1890.] PUBLIC DOCUMENT — No. 4. 179 



discussion ; and when any man becomes illustrious for any 

 quality that makes men great, questions are immediately 

 asked as to the influences which molded his early life. The 

 newspapers tell us about his origin, and teachers and writers 

 tell us what schools he attended. When prominent men die, 

 their biographies are written, so there is abundant literature 

 relating to the more eminent men of this country. More- 

 over, numerous special investigations have been made as to 

 the origin of leading men in particular cities or in special 

 vocations. I need not repeat statistics here, but all point to 

 the fact already asserted, that thus far the greater part of 

 our successful men have come from farms, or have had at 

 least a part of their education there. 



This morning I visited your beautiful library, the gift of 

 an illustrious citizen ; after leaving that beautiful building, 

 I inquired about his history, " Where did he come from?" 

 The answer was, " Originally from a farm." It seems to me 

 I could have answered that before ; for this is the story all 

 over the land. Is there a free library established, a univer- 

 sity founded, or any other work of wealth to bless men in 

 the direction of aiding them to help themselves, nine times 

 out of ten you will lind the founders and benefactors origi- 

 nated on farms, or got their iirst impressions of life's duties 

 and life's privileges there. Our land is dotted with schools 

 and colleges and universities and libraries, founded by men 

 from the farms. 



From the fact that a relatively smaller and smaller pro- 

 portion of the population is now being produced upon farms, 

 this matter comes forward now with an especial interest and 

 importance. This State made its famous history when the 

 majority of its population were either on farms or had a 

 country education. The last census tells us that less than 

 four per cent of its population are now engaged in agricult- 

 ure. A great responsibility rests on this four per cent, 

 for upon the farming population must depend much of its 

 future supply of men for its business enterprises, and, more 

 than that, men especially interested in the stability of our 

 institutions. 



For the conservation of political institutions, as well as 

 for the creation and preservation of material wealth, it is 



