Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1873-11-04
.TIIE RAILRoADs am THE rAR1s.


Of the railroads and the farms. This
essay, which is an exhaustivean search
ing analysis Of question of great in
portance, and much misunderstood, de-
serves careful consideration by all those
who desire to understand the nature of
the great evil of the day, and to apply
to 1t wise and efficient remedy. AS
Mr.. Grosvenor says, the farmers s'be-
hefs as to the cause of existing evils,
and the best remedy, whether correct
or not, viii soon take the shape of laws"
In other words, the time has now come,
when the farmer is going to take the
lobby-room-not Of gread or presump-
ton, butof right. Heis to give direction
to legislation ON a question which has
proved itself too much fo1'fo1mer legis-
latures. How responsible, then, and how
difficult his position. 1t should be the
desire of the country, therefore, and
especially of the farmers, to master
the question before them. Mr.. Gros-
Venor's paper is decidedly the ablest
that has been written on the subject of
transportation, since the question was
sprung; because it is exhaustive and
logical, and based on surprising array
of pertinent facts. 1t has been much
commented upon by the press, and gen
orally spoken of in the most favorable
terms. We have carefully read it, and
propose to give the substance of the
argument IN as short space as posi-
BILE What follows then is only an
abridgment:
The few men who control the great
railway lines, have it in their power to
strip Western agriculture of all its
earnings-not after the manner of an
Gent highwaymen by defiance of law
and society The bandits Of modern
civilization, who enrich themselves by
the plumber Of others, come with chests
full of charters; judges are their friends,
if not their tools, and they WELD no
weapon more alarming than the little
pencil, with which they calculate differ
ences of rate, apparently so insignifi-
cant that public opinion wonders why
the farmer should complain about such
trihes. Yet the farmers have com
planned, and complaining in vain, have
got angry. When large bodies of men
get angry, the results are likely to be
important though they may not always
prove benefcent.. Mr.. Grosvenor con-
tinues:
"The progress of civilization in other
lands is toward cheaper transportation and |
better wages for the producer. Russia
pushes railroads through her vast territory.
in order that her subjects may obtain at the |
Baltic and Black seas better pay for their |
industry. We cannot maintain sufficient |
private markets Of cur own, nor force up |
ward prices in those great markets of the |
world upon which OURS depend. IT, while |
the world makes transportation cheaper, |
we make it more costly, the loss will be |
our Own. This the farmer believes we are |
doing. lie declares that others, who stand |
between him and the consumer, amass |
great wealth, while pinching economy bare
y saves him subsistence and does not keep |
him from debt. His beliefs. as tothe cause |
Of existing evils and the best remedy, |
whether correct or not. viii soon take the
shape Of laws. lie has The votes. Before
that power. legislators drop like leaves
shaken by the autumn wind. Governors,
politicians e all grades. crush each other
in their hurry - seize the new standard.
Lawyers who DO not forget the Dartmouth |
College ease. already end themselves ineli-
gible to the Judiciary. Has not this same
generation set its heel upon the bred Scott
decision? Reverence for judicial prece-
dents is a dam which floods have carried
away. Restraints devised by founders of
orr government no longer bar the people
from their viii. We have trusted all power
to the majority. II its own opinion is in
error, we have but one remedy-that free
dom cf discussion which remains the only
safeguard OF Our institutions. 1t seems
strange, no doubt, to those who Go not
know, that a change Of one-twen.ieth Of a
mill per hundred pounds, in the charge of
per mile, may take hundreds
OF millions from the actual value of FARMS"
Yet this is true, as we shall show.
About 100000 bushels of wheat,
tons of hay, and l,012, 000,-
900 bushels Of cereals are annually pro-
duced by eleven Of the Northwestern
States. The Northwestern States not
only must produce cereals, but must
produce a surplus. Probably eight
million tons of grain, besides hay and
other products of the farm, go forth
from this fertile region each year in
search Of distant markets. Because
the surplus is so great, distant markets
must in a great degree control the price
Of the whole crop. This has been veri-
fed by observed facts during the years
1863, 20 and II. For those years the
average price Of Western corn deliv-
cred in New York was 873 cents per
bushel; the price Of the same in
Cincinnati was 648 cents per bushel;
% cents per bushel, which
was precisely the cost of transportation
between the two points. Likewise, the
in price Of corn in Chicago
and New York was just equal to the
cost of transportation between those
two points. Thus, generally speaking,
the price of cereals IN the West is equal
to the price in the East, less the cost
Of transportation For this reason an
of one cent per bushel in cost
Of transportation is ordinarily followed
by a reduction Of one cent per bushel
in Western prices. Let us now sup
pose an increase Of five cents per hun
ired pounds on through rates from the
West 20 the East How much Will it re- ]
1uce the actual value Of Western farms?
An increase Of five cents per hundred
pounds is equivalent to three cents q {
bushel on wheat; two cents and eight
5enths on rye and corn; one cent and '
siy-tanths on oats. and two cents and S