A CLASS ABOUT TO BECOME EXTINCT.

Southland Times, Volume 2, Issue 86, 1 September 1863, Page 6 (Supplement)

A CLASS ABOUT TO BECOME EXTINCT.

" THE FARMERS ON THEIR LAST LEGS."! The prospects of the Scotch farmers appear to be at present, very black. A Scotch paper has the following converf sation on ! the subject : — ' ' , Persons represented— Ralph ak» Willie. < Ralph — How does it come about that the farmers are so wretchedly, far through — fairly in the t " wilderness," is the Bailie said at the Brig ,0' Allan the other night ? ■ Willie — It's very easy to see how that happens. For a number o' years >ast the lairds ■or factors, or baith hegither, hae been steadily screwin' ip the rents, and Providence, somehow, las been as steadily screwin' down the veather, till ' atween the twa opposin' orces the puir tenant is just about queezed oot 0' his professional existnce. Ralph — But will they really be so ery bad as they are represented— will there no* be a nest egg yet ? I Willie — Whare'er there are farmers I* capital independent o' their farms, Ihey can live at ony time an' ony where, ftiit the mass o' common farmers are Ibmpletely mil kit, for there hae been a leries o f ill years in succession — an' the ■ay things are noo-a-days, it needs the ■ery best o' seasons to gar the twa ends Beet, an* supposin* there were nae ill lears farmers coudna male siller. I Ralph — Hech, man! it was lucky nat you an* I left the soil when we left m. If we had remained at the plough, me wud hae be at the same pass, instead I'oor bit dainty bundle o' notes in the lank. ■ Willie — Quite true? I hae made Hair siller in ae year at what I'm at Kan ony ten o' the best years when I Kid the farm. But, man, a changelouse is no' the very best way to bring ft) a family in ; an* your trade o' Kshin' has its drawback as weel ; it's Hit a rough phase o' civilisatson to be ■tntnually among blood and slauchter Hte the Amerikans. ■ Ralph — Faith, I differ frae you ; Hitter a bluidy bit than nae bit ava. Hie farmers must soon be oot o' house Hi 7 hauld ; an' what's to come o' them? IWillie — The lairds will keep their Hes on that. Shrewd folk feed their Bry bees when they are starving, an' ■ink you the proprietors will allow the Hrmers — their bee — to tumble through Heer exhaustion ? It's no very likely. HRalph — But, man, the lairds dinna Hlieve that the farmers are so sair done Has they really are. They think that Hmers bae their land for half naething Han', atween oursel's, the count the Hiants a parcel o* croakers, who are H* o'er sair addicted to speakin 1 th" especially whene'er they begin to about the worth o' land. On ing else the upright farmer is usually ■ lited. H^innE — Truth, man, will mak itsel' even in Pandemonium. 1 that word out o' Milton. Man, he finely the gettin' o' Cain — bauds " the mirror up tae nature, 5 ' were; which wid ha'e mad him although he had written else. — I ken naething about Milsave that he'll hae been a Scotchman* But I was saying that there He lots o' upright men among the ; but losh, man, there are also o' swicks. — Nae doubt o' that, since Providence an' proprietors are them through the mill ; for, as nane o 1 the twa are addicted to if they be only fairly dealt — But Providence has nae an' its just as weel, for generally are nae easier dealt wi' than Nae doubt there may be cause — for thinkin' men-are believin' that there are causes for everything universe, an' the present aspect is but the posterity, as it o' previous causes, and so on back the past eternity. But tae the They need to be sicker someor they wid be swam pit, for there numbers o* farmers moderately at drivin' a bargain ; besides, like everything else, appear frae different points o' view. o' them that are counted severe wid be the very men we wad for factors if we were lairds — an* the lairds wish them to the whup a wee, just to gar the cattle cock their lugs an' look an' often back them out o' scrapes tenants for the mere sake o' authority. I've seen me on our dog's side sometimes — I kent weel eneugh that he the fa ut— just to save the honor flesh cart. I ken some noblefar seein' chaps among them — the safest course to keep out o' debt ; and generally they wadna lang if they had rents to pay, nae doubt they think differthemselves ; for it's ae thing to a laird at your back, bearin' a' expenses— it's anither to farm wi' on your front haudin' out his the rent, especially if the office tesomes becomes bankH &s it has been for some years best farmers, as such, kittle box, standin' atween the an' the deep sea, or rather atween Sea and the Egyptians — atween and the lairds — a sair link in the great chain o' soTbe lairds maun hae their due, merchants, an' a' the ither host maun hae theirs ; servants hae their as weel, an' when the a failure, whaur is it a' to come Folk, say, 'take frae a guid year an ill ane, forgettin' that nooit takes a guid year to sair itsel' the rents are a' adjusted to an- , giud seasons, as if the maist

o' them" were nae ; ill anes. De'il tak' it, if farmers had no'- been reared amid adversity frae .their infancy, there wad hae been mair suicides - v amang them — but whiles there ' no' able . to buy a rope'. ' ' ' RALPHr— Or maybe they'll be frichtet for the De'il, for although they are no' weel aff here, they ken — at least some b f them — that they will be nae better in the ither world ; for I hae noticed that the preachin' and the prayin' sort o' them aye send quickest for the doctor if onything ails wi' them. They ken fine-that the spurious coin will no pass current yonder. Wilme — Belter that they had ne'er b.een born than become bankrupts in baith worlds ; but they should get this year in this ane at least fifty per cent, o' discoont frae their rents,-— it wad aye help something. Ralph — There are hunders o' them wadna rally although they wad get a* that; they've fairly lost their feet, an' are just sittin' on their hunkers, and the very stoutest o' them are but hirpling on stilts, I think this will cure them o f speechifying for a wMIe. Willie — I wadna mind their speakin' whiles if their speeches were nae sae wersk. It's no the best farmers that are maist addicted to this vice ; it's aften the toom barrel that has the loudest echo. Lots o* them hae a propensity for gettin' on an eminence, although their brains can hardly carry so far : they just like to be up although their heads are a wee dizzy. Ralph — There is ae thing I ken, an' it's this — whate'er state their heads may be in, their tails are gayan sair in the well at present. But guid day, Willie, we've crackit far o'er lang. Drip Moss.