Vermont telegraph. [volume] (Brandon [Vt.]) 1828-1843, 1838-12-19

PRODUCTION AND CONSUMPTION

Considerable surprise has been manifest
ed Ia various quarters, at the continued high
prices Of grain and other articles of food /:
and much ingenuity has beer displayed in
tracing the effect of prices to their probable
causes. With some the cause is failure
Of crops; others will have the high prices
originate in monopoly and speculation ;
they have been charged upon the banks or
the government; in short there is scarcely
. cause capable Of any effect in PRODUCING
such result, which has not been brought
forward to account for present prices
While all these have had their weight in
producing the effects we witness, we think
the most important of the whole, the rela-
ton existing between production, and con-
sumption, has been comparatively over
looked.
Agriculture lies at the basis of all inter
ssts the production Of food being of para
mount Importance: but the relative pros
perity Of that interest, or rather the price of
agricultural productions, is depending on
the demand for them among other classes
Of the community, such as the mechanic.
commercial, or manufacturing INTEREST,"
The price of provisions will usually, there
fore, correspond to the relative numbers en-
ployed in these grand divisions ), the first,
or the farmers, being the producers; the
latter, or the several classes enumerated.
being the consumers. If in any commune
ty all were producers, it is clear the demand
would be only that of the individual pro-
ducers. il In community all were manu-
facturers or mechanics, all consumers and
none producers, the result may be easily
Imagined: II In this community, the pro-
ducing class exceeded the otheis, proyis-
mn ha lrxw H. 4
course be limited if the consuming class
preponderated, the price of provisions must
rise. Partial failures in the crop; huctua
tons in the money market; and other
causes may aid in influencing or in increas-
ing the operation of this cause. but their
effect can be but temporary, as they never
exist for any length Of time. On the CON
trary, inequality between the production and
consumption, is, from the nature of the
cause, more permanent, as the business and
habits Of large masses of men are changed
slowly and at long intervals. 80
The prices of agricultural produce which
have existed for year or two in this coun-
try, and which appear to have excited so
much surprise, we consider the natural re-
sult Of disparity between the production
and the consumption, the latter exceeding
the former. The producers Of food, or In
other words the farmers, have not increased
IN ratio corresponding to that of the con-
sumers, or the other classes above enumer-
atec. The professional classes in our
country, have increased in greater pro-
portion than that of the farmers, and taken
with the other noa-producers bat consum-
ers Of food, no other result than what we
witness could, have been anticipated. A
large proportion Of the sons Of farmers have
chosen the other kinds OF business OF pro-
fessions named, to that Of their parents !;
manufactures, commerce, mechanics, the
professions, and in too many instances, liy-
ing by hook or by crook" have been pre-
Ssssed 20 the honorable occupation Of the