The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1874-10-10
Depression Of the Agricultural Interest
Its Main Cause and the Remedy.

Its Main Cause and the Remedy.
William Holman writes through the
AMERICAN FARMER as follows:
The continued depression of the ag-
ricultural interest is due alone to bad
management, the want of means, or I'M
favorable seasons. The main cause of
it is to be found in the fact that the
farmer does not receive fair and just
return for the capital invested and the
labor expended on his business. In
other words, he is not paid fair price
for his crops. There is no labor and
toll that equals that of the farmer. 1t
is both arduous and incessant, and tasks
the physical powers to the utmost
Then there is the capital invested in
lands, buildings, stock, agricultural i'm
plements, and the keeping up of his
teams; the wear and tear Of his agri-
cultural implements; the keeping of
his buildings in repair, and many other
expenses too numerous to mention.
The average wages of farm hand
here is about fifty cents per day, and
the farmer can scarcely afford even to
pay that, whilst the most ordinary me-
chanic can get from $500 to $500
On the other hand the farmer has often
to pay the most exorbitant prices for
his fertilizers, and agricultural imple-
ments and machinery. The farmer is
often forced to sell his crops below
the cost of production, whilst the me-
chanic is making the most enormous
profits on his implements and machin-
cry. Take as an example two-horse
pillow, the prime cost of which is about
$500. For such pillow he has to pay
$3.50 or $1,000; and for a one-horse
pillow, costing $3.50, he pays $780,
The manufacturer of agricultural i'm
plements and machinery realizes pro-
fit of from SO to 100 per cent, whilst
the poor farmer not only realizes no
profit, but has often to draw upon his
capital to pay expenses. At the pres
ent price of wheat it will take five
bushels, or nearly the product of an
acre of land. to pay for q one-horse
pillow.
Our best farmers are not wanting in
energy and enterprise, and whilst they
manage we'll and exercise the most rigid
economy and self-denial, they find it the
most difficult thing in the world to bal
ance accounts at the end of the year.
A few fortunate ones realize little
profit, whilst the great masses are grow
ing poorer and poorer every year. AS
before observed, the main cause of this
is that the farmer is not paid fair
price for his crops. 1t is admitted that
the price of agricultural products, like
everything else, is regulated by the nat
ural laws Of trade, supply and demand.
And if these laws were allowed to have
their legitimate workings, the farmer
would have no cause to complain. But
the heartless spectators will not suffer
this; they are constantly at work to
circumvent and counteract these nat
ural laws Hostile combinations are
formed, and regular and systematic
plans are devised and carried out in
order to keep down the prices of agri-
cultural products. What is the RENE
dy for these evils, is the great practical
question now to be solved In the
humble opinion of the writer, CASH and
COOPERATION are the remedies. So
long as the farmer is in debt and deals
on credit, there is no chance for his de-
liverance The farmers must come to-
gether and cooperate, and meet adverse
combination with counter combination;
they must get out of debt so as to be
in condition to act independently
they must be left free to hold back their
crops when prices are low and not re-
munerative, and be at full liberty to
send them to any market they may
choose. The farmer who is in debt is
slave, and there is no bondage more
CALLING and intolerable than that. The
credit system has entailed untold evils
upon the farming interest; it NEcEssI-
TATEs high prices for everything the
farmer buys, and low prices for what
be has to SELL
The laborer is worthy of his hire"
"Render unto every man his DUE" are
Divine precepts which the Spectator
and consumer would do we'll to heed.
Every man who invests his capital in
legitimate business, and works honestly
and faithfully therein, is entitled to
just and fair remuneration for the same;
and when any class of men resort to
unjust and unfair combinations to rob
him of the fruits of his labors, it
amounts to nothing, more or less, than
robbery.
This constant warfare against the ag-
ricultural interest by other interests,
the persistent effort to make an easy
living at the expense of the farmer, is
rapidly working the ruin of ALL Agri-
culture is the great leading interest of
the country, and it is the one upon
which all others mainly depend, and
when that goes down all others must
necessarily follow. Would it not be
well for these varied interests to take a
more enlarged and liberal view of the
situation? Would it not in the end be
far better for them to unite with the
agricultural interest, and thus promote
the general prosperity of the country
and all of its varied interests? These
diversified callings are all valuable and
necessary to the well-being Of the great
body polite, and are not necessarily
antagonistic. On the contrary, when
each one is confined to its legitimate
sphere Of action, the tendency is to
build up and sustain each other There
is a mutual dependence upon each
other. The farmer is as much depend
ent upon these other interests as they
are upon him. 1t is true the consumer
is interested in getting cheap bread,
and it is natural for him to get it as
cheap as he can but if be does this to
the injury of the farmer, it will finally
react upon himself, inasmucb as it will
have the effect of Gripping the farmer,
snd lessening his ability to buy what
he has to sell. And the further effect
will be to compel the farmer to go into
other pursuits where he may be brought
into competition with the consumer.
The farmers must combine, not only