The Jackson standard. [volume] (Jackson C.H., Ohio) 1847-1888, 1874-11-12
From the Scientific American.
Bulls on the Track.


Horace Greeley used to compare peo
pie, whose opposition to the normal pro
gress of affairs was more Jealous thar
discreet. to a plucky but shortslghteo
bull who tried one day to stop a raw ',;9 dy
train to Chappauua The result was uls
astrous-chiefv to the bull. haa Iht
honest old gentleman lived to witness
the revolt of the Wisconsin larhieI
against the social and material prospSii;S pp5 :;
of their State, he would have 1ouIu -, -
! their bovine attempts striking anu very
pertinent occasion for recalling the oo--
parison.
From higher point Of view, the action
of the farmer class affords perfect
though costly illustration of the inability
of human kind to profit by the fate OF
| Others men as well as bulls 1t furnish
es also one more proof OF the law OF hu'
man development, that all societies pro-
ceed from barbarism upward along prac-
! tically the same course, marked by the
same characteristic stages, which may be
more or less rapidly passed over, but
which can never altogether be avoided.
One of the earliest steps which men
| take toward social improvement is that
of combination. Unfortunately, howev-
er, first combinations among men are al
ways of offensive ends, and are always
destructive in their reaction. The first
gang of prehistoric savages who ever put
their shoulders in line for common pur-
pose doubtless had in view the wlplng
out of encroaching neighbors more
enlightened self interest would have
taught them that, in their severe strug-
gle with the forces of nature not war,
but friendly alliance, with all other men
~ al
dial tendency crops out continually in
the history of human progress. Nations
spend ages-and their own manhood as
well-in destructive wrangling, to dis
cover at last that friendship and mutual
help fulness would have been infinitely
better for both sides. And as with ma
tions, SO with the integral parts of ma
tions Each class must learn its wisdom
by independent experience.
When the mechanic classes first reached
the combining stage of development,
they straightway declared war against
capital, against machinery, against rival
labor, against the inevitable, generally.
Gradually, through bitter disappoint-
ment and loss and suffering the more
intelligent are learning that the wiser
course is to form closer and more AMIGA
BILE alliances with all productive interests,
especially with the men without whose
money and organizing ability their own
exertions would be prevented or render
ed profitless.
The farmers turn has come now, and
they seem bent on going through the
same unsatisfactory mill. They have
discovered that there is strength in un-
ion, for them as for others; but they-at
least those of Wisconsin-haye not
learned that it is madness to use their
strength in overturning the cornerstone
of their own prosperity. 1t may be
hopeless to expect them to profit much
by the dear-bought wisdom of the class
es which have preceded them along the
same line of intellectual ana moral de-
velopment; nevertheless it is safe to
PREDICT that it will not take them many
years to learn that the independent
farmer" in these days does not stand
alone in the world; that his interests are
inextricably blended with the interests
of others, even those of the obnoxious
railway magnate; and that in the long
run general regard for the Golde Runle
will not seriously conflict with the ad-
vancement of agriculture.
Descending from general principles to
special facts, it might be instructive to
the Wisconsin farmers to give an impair
tial thought to the relation which the
railroads bear to their present condition,
to consider seriously their Indebtedness |
to these enterprises, and to speculate a
little in regard to the retroactive effect |
on their own prosperity, likely to result |
from the pressure they have brought to |
bear on these arteries of civilization.
The Providence which causes great |
rivers to flow by great towns for the adj
vancement of commerce is seen not less
clearly in the distribution of railways
particularly in the West. As a rule |
they led the way, while population, and
all that population brings, has followed
after. Without them, except perhaps
along the water courses, the country
would have been to-day a wilderness.
Contrast the rapid growth of Wisconsin
with the slow development of States, I'M
the days before the Trail with dash)
began to supersede the Indian trail;
States which, like New York. were bless
ed with infinitely superior natural adj
vantages, both from position on the
coast and because of their facilities for
internal communication by water. Or
contrast those parts of Wisconsin which
railways traverse with those which knew
them not; and it may be possible to es-
timate vaguely the influence which rail-
ways have had on the States develop |
ment.
In lS50-two years after Wisconsin be /
came a State-a census taker found a
population of 305, 900, or 6 to the square
mile. There were then three railway |
men in the State, and forty thousand .
farmers with improved lands amounting .
to one million acres, and about the same |
number of acres unimproved the average
value of both together being less than |
ten dollars an acre. The aggregate
wealth of the State in real and personal |
property was $42, 100000 or less than
$40 head In 1870 the number OF
persons engaged in agricultural work in
the State was 10000 of whom 100000 re-
ported themselves as farmers and plant
ers. The aggregate population exceed
ing 1,055, 900, or 90 to the square mile. |
The value of the farms, now showing |
six million acres of improved lands had
increased in amount from less than $50, |
900, 900 in 1880 to over S300000000 in
1870 From less than ten dollars an
acre, the average value of the farm land,
improved or unimproved, had increased |