The Wichita city eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1872-1883, 1873-04-24
Correspondence Of the Eagle
Tho Production and Manufacture Of
Cotton to be the Leading Indus
tries of the Arkansas Valley.

Cotton, to be the Leading Indus
tries Of the Arkansas Valley.
| VALLEY CENTER, sedrwick Co: Kas.,
EDrToR EAGLE: The general dcprcs
sion felt by all classes Of our commu
nifty. consequent upon the scarcity o.
money and the ruinously low prices o.
farm produce, brings home to every
thinking mind the conclusion tina,
farming, in its usual acccptation, III
the Arkansas valley, under present
conditions, will not pay. Then comes
the question: what are we to do, as a
farming community. if farming will
not pay? This becomes very serious
question when we consider that nearly
all the farmers in the Arkansas valley
have invested all their means in farms
which, as experience demonstrates,
will not, at current prices of produce,
realize to their owners fair wages for
their labor, to say nothing about inter-
est on the capital invested in the pur-
chase and improvement Of those farms.
So little has been the demand, and so
trifling the price paid for farm produce
the past winter, that very many farm
ers have not been able to convert into
cash enough of their produce to pay
their taxes, and so have been Obliged
either to borrow money at ruinous
rates to pay them, or let them go III
paid. This state Of things exists be-
cause we produce more than is rcquir-
ed for home consumption, and the rates
of transportation are so extortiOnately
high that we cannot realize anything
by exporting our surplus. But to
know the cause of our distress is not
enough. We must also know the RENE
dy for it. And in our case, the eco
nomical remedies proposed for our
pecuniary distress are as diverse as
those prescribed by patent medicine
quacks for the fever and ague, and, in
my humble opinion, are about as value
less.
One says: "lct the farmer hold his
produce till he can get fair price for
it," Can he do this? Let us see. If
he could dispense with food, and drink.
and raiment. and place of habitation
if he could live by faith alone. or
subsist by "filling his belly with the
east wind" then he might safely follow
this advice, for it would be no matter Of
consequence TO him whether he should
sell his produce at all or not, or what
price he should sell il. But alas for
the farmers in the Arkansas valley! 1t
is essential TO their very existence that
they cat and drink. and as essential to
their personal comfort that they have
raimcnt, and habitation, to defend
them from the fierce penetrating blasts
that career. with merciless sweep. over
our shelterless parties. From these
there is no escape. They are
and must be met. What
then can the farmer do to meet these
but sell his produce for
what is offered him, be the same more
or less? Necessity, with one dash,
brushes aside all laws, all compacts,
and all policies. The farmer must sell
his produce. or at least part of it. for
just what he is offered for IT. in order
to procure other things that are essem-
tial to his life and comfort. He must
pay his taxes, for government, munich |
pal and state, must be supported.
he must provide for his
children. if he has any, the means of
Observation-Disclosures, maps, stationery,
etc. He is liable to sickness. and to
physical injuries, necessitating the |
of medical and surgical
skill, and in such cases requires money |
TO paw his doctors bills. 1t will not
DO TO say that the doctor must take his |
paw i'm produce. for the doctor needs |
money for n variety of purposes. as
well as anybody else. He needs money
to buy his medicines aud surgical in
his groceries. clothing and
furniture. and to pay his house rent |
md servants wages. So. we see that |
the farmer cannot hold his produce till |
he can get fair price for it, even if he
we're sure that by holding ii given
time he could obtain fair value for it.
Hence, this proposed remedy is falla-
,ious.
Another says: Quit raising corr: :
md oats and raise wheat only" Tn
ioubtedly, if we raised wheat enough.
md manufactured -four enough to sup
DIV our own demands, we would be |
argcly benefited, for we would then |
keep at home the money which we now
send out of the country for flour. But
f all raised wheat. as they now do
,orn and oats. the supply would SO far
.xcccd the demand that wheat would !
soon come down to nominal price,
or il would not pay to export the sur
,lus, at the present excessive rates Of
SO this is not an ade-
luate remedy. But now comes an
,ther still, and proposes. as the grand
,anacea for all our ills. ''that we quit
'aising grain altogether, and go TO
'aising stock" This is easier said
han done. II requires a good deal of
,apital TO go into the stock raising
business at all. even on small scale,
n settled country, for in addition to
he purchase Of his stock At the first,
lie must either purchase or rent the
and necessary to Craze them on. and
,ield the necessary provender for them.
md Of course the amount of capital
cquired will be in proportion to the
Gale on which the business is conduct
"a. Now. the great majority of farm
rs in the Arkansas valley. at least in
his portion of it, if they concluded TO
bandon the raising of grain, and be-
axe themselves TO the raising of stock,
ould not, to-day, command money