Newspapers / The Carolina Union Farmer … / May 16, 1912, edition 1 / Page 5
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Thursday, May 16, 1912.] THE CAROLINA UNION FARMER Page Five The **Quitter** Does Himself an Injury With the Farmers* Union at High Tide, says Barrett, the **Quitter** Indicts Himself as Less Than a Man, and Works Injustice to Himself and his Children— Peter Was once a **Quitter,** but his Repentance Is One of the Finest Chapters in Biblical History, Peter, who denied Christ thrice, 'vas one of the greatest “quitters” in all history, but he repented, and his sublime atonement is one of the finest chapters in the story of Chris tianity, standing forever as a sublime lesson to the great tribe of “quitters.” There are plenty in the Farmers’ Union who belong in that tribe. I want to say a few words of brotherly admonition to them.' For with the organization stronger than at any time since its founding, it grieves me to see a few short-sighted farmers cut themselves off from its advant ages. It may be that you quit because the order didn’t revolutionize the earth a month after you joined. You forget that tremendous results are accomplished slowly, that it took ages for the little coral pebbles to build up the State of Florida, and big islands by piling their bodies one on top of the other. You forgot than evils and ignorance that have been centuries in accumulating ca.n’t be wiped out in a day or a night. It may be that you quit because, when you entered the organization, you were full of steam and ginger and spent it all in the first few local meetings without setting the brethren on fire. Steam anti ginger are good things — indispensable things — but they ought to be nursed carefully and distributed gradually as you go along. If you gush out all your en thusiasm in one grand spasm, you won’t have any left to meet the big tasks and ordeals that are insepara ble from an organization of this na tional scope, and unprecented nature. It may be that you quit because you had a little streak of crookedness in you, and saw you could go back on the organization, or on some one of its enterprises, and get a trifling mess of pottage for your treachery. Bene dict Arnold figured it out the same way. He got his pottage, all right. Put he died the most execrated man in America, the man ‘most held in contempt in England, which had brought him, and there were no lov ing respectful hands to smoothe his pillow as he passed away in that ionely London attic. It may be that you quit because you found some deviltry in the organ ization, ,many specks of rottenness, Sraft here and there, incompetence. Selfishness on the part of leaders, a tendency to play the organization for their political advantage. All these things have happened in the Farmers’ Union. Nobody with any sense or candor denies that. They have also hapened in all the churches, in all the secret orders, in all business, in every feature of private life. You on’t lay down and die when you find ®^hy one of these weakness in one or Piore of these places. But just be cause it crops up in a farmers’ organ- zation—which is made up of fallible nman beings—you want to kick I" Sht out. I tell you right now, that fining the Farmers’ Union doesn’t ake a man, automatically, an angel. ® have just as many devils as any ^^ganization of similar size.. You . be surprised when you find cm in your immediate vicinity. If j desert because you do find them, stead of jumping into the ranks and Plag, either to cure them or eject them, you ought to be ashamed to look your wife in the face. I look at the hundreds of thou sands of faithful members who have plodded along with the long, hard, patient pull—enduring, fighting and seeing just the evils you see—and then regard you with a feeling blend ed of contempt and pity and a long ing to reason you out of your folly. It isn’t the Farmers’ Union you dam age when you quit it in a fit of sulks It’s yourself, your wife, and your children. For every one of you who lays down his musket and turns tail, or becomes a knocker, there are a dozen who enlist, who boost and who develop the sense to see that because the organization isn’t perfect there is no excuse for their leaving it. The deserter is everywhere held in lothing. He is about the lowest cre ature under God’s sun. The coward who flinches in the face of danger or inconvenience, is no better. You all know how the world feels toward the few men who showed the white feath er when the big Titanic went down? Well, the fellow who deserts the craft of the Farmers’ Union for some fan cied or real grievance—and there are plenty of the latter—doesn’t deserve any higher place in human estima tion than the buzzards who proved craven on the Titanic. Come back, you quitters. Study the ?tory of Peter, of Benedict Arnold, of all the greater quitters. In Peter’s case, the quitter who recovered his nerve and manhood did more valiant service than many of those who had never dreamed of deserting. You can do the same. There is no nobler work on the Almighty’s foot-stool than sacrifice and labor for one’s fel lows—work and sacrifice when it seems that neither is to count for much, when ingratitude looks like your main reward and when you are tempted to take the easy instead of the hard road. But, bear in mind, we are engaged in the holiest work in civilization’s history—the effort to bring into his rights and his full man’s stature the farmer, that mem ber of the race who has suffered most neglect and from misunder standing, frequently from the avarice of his own fellows, not to mention outsiders. Are you going to stop sulk ing, and help us in a movement that promises to be one of the greatest achievements America will ever give the world? CHARLES S. BARRETT. Union City, Ga., May 8, 1912. Jefferson Standard Life Insurance Company HOME OFFICE, RALEIGH, N. C. Strong, Conservative and a Sure Protection SURPLUS TO POLICYHOLDERS, $500,239.15 ALL PLANS OF LEGITIMATE INSURANCE AT LOWEST RATES CONSISTENT WITH SAFETY, By giving us your insurance, North Carolina reaps a benefit and at the same time you get “Value Received” for your investments. JOS. G. BROWN, President. P D- gold, Jr CHAS. W. GOLD, Vice Pres. & Gen. Mgr. Sec’y & Supt. of Agents. Small Carrie was inspecting her grandfather’s peach orchard, and no ticing a tree with neither fruit nor leaves, she asked what kind It was. Upon being told that .it was a dead peach tree, she said: “Oh, yes; that’s the kind dried peaches grow on.” It is related of Phillips Brooks that once when passing through an ave nue in Boston he saw a youngster trying in vain to reach a door-bell. The clergyman was in a hurry, but with his usual kindness of heart he mounted the steps and rang the bell, only to be startled by the urchin as he clattered Into the street: “Now run—run as fast as ever you can.” to Money? We Want a Good Man in every County in North Carolina to solicit subscriptions for the Carolina Union Farmer. Do Not Apply Unless You Mean Business and Can Deliver the Goods, Good Pay tor Right Parlies Send name and address and tell us how much time you can devote to the work, and we will give you full instructions! Carolina Union Farmer CIRCULATION DEPARTMENT Raleigh, North Carolina 1' ii! I a i j:l 1 .i 'i
The Carolina Union Farmer (Charlotte, N.C.)
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May 16, 1912, edition 1
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