230 



GENESEE FARMER. 



Oct. 



The Fanner. — His Position, Responsibili- 

 ties, and Duties. 



NL'.MBKR TWO. 



In my last number I alluded to some of the 

 peculiarities which distinguish the position of 

 the American Farmer. 1 continue the inquiry, 

 for, in determining the position of the farmer, 

 we also discover his responsibilities and duties. 

 1 remark, then, that our political institutions are 

 of such a character as to give a di^tinctive and 

 elevating importance to the laboring men of the 

 country. The absence of aristocracy, and the 

 emphatic recognition of equality in man, which 

 are so clearly acknowledged in our constitution 

 and form of government, are peculiar to our 

 country, and has necessarily a controlling influ- 

 ence in determining the position of individuals 

 and classes. A laborer in England may be a 

 mere dolt, with no intellectual culture, no men- 

 tal development, and yet be a tolerable fai'mer, 

 a first rate laborer, and a good Englishman — 

 while in this country, where every man is not 

 only a citizen but a part of the sovereignty of the 

 nation, he would be totally disqualified and unfit 

 to discharge, intelligent!}^ and safely, the respon- 

 sibilities of an American citizen. We have no 

 titles of nobility— no artificial distinctions created, 

 and jireserved by laws — no peculiar favors for a 

 few, and whicli the many are forever bari-ed by 

 statute from aspiring to. The result is that with 

 us all classes and all men are honored and res- 

 pected, without particular regard to their condi- 

 tion. Cast does not obtain, and labor is not dis- 

 honored, and tlie laborer despised. So strong 

 and decisive has been this feeling, in the North- 

 ern states of the Union at least, that labor is dig- 

 nified; and he who holds the plow and reaps the 

 grain with his own hand, is respected and trusted 

 above him who looks upon labor as disgraceful, 

 and who refuses to perform it ; and, in my view, 

 there is no featuj-e so characteristic of the real 

 greatness of this nation, as this respect for lal>or, 

 and it is this fact, this inspiring stimulating fact, 

 which has so elevated the social condition of the 

 agricultural population of New York, and made 

 it, in point of intelligence and enterprize, so 

 much beyond the farming population of any otli- 

 cr country. 



Democratic institutions, when they have an 

 enlightened people to rest upon, are not only the j 

 best but the only ones to develop the full ener 



ernment ; and the farmer in this country, as a 

 constituent part of the civil power — a part and 

 parcel of the body politic — has more to do than 

 simply to cultivate the soil. He is more than a 

 mere indweller in the country — has other acts to 

 perform than merely to expend physical force ; 

 he is above a hewer of wood and drawer of wa- 

 ter ; he is a citizen equal in power and privilege 

 with every other citizen. In him resides a por- 

 tion of the sovereign power of the State and na- 

 tion, — upon his conduct depends the stability of 

 society, the justice of, and the due administration 

 of the law, the preservation of his individual 

 rights, and the happiness of self, family, and 

 neighbors. The American farmer has more to 

 do, and to learn, than how to till his farm, and 

 how to sow and reap aiid tln-esh his grain ; he is 

 one among a great community of sovereigns, and 

 upon whose good conduct depends all that is dear 

 and to be prized by man in his social and politi- 

 cal relations. The tenure by which he holds 

 his lands, the security of his person and property, 

 the sweet and heavenly influences of home, are 

 all dependent upon the riglit discharge of the du- 

 ties which are incumbent upon him as a citizen 

 and a free man. 



I do not wish to be misunderstood here, nor in 

 anything else I may say in this connection here- 

 after ; I have no feeling, and would utter no 

 sentiment of the demagogue. While I would 

 stimulate farmers to become high-minded, intel- 

 ligent politicians, I would warn them to shun par- 

 tizanship when, as is too often the case, it assumes 

 a mere petty struggle for the elevation of ambi- 

 tious and designing men, without regard to prin- 

 ciple or thought of the public good. It is un- 

 worthy the honest, upright citizen — beneath the 

 attention of the high-minded farmer — to mingle 

 in the dirty strife for power and office, which 

 too often disgrace the political action of the Amer- 

 ican ])eople ; to become a party politician, in this 

 sense, where truth and principle and good gov- 

 ernment is entirely overlooked, is a positive evil 

 to the farmer. It is corrupting to the morals, 

 and prejudicial to the business interests, of the 

 people, and oi'glit to be frowned down by the 

 honest farmer every where. The evil is alarm- 

 ing ; already party spirit, instead of purifying, 

 as it would do if pursued on the basis of princi- 

 ple, and for the discovery and maintenance of 

 truth, has become a festering source of jiolitical 



gies and provide for the just and necessary vvants r^^i'i'i'P^i^"' ^i"*^ which the strong good sense of the 

 of all the people of a country. Such institutions agricultural portion of the people ouglit to remove, 

 we have in this land. The political power of The farmer must cultivate his intellect, enlighten 



the nation reposes upon, or resides in, the whole 

 body of the people, and each has his portion of 

 responsibility as well as privileges — all the duties, 

 as well as rights, to perform and look afler. It 

 has been said a thousand times, but cannot be too 

 often said, that intelligence, wide spread and 

 pervading all classes, is the only guaranty we 

 have for the perpetuation of our reptddican gov- 



his judgment, add to his knowledge, assert his 

 independence, and with manly indignation cast 

 off" the designing ambitious demagogue who 

 would make him his dupe, for the purpose of ob- 

 taining power and i)lace. In this country there 

 is no avoiding politics ; men must, if they would 

 discharge all their duties, become in one and the 

 true sense politicians. The enlightened and 



