The Minnesota pioneer. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn. Territory) 1849-1855, 1849-06-21


clay that lies between him aud his market,
the half-starved cattle that bear his miser-
able crop. Here we have the same state of
things; and both here and there it may be
traced 10 the same cause /: necessity Ia
neither can men exercise power over the
rich soils, because In neither have men pow
er over themselves; and until they shall have
it, they must contISac 10 Az from rich soils
capable Of yielding tons, ~ aid Of whose
manure poor soils nag AZ IL sbriched, to poor
soils becousing daily poorer, because to them
even the uaAnure yielded by their own little
product cannot be retwrned. They borrow
from the earth, and they do not repay; and
therefore it is that they find an empty ex-
chequer: performing thus the process that
farmers are enabled to avoid, when, as in
England and New England, the consumer
takes his place by the side of the producer.
Therefore it is that the average produce of
New York is but fourteen bushels of wheat
10 the acre, while that of Ohio is even less,
although acres may readily be made to yield
forty or fifty bushels; and therefore it is that
the average produce OF Indian corn is but
twenty-five. when it should be Il hundred
bushels, and that of potatoes but ninety when
il might be four hundred bushels.
If we desire To understand the cause of
tutSc i"t>, We
obtain what we want by taking bird's-eye
view of farmhouse of Western Pennsyl-
vania, near neighbor to the rich meadow
land above Described. The farmer is read
ing the newspaper. anxious to know what
are the crops Of England, and whether or
not the rot has destroyed the potatoe crop Of
ireland. Last year many of the people Of
Europe starved: but, he sold his crop at Il
good price, and paid off his debts. This
year be wishes to purchase new wagon.
and 70 add 10 his stock Of horses; bur, un-
happily for him, the farmers have had IA
y0rable season, and the rot has not appeared
10 ireland. Starvation will not sweep off its
thousands, and he viii get neither horses nor
wagon.
His eldest son is preparing to remove TO
the West, TO raise wheat on dry lands in
Wisconsin or Iowa, and TO send to the al
ready Overstocked markets increased sup
plies Of food. His daughter is gricving for
the approaching loss Of her brother; and Of
her sweetheart, the son of the neighboring
woolgrower who i about to leave for
Michigan 10 raise wool, that ne may com
pete with his father. who is studying care
fully the newspapers hoping to see that the
sheep of Australia have rotted OF and thus
diminished the supply of wool. He wants
10 pay Off his debts, but this he cannot do,
unless the price of wool should rise, and
thus increase the difficulty Of obtaining
clothing. Why do these sons move off? Il
is because there is M demand for labor
All the land is held in large farms, because
sis" pnrs,,sl .,i,sr.,s,S ct,i' du7tt asni farrs'
ers that would live at all must farm and
fence in great deal of land, where a dozen
bushels to the acre are considered Il good
crop. Why does he not clear some of the
meadow land? IL is because there is no de-
nand for milk, or for fresh meat for hay,
or turuips, or potatoes; or for any of those
things of which the earth yields largely, and
which from their bulk viii not bear car
racc. He knows that when the great ma
chine yields by tons, the product is worth
little unless there lie mouths on the spot to
eat it, but that when he restricts it TO bush
els the product may be transported to the
mouths. There is no demand for timber
for all the young men fly to the West, and
new houses are not needed. The timber is
valueiesS; and the land is not worth clear
Ing to raise wheat, almost the only product
of the earth that will bear carriage. 10
clear an acre would cost as much as would
buy dozen in Iowa; and the product Of
four acres at ten bushels each, would be
equal TO one of forty. He therefore goes
To the \, est to raise more wheat; and his
friend goes To raise more wool; and his Sis
ter re.naius at home unmarried Why does
she not marry, and accompany her lover
IL is because she has found no demand for
her labor, and has earned no wages TO en-
able her to contribute to the expenses Of
furnishing the house.
Here, then, we have labor, male and fe-
male. Superabundant for want Of wages with
IN; al, i
food superintendent, for want of mouths to
eat it; clothing material superintendent, for
want of people to wear it; timber super
abundant, for want Of people DESTROYS Of
building houses; fertile land superintendent,
for want Of people 10 drink milk and eat
butter and veal; and poor land superabund-
ant, for want of the manure that has for
ages accumulated in the river bottom; while
the men who might eat the veal and drink
the milk produced Oh rich lands flying
to the West 10 waste their labor on poor
ones; those who should be consumers of
food becoming producers of food.
Why is this' 1t is because they want
market at which the labor, male and fe
male: the food and the wool: can be ex-
changed for each other They want
wocIens mill, and had they this, the sons
would stay al home and eat food, instead of
going abroad to produce more. The daugh-
ters would marry, and would want houses
The timber would he cleared, and the fertile
lands would he cultivated. The manure
would be made, and the poor lands would
be made rich. The milk would be drunk.
and the veal would be eaten, and the swamps
would be drained to make meadows. The
saw-mll would come, and the sawyer would
eat corn. The blacksmith, the tailor, the
halter, and the printer would come, and all
would eat corn. The town would grow up,
and acres would become lots. The farms
would be diyided, and the fencing of each
would he diminished. The railroad would
be made, and the coal and iron would come;
and with each step in this progress, the
farmer would obtain better price for his