, 1873-06-23
NORTHERN AND SOUTHERN AGRICULTURE

NORTHERN AND SOUTHERN AGRICULTURE.
In discussing tho oiroct Of tho presont tariff
upon agriculture, values and products Of tho
whole country in 1860 and 1870 hn7o been COM
pared, without allowance for tho OBJECT of war
upon the Southern statos. The rcasons which
Justify this comparison mny not at first thought
occur to all roaderB.
It is very clear, tho domand from abroad for
agricultural products having not relatively do
creased since 1860, that, ii tho people OF this
country continue to consume as much per capita
of agricultural products aa they did be-
fore tho war, tho aggregate production
must increase aa inst as tho population,
and failure in any State to increase
in that ratio tho production of any crop must
causo production cf that or some equivalent crop
in other 8tatos to increase in still greater ra-
tio. Otherwise, tho supply must fall below tho
dcmand, tho price must riso, and II, uudor this
atimulua, tho deficiency in ono quarter oannot
bo compensated by increase In somo other quar-
ter, the permanent increase OF price must afford
to tho farmer as large d return for tho small "a
cotton and tobacco pay as much to the growor,
and to- tho country in value Of exports, as tic
larger crops Of 1860. But II no boundary
Of climate or soil limits production, do
fcienoy In ono quarter must inevitably pro-
duce increase In some other,-domand for con-
sumption and export growing with population.
Hence comparison OF products Of former frco
statos separately wonld be essentially unjust,
and, for fair argument, worthless. II they have
increased the production Of any article, 1t may
DO the result. not Of any general prosperity, not
Of IN increased ability of tho poople to conBumo
but so1ely Of failure in the production Of the
Same article in former slave 8tatoa This has
boon the case in the production Of corn which has
decreased 118.00o,oo0 bushels in the former
elave states, and increased only Il 900 600 bush-
OILS in tho free States, 80 that tho entiro supply
for consumption and expectation ia still 77,0oo,-
600 below tho supply in 1860. As tho price hos
not advanced, though population has increased
1t is plain TINT tho consumption has In some way
boon greatly retarded. Yet separate exam
ination Of tho production Of FREQ statos would
have given tho false impression that domaud for
consumption and production had both Increased,
though eyon there not as faBt as popula-
ton. With all tho facts before uB, no
find that the increase at tho North has
not sufflcoc to supply reduced conBump-
tion at tho South, and that evon in tho
Northern States the consumption Of this crop
per capita must hayo decreased. This illustra-
ton clearly provos tho wortllossness Of any
comparison Of products in Nortlorn States alono,
as evidence Of tho Objects OF tho tariff upon agri-
culture.
Yot another reason is found In tho grcat NIL
grafton, during and aftor the war, from tho
UnioniBts, many more Of tho colored people,
loft the South whilo the War was In progross,
and have since added tho products OF thoir
labor to those Of other States. After tho
war, in somo quarters great migration Of
Union mon took place, and in others great mi
grafton Of participants in rebellion; States oon-
trolled by tho unreconHtruoted element loBt
largely Of Union men, white and black; stntos
controlled by military authority or colored yoterB
lost largely Of participants in rebellion. Cali
fornia, Oregon, Kansas, and Nebraska, with
othoF statos, gained tho industry Of hosta of
southerners, Who now that slavery wan'
no longer possible, chose to link tholr
fortunes with the enterprise and moro rapid
progroas Of states settled by FREQ labor. Tho in-
duatry Of these migrated workers. wlllte aud
black, Union and Robel, gooa to swo1l tho
production Of tho former FREQ States considered
aoparhtoy, and got may add no moro to tho na-
tional woalth than It did before thoir migratton.
To compare productions or ya1uea Of Northorn
States alo1lo would DO to include al this increase
Of production III result Of systom OF taxation
which had nothing to do with tho migration.
One othor reason remains Neither tho wasto
of war nor the change in tho syatom Of labor
has preyonted marvellous inoroaBo Of produc-
ton and Of value Of farms In aome Of the
States most exposed to injury from those Causes.
II liko increase has not followed In all the
Southern gtatos, the fact must be traced either
to political disorders, to ourtailment Of the
aggregate demand, or 10 an increase In Tho coat