Why does Franklin's neighbor prefer a "speckled ax"?

Franklin's neighbor prefers a "speckled ax" because he compares it with his virtue and looks at the speckles ax as a symbol of given up struggle.

Explanation:

Benjamin Franklin's neighbor is good at associating meanings to the attributes of inanimate things that we use in our day to day lives. He seems to be a philosophical chap who likes to use articulate language and make other people wonder where does he get those thoughts from.