3U 
Annual Report of the 
destruction. What is the outlook to-day for the farmers of the 
western states? What are the dangers they need to avoid and 
what means are necessary to shun them? 
I have endeavored to point out one great reason why farmers are 
not now enjoying as great prosperity as they were ten years ago. 
Besides over-production, there are other causes more or less remote, 
and among these I may mention the unfortunate condition of our 
currency and the extremely rapid settlement of a wide extent of 
territory. For, paradoxical as it may seem, this rapidity of settle¬ 
ment has been a hinderance to its own prosperity, lav keeping the 
West overwhelmed with debt and weighed down by exorbitant 
taxes for buildings, improvements and railroads; in short for much 
of that which is at the same time the cause of the rapid develop¬ 
ment, and the thing itself. 
For the many hardships that are now oppressing the farmers of the 
West, no one class of men is wholly responsible. But, unless Con¬ 
gress is held accountable for them, because the public lands were 
sold so cheaply, or given to the actual seller, farmers must them- 
selvs bear the burden of the blame. 
But the case is not a hopeless one. When one is lost in the wil¬ 
derness, it is wiser to look for a way out, than to waste time in at¬ 
tempting to find the man who directed him in. The way out of the 
present trouble, is for farmers to make themselves masters of the 
situation. This mastery can only be gained by an intelligent 
knowledge, not only of the daily routine of their business, but also 
of all their relations in life as producers and citizens. I have often 
thought that of all professions the farmer’s is the one in which there 
is most need of that thorough mental training which gives a man 
the most vigorous use of all his faculties. His calling stands upon 
a broader foundation than any other. He not only has to deal with 
the Jaws of trade in his commercial transactions, but he has also to 
contend with the manifold uncertainties of soil and climate. To 
look in all these different wAys and correctly comprehend the situa¬ 
tion, that advantage may be taken of every favorable opportunity, 
requires the judgment of a carefully trained and well-balanced 
mind. Such an education is out of the reach of this generation of 
farmers, but there are many ways by which knowledge may be gained 
by them if it is sought after, for like everything possessing value, it 
can only be had by paying the price. 
