The progressive farmer and southern farm gazette., October 29, 1910, Page 744, Image 12

About The progressive farmer and southern farm gazette. (Starkville, Miss.) 1910-1920

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SNAPSHOTS OF JAPANESE LIFE
AND PHILOSOPHY.
(Continued from page 741.)
seem ludicrous, but when you come
to your hotel dining-room, and
the inexpressibly dainty little Jap
anese girls, moving almost noise
lessly on their sandaled feet (no
getas indoors) welcome each guest
with smiling bows, happy, refined
and graceful, a very different im
pression of Japanese courtesy comes
over you. In America, unfortunate
ly, the like courteous attention un
der such circumstances might be mis
interpreted, but not so here: you are
only reminded of how a thousand
years of courtesy and gentle manners
have given the women of Japan—
pretty though they are not, judged
by our Western standards—an un
surpassed grace of manner and hap
piness of disposition together with
Shakespeare’s well-praised“voice, soft
and low, an excellent thing in wom
an.” And here and everywhere, as
in the old fable of the man with the
overcoat, must not such sun-like gen
tleness be more powerful in compell
ing deference than all the stormy
strength of the "new woman”?
Which reminds me that however
much the social, political and eco
nomic revolution of the last forty
years may have changed the national
character—and upon this point I
shall not speak till later—it is cer
tain that Old Japan and the Old
South were distinguished for not a
few characteristics in common. Thus
when Will Adams, the English navi
gator, came to this country 300 years
ago, he wrote that the people were
“good of nature, courteous out of
measure, and valiant in war,” quali
ties for which the Old South, along
with the graciousness of its women,
was famous, as indeed I hope our sec
tion will always be. Moreover, we
are further reminded of the South’s
own ante-bellum civilization when we
learn that in Old Japan “the business
of money-making was held in con
tempt by the superior classes,” and
of all forms of business, agriculture
was held in highest esteem. Next to
the nobility stood the Samurai or
soldier class, the social rank -of all
other persons then being as follows:
(1) Farmers, (2) Artisans, (3)
Merchants; and farming was thus not
only regarded as the most honorable
of all occupations, but farmers in the
early ages were privileged to wear
swords, the emblem of rank next to
the nobility. Below the farmers rank
ed the mechanic element, while as
Lafacadia Hearn tells us:
The commercial class (A
Kindo) including bankers, mer
chants, shopkeepers, and trad
ers of all kinds, was the lowest
officially recognized. The busi
ness of money-makhig was held
in contempt by the superior
classes; and all methods of prof
iting by the purchase and re
sale of the produce of labor
f were regarded as dishonorable.
n't ’ ' There ,s generally, in
militant society, small respect
for the common forms of labor.
But in Old Japan the occupa
tions of the farmer and the arti
san were not despised; trade
alone appears to have been con
sidered degrading, and the dis
tinction may have been partly
a moral one.”
I wonder if there is not really a
great deal in what Hearn here sug
gests as to the soundness and essen
tial morality of the Japanese plan
or ranking fanning and manufactur
ing above trade as occupations? Cer
tainly I have been much Impressed
by the evils into which the South U
now running as a result of the senti
ment of the opposite sort. Morallj
economically, the men who pro
dure wealth deserve most honor—
serve the world best; the men who
trade or barter in the products of
other men’s labor are, in limited
numbers, necessary and useful ser
vants of those who do produce, but
the strength of a State, manifestly,
lies in the classes who are really cre
ators of values. The man who pro
duces Southern meat and not the
man who sells Western meat, for ex
ample, the man who manufactures
Southern goods, not the man who
traffics in Northern goods—he is the
one who is going to make the South
great; and even if we in the South
were not importers, to a shameful
extent, of a thousand things we
might make at home in farms, fac
tories or workshops, it would still be
true that we have too many who are
mere traffickers in other men’s pro
duce instead of being actual produc
ers themselves.
It seems to me, indeed, that there
are few things of which the South
stands in sorer need right now than
the revival of just this old Japanese
“moral distinction” as to the relative
worth of the producing and non
producing classes. The ambitious
young man in the North and West
ia likplV to tnk<* nn farmlmr
raising or manufacturing: productive
lines which positively add something
to the world’s and the State’s stock
of wealth; an ambitious young
Southerner, on the other hand, is too
likely to start a store in a place
where there are already twice as
many as the community requires
from an economic standpoint, or a
hank in a town that may already
have four where it only needs one, or
else he may hang out a lawyer’s
shingle where the legal fraternity
are already fighting the Torrens Sys
tem in order to keep business enough
for them to live on.
It is not that these non-producing
businesses are not just as honorable,
to the extent—and only to the extent
—that they may be needed for the
service of the producing and consum
ing classes, but the trouble in the
South is that there in these lines
just twice as many men as are need
ed, economically considered, and our
section can never develop as It
should until It is the ambition of
young men to turn into lines that
actually produce wealth and power—
until, in short, we revive and empha
size the classic Japanese "moral dis
tinction’’ as to the greater funda
mental importance of the classes and
the men w'ho are actual creators of
values.
In the next place, In Old Japan
there was no room for the wanton
display of wealth: and It Is to be
hoped that neither In New Japan nor
In the twentieth century South will
there will there be any change In the
requirement of simple living as a
mark of good breeding—although
there are occasional discouraging
symptoms, and at Nlkko only this
week my Southern pride was some
what hurt when I discovered tljat
the gorgeously arrayed, cigarette
smoking Miss (or Mrs.?) Moneybags,
fresh from Reno to get a fashionable
divorce, was the daughter of a South
ern man who has made a fortune and
lost something better: the old-fash
ioned standards that would have
saved any Southern woman from
either a Reno divorce or a reputation
as a gambler. Especially In this era
of American development and mush
room wealth, Is there not need for
all of us to preach as never before
both the essential Immorality of
waste and the essential vulgarity of
ostentation? The sentiment of the
Old South upon these points wan also
the sentiment of Old Japan, and I
am sending with this article an ex
tract from Lafcadlo Hearn’s “Ko
koro,” In which he presents the Jap
anese viewpoint, with striking force.
Illustrating it by two sayings of lyeya
su—lyeyasu, whom I regard as per
haps the greatest Boldier and states
WINCHESTER
RIFLE and PISTOL
CARTRIDGES
On account of being manufac
turers of firearms as well, the
Winchester company are pecu
liarly able to know the best
requirements for ammunition. j
This partially answers the
question often asked: “ Why
do Winchester cartridges
excel ? ” The rest of the answer
is contained in their large, modem plant and their ex
tensive knowledge of the firearms and ammunition business.
Winchester Cartridges are made for all makes of rifles and
p*istols and always give entire satisfaction.
FOR SALE BY DEALERS EVERYWHERE.
1
man in Japanese history, of whose
world-renowned tomb at Nikko, with
its 25-mile avenue of giant crypto
merias I shall have more to say in
a later letter.
FARMERS’ NATIONAL CONGRESS.
The Farmers’ National Convention,
in session at Omaha, Neb., Oct. 5 to
12, elected Joshua Strange, of In
diana, President; Geo. M. Whitakers,
Washington, D. C., Secretary, and
John M. Stahl, of Illinois, Legislative
Agent.
The meeting was reported a suc
cess, although the attendance was
scarcely so large as usual.
Resolutions were adopted as fol
lows:
1. Re-afflrmlng position on immi
gration.
2. Urging more liberal appropria
tions for agricultural colleges and
experiment stations.
3. Favoring conservation of for
ests and minerals.
4. Favoring an amendment to the
Constitution which will prohibit the
Introduction into any State of an ar
ticle whose sale there Is forbidden.
5. Favoring National and State
control of public service corporations,
especially railroads and express com
panies.
**— DESTROY
SAN JOSE SCALE'NOW
WHILE TREES ARE DORMANT
Many tree* not sprayed during the Fall for
Scale dig during toe winter On* tree aavsd
m»«r* more than coat of spraying orchard
Authorities recommend Pall spraying more
than ever.
‘ IION BRAND"
UMT SULPHUR SOLUTION
te acknowleged the most effective and Rafael
•yray Heady for inm* late uh. Sold at a
price lower than can be made at Ik me. or than
any other brar d of »t.n*ard ineerttadde
LION HR A Nil * Is moat accurately made
of tha pureet ingr dtente. and m- et nronomt
cal to use. and 1* endorsed by Experimental
S »lions and prominent fruit growers evarv
where
largest factories in the world and twenty
two years of experience bark of them We !
manufacture abentutoly nothing but spraying '
materials and inearth idee
Wrta for FHI E BOOK aa
WHIN. WHY AND HOW TO SPRAY
THE J AMES A. Bl ANCH AND CO
5P» Na*t». Tsianst DeMIsf NTW rot OTT
Fartoriee. New York and St Joaaph. Mich
Breeder's Cards
AND
Farmers' Exchange
“**? .Jr*"*1? In thto d-partmant
and to thia atyU type at Um rate ofTmattoa
f~T. v*; V” r** * —*• .^d‘
tnraa waafca. 8 ranti; four wweha. 10 cwnta
thrm month* 80 cwnta; ato month* 10 cento*
«»r«ar.»eanta Each word number eg toiUaj
(Including nem* and eddrweal counted m a an
parata word Hand caah with ardor If the
r.U —m. hi*h. m»U ll w^Od |ii!
raur “* h* tatar to
to which wr carry It al thla low
>p* •“tohd for amount* taaa than 81.
AngmHau Ml*«!fl,t,r"d *'*•'*»■ «- E “•rtln.
«t^Ju£ MuJ>UrW J,r~y' H ^ Anthony.
WG.
Wanlad Sttffolk or Yorh.hlre Hog. Addrana
A .1 Krie.il, Houia 1. Cantor. Mia. ..
11 S2&C»«r h""u/**H"*?,*• Cockerel*. »1 fiO; lyp.
>1 Z* por 16. Murray huger*. Macon Mia*.
SJOacre. eut-orer timber land, nicely lac.t*,l
5U“* payment., J. li Wcl.born. SuISJuto;
Rcgl.tered Jnmoo Uu'l for Bale or each**.. 71
safiair***-*““■ “•c«
f^ag'.parttr's.awsf
L r- hhod*#. Hay Minctte. Ala.
Onto two more White Orpington Cock««d. on
y»rd. for sale ut f.t.QO each. Order uuirk Mr*
Minnie (J. Wood. Frank villa, Ala.
lirotia1* whT |,ony Colu- **'•
View harm Hi “T1!* **»»*Mrar. Mountain
v M ^ 1 nrTn. nine Mountain Ml«t.
Wanted A "Ingle man to work farm by the
fye*rCW8 ,S“Ury wJK month
btia. m£;J ^ Norlh rpl»d Avenue. ColtUD*
J”** Cheap—One regiatered Hull. 4 yrara
mokthi'olt,,"‘i* .,nl0ckw Tw" yt,un* Hull.. R
pIWh ’ “Ch' N F Hamlin. Wr.t
Our advertiser* are guaraatead.
o. r avoring laws ror a Federal
valuation of railroads.
7. Favoring legislation that will
make It impossible to sell oleomar
garine as butter.
8. Favoring a law forbidding In
terstate common carriers taking In
toxicating liquors Into dry territory.
9. Indorsing the tariff commission
Idea.
10. Affirming position In favor of
conservation.
11. Favoring a National and State
soil survey.
12. Favoring the establishment of
State conservation commissions.
13. Favoring legislation for the
protection of travelers on railways.
14. Favoring an experimental par
cels post and urging members to
write Congressmen In favor of It
FARMER BOV
learn practical Z™ dniJyl™" Add™.*0
W T. A T 8. WEST JR
Woodland Plantation. Hammond. La.
BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY
Party having plantation In Termhr.nne Pariah I.,
wlahnn aaaorlatn having a thorough Wnnwlrdvr to
til,orn«,rrd*n<1vr"i*e *torl5;0 Adwith suallftra
New «r|,e.~.”u“*, _ Rt0rl<1" ^ H- Fr""‘
Capable Married Man wanm
arw/as.-- B°* r‘'m 1 I-*-!