clover, in blooded 

 cattle of all breeds, fine horses, registered sheep and swine, well fenced 

 farms and fine farm buildings, and greater than all, our grand and glorious 

 men and women. We feel an honest pride that our sister State, Wiscon- 

 sin, has chosen from her husbandmen for governor that matchless dairy- 

 man, W. D. Hoard, while our own State Senate is presided over by our 

 brother farmer, of small stature but giant intellect, Hon. Wm. Ball, of 

 Hamburg, and we have for chief executive that twice honored "grand old 

 granger from Gilead," Cyrus G. Luce. 



We realize the grandeur of our position, yet wish to make it still more 

 grand. 



It is our aim to increase the productiveness of our farms, have more con- 

 venient houses and commodious barns, and have well bred stock of all kinds 

 so plenty that the name of scrub shall be heard no more, and while engaged 

 in raising fine stock and growing better crops, each year we wish to raise 

 the mortgages from our farms. We also wish to raise statesmen to fill 

 the halls of our legislature that will change our laws of taxation that now 

 allow a lawyer with an annual cash income running way up into the 

 thousands to go untaxed, while the poor farmer, with his farm mortgaged 

 for all it is worth, has to sell his last cow to pay the taxes on something he 

 doesn't own. 



Realizing full well the superiority of our agriculturists over those of 

 other nations, we also know that difficulties^are gathering round our path 

 as thick as stars along the milky way. 



