1837.] 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



703 



of them are still left, if they will only unite, with 

 body and soul, to prolong tiie life and restore the 

 health of our common parent. 



Where evils are not allu<felher overwhelminfj, 

 not such as entirely to astound and paralize us, the 

 first step issteadily to view and thoroughly to under- 

 stand them. The next is, to determine that no 

 obstacles, however Jbrmidable — no circumstari.ces, 

 liowever discouraging, shall deter u.s from the ef- 

 fort to conquer them, if we believe them to be con- 

 querable; and the last should be, the immediale 

 adoption of such means as our best judgment may 

 suggest for their removal. In obedience, there- 

 fore, to this doctrine, (which is one, thank heaven, 

 that no party politics can possibly nullify, or I 

 should give it up,) I will now proceed to state and 

 to expose, as fir as I am able, the causes of de- 

 cline m our agriculture; indeed, 1 may say, in 

 every branch of Virginia husbandry. Of these, 

 the most prominent by far is, the utter destitution 

 of leijislative aid, with the exception of the sort of 

 Irish bull law — making the loa/ers of the Appo- 

 mattox a legal fence; and the old fcnce-laiv itself, 

 passed, (if I mistake not,) belbre the organization 

 of our federal government, which was a very apt 

 exemplification of the old story, that the devil be- 

 ing called in to mend a dog's hind leg, broke it in 

 another place! I pronounce this absence of legis- 

 lative aid the most prominent cause, because it 

 stands in such strong and deeply mortifying con- 

 trast with the patriotic policy of several of our sis- 

 ter states, and especially of New York, which is 

 now reaping from that policy the richest rewards 

 that agricultural wealth and prosperity can confer 

 on any government which makes the great inter- 

 ests of agriculture, the chief object of its regard. 

 Heretofore, as far back as I can remember, the con- 

 temptible cant, so insultina: to the intelligence and 

 patriotism of the people themselv^es, of '-not tak- 

 ing the peopWs money out of their pockets,'''' for 

 any thing but the unavoidable expences of their 

 government, even though the expenditure would 

 procure for them, m the opinions of the wisest and 

 best among them, irmumerable n^oral and politi- 

 cal blessings — far too great to be estimated by 

 dollars and cents — has served as the despicable 

 pretext for not expending a solitary cent towards 

 promoting that vital interest which keeps in health- 

 ful circulation, the life-blood of all the other great 

 interests in the community. jJgriculture, the 

 main stay and supi)ort of the whole, has been left 

 entirely to shift for herself; left too, by those called 

 the guardians of the state, the zealous promoters 

 of her prosperity and happine.ss. True they have 

 always given her a vast deal of lip service, im- 

 measurable out-pourings from slang-whangers of 

 all grades and dimensions — lauding her to the 

 skies, as the best — the kindest — the most bounti- 

 ful of mothers — God, bless her! But beyond that, 

 the history of their proceedings, so ftir as she is 

 concerned, presents an entire blank. Had there 

 been the least particle of sincerity in any of these 

 ad captanduvi v^\)onn(rii — these pleasant ticklings 

 of us gudgeons, — the agriculturists of Virginia, — 

 something for our benefit would certainly have 

 been done. And were there, even at this time, 

 any real friends to agriculture in our public coun- 

 cils, now surely is the season to manifest their re- 

 gard by some well-matured, earnest and zealous 

 ertbrts, to aid our cause by pecuniary means; for an 

 immense sum has lately come into our public cof- 



fers, which all the legislative brains of the state 

 have not yet, I believe, been able to determine how 

 to use. Still, not a solitary word have I ever read 

 in any of our newspapers, of any party whatever; 

 not the fiiiniest whisper have I yet heard fiom any 

 of our guardians and protectors in liivor of apply- 

 ing, even a single cent towards the encouragement 

 of that all-important interest, to which, principal- 

 ly, these gentlemen owe their present poiiiical ex- 

 istence. Do I blame them Ibr this most fital ne- 

 illect? Not at all. IVe, ourselves — and I say it 

 in condemnation ol'all the political parlies among 

 us — elected them to make the fightingand <jaining 

 political parly battles the chief object of their pro- 

 ceedino's; Ibr the otdy test by which was tried 

 their fitness for legislation, last spring, was to de- 

 mand of them — "Are you for Van Buren, for 

 White, or Harrison?'' None, then, who have had 

 any concern, (and who has not had some.'') in sub- 

 stituting such a test Ibr the proper one, and there- 

 by most fatally perverting the sense of leijislative 

 duties, should for one moment, blame their re- 

 presentatives for fulfilling the purposes of their 

 mission so faithfully as they have done, ever since 

 the memorable contest between the elder Adams 

 and iMr. Jefferson, when this most vile and per- 

 nicious practice was first systematically adopted. 

 At this period, since it has become thoroughly es- 

 tablished, it would be utterly useless now to in- 

 quire, who began it; for that probably would only 

 aggravate the evil. None can deny that they do 

 not both see and li?el it most dee[)ly; still less can 

 they deny its disastrous effects, although each par- 

 ty labors to acquit itself of all blame, by imputing 

 the whole to its antagonist; as if they believed the 

 people such fbols as not to know that no fend or 

 quarrel whatever, can long be kept up without 

 both parties being to blame, no matter which com- 

 milted the first wrong. It" any affirm that /have 

 made our party quarrels older than they really are, 

 will they please to name any single session of our 

 legislature since the dale I have assigned, when 

 the members thereof did not meet like so many 

 game cocks, fully prepared for mortal combat, and 

 waiting only for the pitter's signal to commence 

 the deadly fight? Do the party-combatanis of the 

 present time show any abatement of vigor in at- 

 tack or defence — any intermission of reciprocal 

 hate — any less ardor in waging their destructive 

 warflire? The question will be immediately an- 

 swered by taking up any party-newspaper you 

 please; and I will submit to be called a detamer, if 

 the adverse parties in our legislature are not fbund 

 engaged more than half their time, in perfect obe- 

 dience to the principles on vvhich they were elect- 

 ed, in a war of mutual political extermination, 

 leaving, ad interim, all the great inter'^sis of the 

 state to take care of themselves, or to receive their 

 attention too late to do any good. 



It needs no wizaid to point out the disastrous 

 consequences to all interests, but especially to 

 ours, of such an utter perversion of the true prin- 

 ciples of representative irovernment. These sure- 

 ly require, that the good sense, the knowledge, and 

 the virtue of the people should be represented — not 

 their prejudices and passions ; for when they gov- 

 ern the constituent body, the representative body 

 must necessarily be like their masters, the slaves 

 of similar irrational and ruinous impulses ; and 

 the conduct of both parties will co-operate directly 

 to defeat the very end of that species of govern- 



