MISCELLANEOUS ADDRESSES. 
251 
feat, as the conflict of two or more men honestly contending for 
mastery in debate. 
These meetings should be composed of young and old, and in 
addition to the questions usually discussed, those of local and ag¬ 
ricultural interest should be introduced. The rotation of crops, 
the raising of stock, the adaptation of soil, he prospects of the 
market, and the laws governing prices might be made intensely 
interesting ; and interspersed with these, should be others involv¬ 
ing finance and taxation, both state and national; the organiza¬ 
tion of town and county government; the laws of thejhighway ; 
the conduct of schools, and the needed reforms in any one of 
these departments. In this way, not only would the machinery 
of government be as familiar as household words, but an active 
interest would be created to investigate these matters as they ap¬ 
peared in the columns of the public prints. Thus would the 
young be brought in contact with the hard, practical experience of 
their elders; age would gain-some from the fire of youth, and all 
be better prepared for the active duties of practical life. Let 
these investigations be carried on in any neighborhood for three 
years, and a man would no more think of consulting his attorney 
as to the law of the town, the school or the highway, than he 
would think of going to an astronomer to find out the hour of sun¬ 
set. 
Members of this society, and citizens of Dane county: Pardon 
these crude suggestions, thrown off in the hurry of hasty com¬ 
position. I would by no means assume to lecture you upon the 
details of agriculture, or your duties as citizens of this great re¬ 
public. But when I reflect upon the taunting statement ot the 
eccentric Carlyle, that “ America is governed by the scum of her 
societywhen I remember the corruption of our great cities, and 
that some of our most powerful journals dare not unmask their 
batteries against local vices, lest the parties in power lose political 
prestige; when I see how popular elections are carried •; when I 
.behold moneyed corporations of all grades and character, extend¬ 
ing their reach, grasping, organizing, centralizing power, and con¬ 
trolling to a fearful extent the legislation of the country, both 
state and national; when I see rising above the horizon, a cloud 
no “ bigger than a man’s hand,” but which may overspread the 
