People's Pilot, Volume 3, Number 30, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 12 January 1894 — An Open Letter. [ARTICLE]

An Open Letter.

To The Famrers of Jasper County: The Farmers’ Institute, of Jasper county, will bp held at the Court House in Rensselaer, on the 25th and 26th inst., and a very interesting program is prepared for the occasion. Consequently every farmer should be “right in it” from start to finish. The Legislature of this state has made an appropriation of forty dollars to aid eftcb POqqfy ip the state in carrying on Farmers’ Institutes, though at the time the appropriation was made the state had an indebtedness reaching into millions of dollars, and our Legislature was equal to the occasion and found some way not to pay the debt and so keep it drawing interest, so that the farmers should not be hurt. How thankful we should be (?) that they thought of us. Yet, since the appropriation was made farm products have declined in price from fifteen to twentyfive per cent., while taxes have —well, we, as farmers, know how it js. The first subject tp which your attention will be particularly called will be; “The leak on the farm, and how to stop it.” That there has and does exist such a thing as a leak on the farm, we have been tolerably well aware of for the past twenty years, and have we not, as a class, been working early and late to stop that leak, while eVery year it has grown worse? It njay be that we do not work just qt the right time or in the proper manner. Since opr lawmakers have been so considerate in our behalf (?) let us take an interest in it.

Another subject is: “The advantage (to whom?) of tenantry over hired labor.” Well, a few more Giffords and the continuance of the privilege which some men hfye and exercise of exacting, from two to three per cent, a month for money, and that question will be permanently settled in favor of tenantry. You will also hear something about “The past, present and future of farming in Indiana.” Perhaps we can learn the reason why we used to get good prices for our produce, while present prices are below the cost of production. We know something of the “past” and are quite likely to remember “the present,” but if the “future” is to continue in the same direction th present is taking us', we will be constrained to ask. '“where are we at.?” This last subject'contains; food for thought, snd while we have so much leisure, owiqg to “OyOf production,’ 1 ’ iqt us do a little thinking for Since our jaw makeyg take so deep an interest ip ps tannery jhrp out to the institute. Seeing you ggt jisle <?r nothing for your labor, day? will be no great loss to you, Th®F e are thousands of men who have nothing to do, while the farmers soityefrhing to do, but get (next to) nothing fpr & As farmers we must take mor© jnijgr?st in our calling, and see to ft that qua' ij< toiQSts are cared for m a way wjll enable us to retain a reasonable portion of tjie fruits of our labor. We <?l'qss “who feed the world,” ’and’Wliy not take some part in the coming mstoXe? Abpp,t ,tfyi our Farmers’ Institute takes place, congress will be discussing the tariff bill, with the view to ah issue of #200,000.000 bonds, with the further view to settle the tenantry and hired labor ques- » r • • I . • » I ; . '

tion. So let us come out to our institute, for the great question, according to Ben Harrison, is to be, “How shall the poor be made contented (that will be hard to do if they're hungry), and the rich secure? (Looks as though they were tolerably so already). In the language of President Yeoman, “Every farmer should be present.” A Farmer.