ADDRESS ELIPHALET STONE, OF DEDHAM, DELIVERED AT THE TWENTY-FOURTH ANNUAL EXHIBITION Norfolk Agricultural Society READVILLE, Friday, September 13, 1872 UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS AT AMHERST UNIVERSITY LIBRARY Special Collections & Rare Books Spec. Coll. S 74 N83 S7 1872 ADDRESS ELIPHALET STONE, OF DEDHAM, DELIVERED AT THE TWENTY-FOUKTH ANNUAL EXHIBITION, Norfolk Agricultural Society RE^D VILLE, ON Friday, September 13, 1872 A^IDDRESS. BY ELIPHALET STONE, OF DEDHAM. Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen : It is pleasant to be here to-day, assembled with the farm- ers of Norfolk, and to witness this glorious fruition of their hopes and labors. It is truly the Farmers' Jubilee. To them belong all the credit and glory of this Exhibition, but the joy and felicity of it are shared alike hy all classes. Ar- tisan, lawyer, merchant, clergyman, all are here to partici- pate in the rich pleasures of this festival day. And as our eyes rest with delight upon these varied displays of fruit and flowers and other products of agricultural toil presented here to-day, I am sure there is no heart that is not filled with iu- creased respect for the dignity of labor, and Avith profound gratitude for the bounties and favors of Almighty God. THE UNITY OF INTERESTS. Agriculture and civilization have walked the world to- gether since the pastoral age ; and although agriculture lies at the foundation of all our interests, still it never could reach its highest usefulness without the stimulus of other industries. A community of farmers isolated from other in- fluences will naturally fall into a state of careless indolence, and will cherish no desire beyond their most common necessities. You propose to them to introduce other inter- ests, and they will look upon it as an invasion of their rights. () liiit tilis ispell of apathy being once l)i(jken hy the hitrodiie- tion of manufacturing jDursuits, and the agriculturist will awake from his slothful dreams and co-operate with the gen- eral progress of things, and wonder that the world moves no faster. With industry comes economy ; and when idleness steps out, energy and manhood step in. With manufacturing in- dustry come all the improvements of the age, — better com- mon roads, railroads and canals : waters that have flowed for centuries untamed to the ocean, now turn the Avheels of industry and furnish a highway for the better transportation of the products of the farmer and the manufacturer, creating a home market and cheap carriage for their surplus produc- tions. It is then, and not till then, that the farmer awakes to his own interest. It is then the farmer becomes anxious to probe Nature and wrest from her her richest treasures. His calling assumes a new dignity and importance. It ceases to be a mere means of livelihood, and becomes one of the chief- est instrumentalities of wealth, influence and honor. His land rises in value, his productions are increased, and he supplies himself not only with the necessaries of life, but with its luxuries also, and thus becomes a lord in creation. The farmer who produces food and the raw materials for the manufacturer, must in return receive the products of the manufacturer, such as tools, clothing and furniture ; and the closer their interests are allied, the greater the profits and the cheaper will be their products to each other. The produce of the farm especially will not l)ear a long transportation, as the Cost would absorb the whole profit above production. The cost of food that would feed a tiiou- sand people at home would not feed five hundred at the dis- tance of a hundred miles, without the ready means of steam or water transportation, "^rhus it will be seen that a popula- tion, combining all these interests in close relation, can sup- ply each others' wants much cheaper and to the material ad- vantage of all^ sending the surplus to a foreign market, and bringing in return such articles as are not produced in the home market, and giving to industry its greatest reward. The capital expended in the construction of improved means of communicatioHi will generall}^ repay the cost in the increase of the value of property situated within the range of its business. It brings the producer nearer his market, and he reaps more equal advantages with those who live nearer the cities and large manufacturing towns. The cost of an article depends not only on the production, but also on the cost of bringing it to market. Coal would be valueless at the mines unless there were other means than human poAver to transport it to the consumer. But with steam or railroad facilities it becomes cheap fuel thousands of miles from the mine. And the same power brings all parts of a country into close relationship. Thus all branches of industry help and assist each other, and all are made richer and happier. But the vital utility of manufactures to the farmer is in their subserviency to agriculture, by affording to the husband- man a near and steady home market . They give him the advantage of two markets instead of one ; and instead of quickening the industry and augmenting the resources of other nations, they stimulate and increase the capital and honor of our own. In order to show the more intimate connection between agriculture and its kindred interests, I would refer to a speech of Mr. Stewart, of Pennsylvania, in Congress, on the Woollens Bill of 1828. He said "that he supported the bill from its supposed benefits to agriculture, on the ground that protection to our manufactures created a home market for our farmers which no change in Europe could affect, and prevent the importation of foreign agricul- tural products to the neglect of our own." He continued : "What is the i.nportation of cloth but the importation of agricultural products ? Analyze it, resolve it into its consti- tuent parts or elements, and what is it? Wool and labor. AVhat produces the wool? Grass and grain. What supports lal)or but bread and meat? Cloth is composed of the grass 8 and orain that teed the slieep, and the bread and meat that support the hi1)orer who converts the wool into cloth." He also controverted the idea that the encouragement of manu- factures was injurious to commerce ; and held it to be a sound doctrine, that the prosperity of commerce would always be in proportion to the prosperity of agriculture and manufiictures. Daniel Webster once spoke of agriculture as follows : " It feeds us ; to a great extent it clothes us ; without it we should not have manufactures, we should not have commerce. They all stand together, like pillars in a cluster, the largest in the centre, and that largest is agriculture." Washington said, "I know of no pursuit in which more real and impor- tant service can })e rendered to any country, than by improv- ing her agriculture. A skilful agriculture will constitute one of the mightiest bulwarks of which civil liberty can boast." Did he foresee the great struggle through which his country Avas to pass, and through which it could not have passed triumphantl}^ but with the assistance of this " mighty bul- wark" that compelled the South to give up sooner than she would, had not starvation stared her in the face? It was the lack of bacon and corn, as well as the force of our bullets, that gave us the victory. It was the power we held to sup- ply that mighty army with bread, combined with the bone and sinew of our brave farmer boys, that made the North in- vincible. What could we have done without our railroads ? And what interest, more than any other, built our railroads ? Agriculture and her associate interests, without which they could not be supported to-day. Look at California. A little more than twenty short years have passed since the discovery of her gold. For ten years she poured her vast treasures into the lap of the world, and still she was poor in every qualification that makes a State great and prosperous. She was a non-producer of the great staples. She had but little agriculture, although endowed with a rich virgin soil and the finest climate on the continent. She had no manufactures, and consequent!}" but little com- 9 merce. She was poor iiiclccd with all her gold. She saw her fault, and wisely went to work to correct it. She turned her attention to agriculture and manufiictures, and our ven- erated Honorar}^ President has told us of her present great- ness. There are two periods in the history of our country worthy of note. The lirst was the action of England towards her colonies jirevious to the revolution. She held them in such absolute subjection that, besides the common domestic indus- try and the ordinary mechanical employments, no kind of manufacturing was allowed. In 1750 a manufactory of hats in Massachusetts drew the attention and excited the jealousy of Parliament. All colonial manufactories were declared to be common nuisances, not excepting even forges, in a coun- try possessing in abundance every element for the manufac- ture of iron. In 1770 the great Chatham, alarmed by the first manufacturing attempts of New England, declared that the colonies ought not to l)e allowed to manufacture so much as a hob-nail.* Freed from the trammels which had been imposed upon them, and reduced consequently to their own resources for the supply of their wants, the United States found during the war that manufiictures of every kind had received a remarkable impulse, and that agriculture was de- riving from them such benefits that the value of the soil, as well as the wages of labor, were largely increased in spite of the ravages of war. After the war, the manufactured pro- ducts of England again found an open door ; and encountering the inffiut manufactures of America in free competition, the latter being unal)le to sustain themselves, the industry which had sprung up and prospered during the war was extin- guished. Our manufacturers were ruined, our merchants, even those who had hoped to enrich themselves by importa- tions, became bankrupt ; and all these causes united had such a disastrous influence upon agriculture, that a general depre- * 8ee I/ist. p. 1(;7 ; Hiutoa's U.S., pp- 181-103 ; Tucker, vol. i. p. 81. 10 cialiou ot" real estate followed, and failiii'e ])eeaiiic general among proprietors. American industry mnst have perished in that struggle if the eml^argo, and afterwards the war of 1812, had not come to its relief. In this period, as in that of the war of Independence, the industrial arts received an ex- traordinary impulse. Long experience has tanght ns that agriculture could not arrive at a high degree of jirosperity Avithout manufacturing industry. As Jefferson said, "The prosperity of the coun- try can only be fixed upon a solid basis where the manufac- turers are placed side by side with the agriculturists." Allow me to quote from an address given by Hon. Thomas Allen before the Berkshire Agricultural Society last year. He said, "The stimulus given to production by the late civil war, causing high prices, induced such an increase in the manufacture of agricultural machinery and implements as to more than fill the place of the million of men drawn into the ranks of the army; and the consequence was, that this nation exhibited an example, such as has been never seen in all his- tory, of a people supporting a consuming army of a million in the field of war, yet not only filling the gap, but actually so increasing their domestic products as to create a larger surplus for exportation than ever before. As compared with 18 GO and the years previous, these exports, except cotton only, were actually doubled during the war; and thus our agriculture not only supplied food for the masses of the peo- ple and for the army and navy, ])ut gold for the public treas- ury. What a proud monument is that to the skill of our mechanics and the enterprise of our farmers ! For who can say that but for this wonderful spirit aroused and developed in agriculture, our soldiers could not have been sustained, and the war might have been a failure ? " I think I have shown you that the cultivators of the soil stand pre-eminent among the great industrial classes in our country ; that they feed all other classes and produce all the raw material for the other interests, and constitute the main 11 supporting element of our commerce. I have not lessened the importance of any other interest, but have shown that all stand together in harmonious relations, and that no one in- terest can suffer without affecting the whole. THE INTERESTS OF LABOR. Wealth of itself means nothing more than the possession . of something that has a market value and not possessed by the generality of men. It is only a benefit in the highest degree or sense when its blessings are diffused among all classes. The legitimate purpose of wealth is to ameliorate the human condition as much as possible hy furnishing to man the means of physical comfort and enjoyment, and open- ing a way for his highest moral and intellectual improve- ment. To be effective, Capital and Labor must be on good terms. There is no natural antagonism between them. The true relations of capital and lalwr are best maintained wdiere there is the greatest freedom of competitive industry, and where each is sure of its rew^ard. If injustice comes between them, both must suffer, and in any contention Labor must suffer first, as her wants are immediate ; Capital can stand a longer siege. Both their interests grow out of the wants and demands of the community ; and they ought not to be circumscribed, unless they interfere with morality and the public good. It is to capital we owe our public and private prosperity, and labor partakes as much of its benefits as cap- ital, and oftentimes more. It may be and sometimes is the case, owing to peculiar circumstances, as in some kinds of business during the late war, that capital for the time being may reap a greater reward than labor ; still the time always comes when the tables are turned and labor receives more in proportion than capital. As an illustration of this principle, let us take the woollen manufacturing interests during the late w\ar. Some of these interests enjoyed unprecedented prosperity. The natural effect was to turn into that channel all the available machinery of the country. The war ending 12 suddenly, left this vast ainouiil of machinery in full opera- tion, and consequently the supply soon exceeded the demand. Instead of stoppin^: or turning' a part into other channels, thus reducing the product to the actual demand, the manu- facturer, feeling his strength in the accumulated profits of the past, continued to manufacture until the surplus was thrown on to an overstocked market, and consequently prices fell, in some cases even below the cost of the raw ma- terial. The splendid fortunes made during the continuance of the war soon vanished, and hundreds of millions were thus lost to the capitalists. Fortunate was it for the country, and more especially for the laboring classes, that the capi- talists heeded not the warnings of prudence. Had they stopped manufacturing, it would have depressed all other kinds of business, and deprived the laborer of his employ- ment, and created untold misery and suffering. But on the contrary, wages continued at war prices, and still continue, notwithstanding the decline in the prices of food and cloth- ing. It could be shown that every dollar lost by the man- ufacturer was paid in wages to the laborer. The laborer continued on in prospei'ity while the capitalist lost all. Con- sider the benelits the laborer and the community derived from this sacrifice of capital. It took the splendid fortunes of the past and diffused them through the community. The true interests of the country are pr(nnoted where these powerful industrial elements operate in sympathy and attract instead of repelling each other. We want no antagonism wdiere all ought to confederate for the common good. When we foster the great productive forces which feed and clothe humanity, we bring each calling into amity and reci- procity with all other callings. Thus the great harp of la- bor with its thousand strings, touched as with a master's hand, will vibrate in harmony through all the land. Mighty are the achievements that spring from the union of capital and labor; but their noblest offspring are the homes of our people. It is these that make the chief glory of New Eng- 13 land. Go where yon will, and more especially in the vicin- ity of her cities and large villages, and you will Hnd numer- ous rural homes, owned generally 1)}- the occupants, and surrounded by beautiful trees and flowers and tastefid gar- dens. These are not the houses of the rich alone : a major- ity, a large majority, belong to the middle and even i)oorer classes. There is not a spot on the continent where the people are so well fed and so comfortal)ly housed as in the "Old Bay State. " There is no spot on this beautiful earth where the poorer classes are so well fed, so well clothed and so well to do, in all that confers comfort and happiness upon the in- dividual. There is no place where the laborer receives greater reward for his toil, where he can enjoy so many blessings, free as the air he breathes, as here in our own New England. Our schools are free to all, ignorance has no excuse, and the poor shall not want. The character of a people may always be correctly judged by their surroundings ; and it is these influences that have made us what we are, — the most moral and the liest educated, as a whole, in the world. The spirit of our institutions being against large landed proprietors, brings the diflerent classes more closely into connnunion of tastes and habits ; and a correct taste once formed in a conmnmit}' becomes dif- fused through the whole, thus elevating the whole mass. Let the political hucksters who are prowling up and down the land, striving to create an antagonism between the la- borer and his employer, turn their attention to the bettering the condition of the honest poor in their home surroundings, and they would confer a real l)lessing upon the whole com- munity. Let them associate with others having capital ; let them secure lands in healthy locations, lay out streets and ornament them with trees and shrul)s, and I)uild neat and comfortable dwellings ; then let them take these men by the hand, and say to them, "One of these hoiues can be yours if you will ; industry, economy and sobriety Avill make 14 them 3-ours ; " unci they will thu.s open u fountuin in that man's heart that has been closed to its own interests by the ice of envy and jealousy. The cry of these agitators is, "We uuist elevate labor." Yes ; but you must elevate the laborer lirst. You cannot raise the stream al)ove the fountain. The thermometer of manhood will indicate every degree of excellence ; and when the mercury has risen above the freezing point of the lower passions into the genial warmth of a higher manhood, then, and not till then, will his virtues bud and blossom. To ele- vate the laborer you must first create a desire in him to bet- ter his condition ; then show him a plausible way to do it. Desire is the mainspring to all endeavor, both good and evil ; and when the desire of a man goes no further than to work that he may eat and drink, there is not much chance to dig- nify labor. Inspire the laborer with new incentives, awaken a laudable self-esteem, and he will work with a will. As- sure him he may have a comturtable homstead for his family, and the motive to exertion will put the eight and ten hour system out of his mind. The allui'ements of home will absorb all inclination to roam from place to place. He will discover that he has something to live for, and thus become a satis- tied, loyal citizen, a sustainer of the laws that before seemed enactetl for his oppression. To place before men reasonable objects of am1)ition, and exalt their aims, is praiseworthy in the sight of all men. There are but few natures so lost to the dignity of manhood that they will l^Hray the confidence reposed in them. The interest of agriculture is the interest of humanity. Seven eighths of the population of the most civilized nations arc engaged in it, and it mainly feeds the inhabitants of the globe, estimated at more than one thousand millions. Nev- cj-theless there exists a prejudice against farming. This is not all from the outside. There is a lack of contidence among the farmers themselves. They think that other in- terests and professions make a greater show in the world ; 15 that it is easier to get riulies and honor in the workshop or connting-room than on the farm. This is erroneous ; but still the influence of this impression is as injurious as though it were actually true. Therefore any measures calculated to instill a greater respect for the farmer's calling will in a measure effect a cure. What avc want is to create an enthu- siasm among the fiirmers, make them feel that their calling is respectalde and respected. They will thus receive afresh im- pulse and inspiration. Let our young men but imbibe this spir- it, and they will impart it to all with whom they come in con- tact. The farm is the great nursery of all the professions as well as the industrial arts of the country. From the hills and valleys of New England, fresh and vigorous come the strong recruits to lill the vacant places of honor, influence and power. The heated air of the factory, workshop and count- ing-room is not conducive to the growth of substantial men. These only grow to perfection in the free air of our hillsides and valleys ; and "the nearer the soil, the better the stock." We always speak of the firmer's profits comparatively. We compare his success with that of the merchant or manu- facturer, and even then we do not take them generally, but individually. We take isolated cases of success. In consid- ering the profitableness of farming we should remember that farmers nowhere live so well and spend so much money on themselves and families as in New England. In the lan- guage of another, "There are none that make the soil con- tribute so much to the soul and character ; none who use such excellent instruments ; none who have more convenient buildings ; none who educate their children better, and none whose real manhood is more purely developed in all the im- portant relations of life." The present is a fast age, especially with us Yankees. Everybody is in a hurry to get rich, and few are willing to bide their time and patiently pursue the intermediate steps necessary to obtain this result. We all want to begin where our fathers left ofl". But experience teaches us that success 16 is nirely o1)taiiictl except through patient industry persis- tentlj^ pursued through many years. It is only time and in- dustry that build the fabric statel}^ and strong. It is the restlessness and impatience that cause so many failures in life ; and the farmer is no exception to this rule. But more persons succeed in agriculture, in proportion to the number employed in it, than in any other calling. Certain conditions are requisite to success in any business ; and with these secured, prosperity is sure to follow. One great secret of success in any l)usiness is a love of the calling. One's heart must be in it. He must have faith and confidence, and then go ahead. Again, he must under- stand his calling. If the farmer ploughs deep he must manure accordingly. So, too, he must be frugal, turning everything into grist. If we gather hay we must rake after, as success often depends upon the gleanings. It is the last ounce that tips the scale. I have said that the condition of a people may he correctly judged by their surroundings. This is particularly true of the farmer. Go where you will, and you can tell a thrifty farmer the moment your eye rests on his grounds. What- ever a man loves to do he will generally do well, and he will do it with an earnestness that overcomes all obstacles. On the contrary, where there is indifference nothing is done as it should be. When the farmer is earnest he is enthusiastic, and his work is a pleasure and delight ; and order, neatness and happiness are the result. The man who is a farmer by accident or force of circumstances, and has no love for the calling, can never succeed. His fingers are as stiff and cold as his heart, and they will not work. I assure you, my friends, that there is nothing that adds a more abiding charm and satisfaction to one's life and experience than the pursuit of agriculture. You, Mr. President, will allow me to quote from a most able address, given before this Society more than tAventy years ago by one of its founders and most noble benefactors, whose memory "still lives" in the hearts of its 17 nieiiibers, and will be cherished long after those that knew him here shall have passed away. He said, "The desire to get rid of farm work should not exist among the young men of an agricultur^ people ; and yet it would be uncharitable to keep them all at home when the cities cannot live without them. It is the fresh activity of the country that feeds the healthy growth and vigor of the town ; and the most distinguished instances of success in pro- fessional, mercantile or mechanical life may l)e traced back to the farm. The raw 1)oy who to-day makes his lirst acquain- tance with the crowded street, in everybody's way, as he stares with dazzled eyes and open mouth at the shop windows and moving wonders about him, will in a few years be found one of the conscript fathers of the city ; a leader among the able and enterprising, a founder of public charities, a bene- factor to the poor, a man of great heart and open hand, mighty in the money market, yet not unmindful that he be- gan with nothing, and readv to assist and encourao-e those who are starting on the same capital. Go to the luxurious mansion of this successful man when he shall have obtained the full zenith of prosperity. Ask him, as he is surrounded b}^ everything th^ is supposed to make existence desirable, on what portion of his eventful life he looks back with most satisfaction. Will he dwell on connnercial gains, or profes- sional eminence, or political honors? Oh, no! He will turn coldly from these aims of his uneasy life back to the time when he knew nothing of the busy world before him, and he will glow with pride as he honestly boasts of his for- mer skill with the scythe, or of the rods of stone wall he as- sisted to lay on his father's farm. He will tell you that often as he has struggled in the hard battle of life, when disap- pointment, which comes to all, has visited him, and as he has been weighed down by a sense of the worthlessness of the prize which has been the object of his exertions, the happy spot where he once played and worked has arisen T)e- fore him to rel)uke him with the peace he abandoned. He 18 will say how he has ho[)ed lu have, one