Wm.—Oh, no, no! I don’t believe that our money circulation should be increased one dollar, but that a certain amount of silver should be substituted in place of the same amount of gold to be withdrawn from circulation; this, as I said before, would have the effect of causing a more extended circulation of money throughout the country, which again would have the effect of creating a wider field for the distribution of labor. Now, am I not right, Jo?
Jo.—Yes, I think you are, and the good effects that would result would be only a question of time. But allow me to ask if there do not exist other causes why the sons and daughters of the farmers are so ready to leave their homes and crowd into the towns and cities, besides the desire to make money easier and quicker?
W.—Oh, yes! Yet these other causes are the effects of the causes before mentioned, for the farmers themselves, the great majority of them, look upon farming as simply a business speculation, and that it is really necessary to make all the money possible in order to make it pay; this kind of farming means hard work for all, and drudgery for the women folks, and to escape from it the only refuge is the city; but that ain’t farming, Jo.
Jo.—No, it is not. Whilst up in the country I made a visit to a farm house where I often visited in early days, and the old lady had much to say about the desolate appearance of the country now that the younger ones had all left. “Well,” says she “the farmers themselves are the cause of it all, for all they thought about was what money they could make off the farm, and they didn’t seem to realize that there was any use at all in trying to fix up the place for a pleasant home for the boys and girls, that would induce them to remain with us; our boys have been gone now for many years, and rather than to see the girls worn out with this endless drudgery, I advised them several years ago to go into the village and work in the factory.
“Oh, yes,” she continued “we have the farm here yet, what there is left of it, but it wouldn’t sell for enough now to pay off the mortgage; do you see yonder the 50-acre lot where we used to raise such large crops of corn; it is all covered now with weeds and briars for it has been farmed to death, and just see the poor crows sitting on the fence beyond; they, too, seem to realize the situation, and every little while they fly over the cornfield and wonder, I suppose, why the boys don’t start to planting corn. I really pity them.” The old lady continued by saying “farming is not now what it was when I was a girl; then the farmers took a pride in fixing up and making the house and grounds attractive, and there was a pleasure then in living upon the old homestead until we children all got married and moved away. Well, I am thankful that my girls didn’t marry farmers; they are not wealthy, they both married mechanics down in the village; they have nice comfortable homes and pretty children; are happy, and I am contented, and I expect that we will soon move down into the village, too, for there is a man here who wants to take the place to work upon shares for a few years, and I guess he can have it as long as he wants it.”
W.—Yes, the picture you have drawn of that section of the country, Jo, will apply equally as well to other parts of the country, for the great desire to make money by farming has been the ruin of some of our most valuable farming lands. Well, I must leave you now, but please tell me, Jo, why you brought your mining tools with you? Did you expect to strike a lead on the way across the continent?
Jo.—Well, yes, I thought it possible. How is the bed rock over there under your bank, pitching?
W.—— Yes, but we don’t allow any prospecting or panning around there; call in and see us, Jo, but don’t bring your mining tools along, so good-day.
NAMES OF PIONEERS.
Following are the names of Members of the Pioneer Association of San Francisco: