INTRODUCTORY HISTORY. 5 



branches of productive industry. The systematic spoliation of 

 the present was, to a large extent, practically unknown. Special 

 laws and privileges, which operated directly against the national 

 interests of agriculture, existed only in a mild degree. At that 

 period immense fortunes were almost unknown, and aristocracy 

 was confined to the better educated and more refined. Neither 

 poverty nor crime existed in the same proportion as now, and 

 the general trend of events was toward conservatism in all 

 economic conditions. Moderate fortunes, moderate sized farms, 

 and moderate business enterprises, were not only the rule of 

 the times, but were maintained under the protecting care of 

 society's consent. Of course there were exceptions, but not 

 in the offensive and disturbing sense in which they now exist. 

 All must admit that the parasitic age had not begun at this 

 date, and that labor in production paid less tribute than at the 

 present time. Emerson says : " The glory of the farmer is that, 

 in the division of labors, it is his part to create. All trade 

 rests at last on his primitive activity. He stands close to 

 Nature ; he obtains from the earth the bread and the meat. 

 The food which was not he causes to be." It is because of 

 the truth contained in this statement that the farmer complains. 

 It is because he simply creates for others, with but a feeble 

 voice, if any, in determining the measure of his remuneration, 

 that he has at last been compelled to enter an earnest protest. 

 Willing as he is to create, and anxious to serve all other classes 

 with the fruits of his industry and skill, yet the farmer has 

 learned, by sad experience, that his toil has gone unrequited, 

 and his anxiety has been construed into servility. The Ameri- 

 can farmer, in his present condition, is a living example of the 

 folly and disaster which inevitably follow, where one class of 

 citizens permits another class to formulate and administer all 

 economic legislation. In. other words, he is the victim of mis- 

 placed confidence, and has at last undertaken to regain his lost 

 advantages and rights. The late Civil War gave an impetus to 

 all productive labor. All efforts in that direction were profitable 

 for a time, and the business of agriculture was looked upon with 

 much favor. Vast sums of money were expended in the pur- 

 chase and improvement of farming lands, and the success of 

 that branch of industry seemed assured. The war ended in the 



