The States and Union. [volume] (Ashland, Ohio) 1868-1872, 1869-10-06

a quarter section, and the mors desti.
tute paupers each had two. Laughter. I
j. Well, my friends, it is because ev-
erything we are forced to hdrehase is
so high in price that our wheatfs 50 low.
And there is a problem here Z would
have liked ito workR out, for fours7mu-
tual satisfaction, had your committed
givenfi fihe the opportunity ~" tWetake
a bushcl Of wheatto the nearest rail-
road depot, and'sell it for what the
commission merchant assures us is it's
,yaluej and there we lose sight of il. -
II would wish to follow that bdshel of
wheat to its final destination, and be-
lieve that, in so doing, would solve
the problem. / could 1 believe, de-
mohstrate that, not only the value of
our staple depends upon the purchases
we make abroad. That is, the dealer
In Europe says to rts, sI will take your
wheat at a fair profit to you if you in
turn will purchase of me what I have
to SELL" This is the law of trade the
world over, and you can not have a
market that governs trade if you do
not obey the law 'hti 'a-'4 -nI -. q
" RUSSIAN COMPETITION. o."
This has been demonstrated for years
past by the Russian wheat grower.
The grain growing region of Russia is
of sufficient extent, and rich enough in
soil, and SO well favored by climate,
that it could be made the granary of
the world. The laborer there tolls in
his skin coat and wooden shoes for
sixteen dollars year. And yet I
could raise a bushel of wheat in Logan
County, Ohio, cart it across q good
share of our continent, and then ship
it over a wide ocean, to Liverpool, and
undersell the. Russian wheat grower,
and why? Because I would take
broadcloth the Russian did not wear,
nor want, and silks he had no use ior,
and plows, and hoes, and harrows, and
the thousand and one manufactured
articles the Englishman had, of the
best quality, at the lowest rate. ..,...
i THE HOME MARKET. ..i.5..
But, says one, is it not better to
have this market at home, and save
the heavy cost of transportation and
so keep the profits among ourselves ?
Certainly, my Christian friend. if the
thing We're possible; but we are try
ing the home market now. Our Amer
ican commerce abroad, once our pride,
has nearly disappeared. Ship-build-
ing has ceased to be an item in our
statistical returns. And what is the
RESULT A ruin to agriculture. We
an Of
this moment, not single farm in Lo-
gan county tt at is not for salc.i Our
young men crowd into the towns and
cities; our old men look longingly to
the far West. And why? Because
we are trying the experiment of a
home market. Il AS by the law oftrade.
our wheat would be taken to Europe
and return to us in the shape of man.
ufactured articles, a law of Congress
has been passed forbidding such ex-
change, and forcing. us to sell to, or at
least to purchase of, New England.
And what is the result D. Why,
while New England has no end of
manufactured articles to sell us at ver5
high figures, she has no demand for
our produce. New England raises
sufficient on her rocky soil to support
her populations, so our wheat may rot
in our granaries or be sold, at loss, to
be paid for there in manufactured ar
ticles that are enormously dear. .sl
My patriotic and Christian friend,
who suggests the home market forgets,
if he ever knew, WEIGH is doubtful,
that while we have a surplus of agri-
cultural production, there is surplus
of labor in Europe, and common sense,
which is the foundation of the laws of
trade, dictates an exchange. 3.
And this great continent of ours,
over which the American eagle scars
and screams, and the star spangled
banner waves in triumph, and, all that
sort of thing, is an agricultural region.
The millions that have opened for
themselves position among the ma
tions of the earth; have built up from
the ground. From ocean to ocean,
from lakes to thegulf, we have world
created for agriculture. b.. ..-t-iz -
"'Tis a land of lake and river, s.sii.
yifis With prairies fair between; &C.,
A land of corn, and wheat, that wears
Gods livery of green" .y-.-.
Now we do not sell to the manufac-
turers of Europe. We sell to Il e
crowded millions, who are forced to
look abroad for bread. The manufac-
turers there make but a small number
of consumers. They are, in fact, only
the brokers who purchase for others,
and our customers use their articles to
pay for our produce If it were pos
sible to have, not only the manufactu-
rers, but the millions of consumers,
we could have the much desiiel home
market. But this 'iS, rs l have said
before, an impossibility. The thou
sands on thousands of laborers, who
re lew yearly our American blood, by
emigration to these shores, become ag-
riculturists as soon as they land and
add to the population of farmers.
Machinery used in manufacturing
does not consume breadstuffs. We
have now enough running TO supply
us with all the articles we need, and
viii tell you what you can do, and so
dispose of this humbug of home mar
ket. It would give pleasure to do it
for you, if your committee had only
shown the good taste and sound judg-
ment to invite ME to speak, so that
might have prepared myself. But,
you turn to the census, or any other
source of correct information, and set
down the exact number Of manufactu-
rers in the United States that are pro.