South Branch intelligencer. [volume] (Romney, Va. [W. Va.]) 1830-1896, 1867-11-22


Tie Brea'lsteg -Narket-T RE Present Csa-
ditdo" If he Farmsrs-A THEORY as 10
Ifeeaildg Htgh Prices fay Cora d Iptea..
From Chicago Letter
The almost unprecedented, and might
say unnecessary high prices of breadstuff.
Is exciting much comment, and much alarm
throughout the country. The fact that in
this city cora is daily selling at 81 % !;
wheat at an average ofS s., and -four a.
Sll, when the yield Of all these staples du-
ring thu past season has been abundant. puz-
zles the judgment Of economists, aud leaves
them n theory ~ which the matter can be
expilnod to their satisfaction In 1860
Ol, when gold was at par, the prices Of those
staples ruled al about oac-thirl their pres
ent value. To-day, when gold is quoted at
III, domcs'ic goods are selling at abou. the
same rates rs previous b the war, and most
manufactured articles Of domestic use in n
sout the same ratio. Oar staple fool costs
Us three prices as compared wish tie figure.
Of the dates named. | have seen many
theories cuunciatel In explanation Of this
remariatle discrepancy, but none which, il
my judgment, meets the merits Of the case.
Let me give you new theory, which. upon
reflection, think you viii iu1or5e. When
the war was inaugurated, most Of our Yves.
tern farmers were poor and in debt. Not
one IN twenty had his farm free from mort
gage. 10 supply Lis family with tie ne
cessarics OF life, almost every farmer was
compelled 10 hypothecate Lis crops before
;hey were gathered, in order that he might
obtain The neccssarics of life; and as soon
rs harvested, they went into the possession
Of lis creditors to liquilIto his obligations.
Ia this way lie barely obtained sufficient
for the support Of his ftmily, and 70 pay
The interest on the mortgage which covered
his farm. This, as have said, was the al
most universal condition Of the Western
farmer.
To-Day, it is not so-au IS GLANCED
The continued rnlo ofhigh prices, following
the immense consumption &c the army
and the appreciation OF gold, doubled and
tre5ied his income, while bis current cxpen-
ses bore no relative increase. The result
was that the farmer soon became inlepan-
dent. IL paiI for his farm, Idol acres
aud stock, and to-day, thousands and thou
sands OF oar farmers have their pockets
we!l-hncI with greea5acks have United
States bonds bearing handsome figures laid
away in their tills; have wheat in their
granary, corn in their crib fat stock in
their pastures; "sheep on thousand hills"
and owe no man cent. They arc not com
PEELED to sell their grain or their stock, anl
will not unless they get their price
If farmer has 4 thousand bushels Of
corn he Will hold on until he gets his price,
and you can't move him. Hemuch prefers
to sell onc-haIf of it at 81 per bushcl. and
take his chances Of selling the rest at the
same figure at some future period, to put
ting the whole lot into the market at one
time aud getting forty to fifty cents for it.
That IS human nature, at least the human
nature OF our Western farmers. And this
they will continue to do until the business
OF farming Is oycrdono by reason Of it's pro-
htaolo character, or the farce of a financial
CONFUSION sends thousands into the bust
ness, who have failed in other pursuits.
The whole story is in nutshell! High
prices make rich farmers, and rich farmers
make high prices.