The Rock Island daily Argus. [volume] (Rock Island, Ill.) 1872-1873, 1873-08-05

SIXTY BUSHELS OF CORN BUY TWO PAIRS
OF BOYS BOOTS.
Il can give you some striking examples
Of the profit of raising corn and wheat in
this vicinity. IL you desire. One forenoon
a man went past here with load
of 60 bushels of corn. lie said that
he had come a long distance-hau start
ed at four O'Clock in the morning As
he returned In the afternoon, | asked him
how much he had got for his load of corn.
He held up two pairs of boys boots, and
said that his 60 bushels of corn, and 81
in cash had Just purchased them 1t took
at least seven days labor Of man and
team 70 raise that corn, and another long
day 10 haul il 10 market ~ say nothing OF
interest on the farmers investment and
other expenses. Judge that each pair OF
boots cost about five Gays labor or ITS /
equivalent. | knew another man who took .
ton Of corn 10 market for the purpose OF
buying coal. 1t purchased Just ton, and |
he spent day with his team in hauling |
One year / raised 5000 bushels OF wheat,
and kept a careful account OF its cost.
When I sold il, and balanced my books,
found that / had for my own labor, which
had not charged, and that Of my wife,
who had terribly hard time Of it cooking
for harvesters and threshers during the
hot weather Of midsummer, Just $500
Why, Sir, 81 900 would not have paid for
that summers work Wheat is so uncer
tain crop, il has so many enemies from
the tirqe il is sown until il is threshed, and
it is so exacting Of the farmer who must
attend 10 IL at a certain time, or he will
lose it. that we can't afford 20 raise il for
less than 90 cents bushel,
Now there is something wrong in all OF
this. With our productive soil, and taclll-
ties for reaching market the farmers OF
Illinois ought 10 be fore handed, comtOr-
tably housed and clothed, and able 10 save
little every year, instead " getting deep
or and deeper into debt. We are an intel
ligent hard working, economical people
aud every one Of us who owns his farm is
10 that extent q capitalist and we ought
10 be able as well as the jourueymen NE
chanic, with less education than we and no
capital IL is not right that the Chicago,
Burlington and Quincy Railroad, which
only moves our crop to Chicago distance
Of l32 miles, and the trade in that city who
handles it, should be growing enormously
rich, while We are growing poorer. 1t /,
not worth / cents Il bushel 10 take our
corn from here to Chicago aud the rail
road that is charging il is robbing Us Of 4
part Of the fruits Of our labor
RELATIVE ENHANCEMENT OF FARM AND
RAILROAD PROPERTY.
Mr.. Walker, the President of this road,
told me that railroad property in Illinois
was not profitable, and while he admitted
that his road was one of the few that are
paying dividends, inferred from what he
said that it was making only fair profits, 90
| remarked He said, also, that when
You farmers complain that railroad curpor-
ati0ns are getting rich, you forget that
while your farms were bought for from
) % 10 s. an acre, they are now worth
on an average, from $50 to S75, and some OF
them even 500.
We don't forget that said Mr.. Smith
but let us see, now, how much it amounts
10. This country was settled about A.
years ago by men who came into what was
then wilderness, lived for years in log
cabins, and were deprived Of every com
fort and luxury of civilized life. Suppose
that they had remained and still hold the
land, Its enhancement represents all those
priyations, and besides the toll not only of
the head Of the family but in many cases
OF all It's members for Az years Fifty
dollars an acre is a high price for the
average land in this county, The increase
in value on an SO-acre farm has been less
than $4,000 Beside this we have barely
made living. Perhaps Mr.. Walker and
his family would like TO try it
And now in regard to this railroad I'll
give you few facts and then you can see
whether 1t is paying more than fair per
centage or not Ii has paid a dividend
from the ~ mud IN, "A l;ts.,, e.. h.,
il has been constantly laying by a surplus
Sometimes this surplus has been used tc
water the stock, and sometimes in other
ways, as ] will tell you The road has nu-
merous branches or feeders. Each of
these has been nOminally built by sepa-
rate company. The towns along the line
have been induced 10 subscribe for stock
and give town or county bonds for it
These bonds have paid for grading anC
putting down the ties Then the company
has mUrtguged the road to raise money Il
complete It, In few years it has to be
sold for the benefit of the mortgages the
stock, which is mostly held by the town,
and counties, and for which they ISSUED
their bonds, is wiped out, the Burlington
Railroad buys the branch for perhaps one
half OF two-thrds its cost, paws the mort
gage out Of its surplus, issues new stocl
and divides it among its own stockholders
These men that get the stock never paid ;
cent for it. In some cases, instead of di
yiding new stock, they divide the bonds
a dividend of this kind amounting to Is,
per cent Of the capital having been recently
made. ! have been told of a man who's,
original investment Of $500 IN the stock o
this road has increased to $2UOOO.
don't beheye il, but do believe that ever,
dollar worth Of stock originally put il
has been so much watered as 10 represen
now good many dollars
THE CHARGE OF EXTOBTGON PERSISTED IN
You say President Walker told VOL
tina. 1t required large sums of money l.
increase the efficiency OF the railroads a
the country becomes more densely settled
We don object 10 that II road need
10 be extended, let the company issue ne,
stock and get the money for it, No farme
in this State will complain a. long as tn
railroads do not make more than 10 pc
cent on the money actually paid in. VIVA
we do object to is paying such cxOrbitan
rates for freight; we don't think it RICH
that this Burlington road should be able
beside paying a dividend to lay by a sur
plus then, when they spend that surplu
in building a new road, they ought not I
expect the farmers 10 pay them such hig
rates that they can divide 10 per cent o.
their surplus In other words, they ex
tort from us, unjustly, $l,OO0OOO, am
then come and expect to realize, out of on
crops, ~ per cent on thomoney that ough
TO be in our pockets 1hat's what we cal
extortiOn.
Judge Beckwith, of the Alton road, tell
you that millions OF dollars have been sun
in the railroads of this State / have II
doubt that is true. He says that il go
take the cost of each item that entered il
to the construction of road there is not
road in the State that pays a fair percent
age ON that amount. Well, what Of it
Docs Judge Beckwith expect 10 get /
per cent interest ON all the money that la
been annk In esta hlishinr rnilrnnds2 SnI