The Middlebury register. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1850-1882, 1874-02-03
The Complaints of Farmers J..

rymeu's Association, by DIR. q. i. Cole,
President Of the st. Lawrence County
Dairymen's Association
Promising that he was moro accustom.
ed to speaking on medical than agrcultu-
raj subjects, what he had to say would be
hash Of what he had real, seen, felt
and heard. lie would consider the rela-
tions OF the farmer to other classes and
his social and political status. First, then,
they claim that they are oppressed, aud
the claim cannot be talked down, written
down, nor snocred down (mark that well }
Good authority says that the best farms,
well managed, do not pay three per cent.
They complain that they work hard, live
poor, dress moor and are seen by their
servants, the officials, only on election
days; that their hard hands and thick
boots meet with cold reception in the par
ors Of the opulent, and that all other in-
dustries are better paid than theirs. lie
had lot been long farmer, but long en-.
ough to know that there is some founda.
ZION for these complaints
There Is something wrong IN the United
States a. well as rotten IN Denmark. lie
had heard hul!ei'headed man III 1t. AL.
bans, whom they called Judge" pass
sneerlng remark about the farmers, but
having practlccd medlclne among them
more than twenty five years, he was sat
isfod they were as good as other people
All classes Of laborers, except farmers
have their Unions their compacts and
methods Of protection, and Just in propUr-
lion to the beue6ts they receive therefrom
are they aggressive upon w.. Not a strike
made by the miners Of Pennsylvania or
the shoemakers of Massachusetts but hits
the farmer in Vermont. Every hour ia.
ken from the artizen's day of labor adds
two to ours, aud every dollar added to
his wages takes as much from ours. Can
we afford to stand idle spectators of the
consolidation oi every interest but ours
without an effort at sel'-deience? Ihese
combinations must be resisted with their
own tactics or we must succumb, as does
every dlsorganized force when coping
with organization md discipline, While
we are feeding others for less than half
the former cost, they, hy their sompacts,
are compelling Us to pay as much or more.
All the concessions made to the cxigen'
cies OF the times are made on the cost Of
raw material. We pay as much Tor clo-
'hlng ana aGFi'u'lurdI Implement, - We
Hld whcn 1t cost TAO "ofthdn tNiec as
much to ilVe ~ nov.
II is NtoIIdity to suppose that 10 one is
concerned II these things but the eorVo-
rations Their trouble Is only to adapt
themselves to the altered circumstances.
Either the consumer or farmer nlways
pays the added cost. We sometimes con-
gratulate ourselves 90 living in country
where We do not have to pay IL per
ceat. tax. or S3OO Tor laying oO feet oi
street, but IN tact we have to pay 1t. An
assessment is laid on the business that we
do IN these villages 70 pay expenses. The
real estate owner charges II to the rent
he merchant on the cost OF his goods
aud so with every stately edltice, public
building and pleasure ground, we pay the
whole bill. Officials, professional mer
and tradesmcn arc the shearers and farm
ers the sheep. But, says one, do they
not patronize Us as well ? Are they moi
as essential to our support as we to theirs
Is no; the thing mutual? Mutual it may
he, but not equal. We may need cities
and towns but not at ruinous rate. We
need mlddle-mcn, but aside from thei'
business expenses, there Is no good rca
son Why they should be better paid thar
ourselves. That they patronize Us is true
but not as we patrou'ze them. Thei
whole system is based on profits while w
rarely ever get cost. They live oy traf
licking III the products OF labor; we b,
labor alone. Profits flow as naturally t,
the city as streams 10 the ocean. Every
hing Is higher there aud has to be wei
paid for. The producer of anything ,hcr
finds l. expensive 10 live aud adds thu
percentage to what he sells. The pur
chaser pays the bill aud so the wave roll
back until it strikes the farmer and ther
stops, as it must, Tor when all these ex
travagances are referred to the committe
on agriculture, where shall they reie
, them?
1t is wholly wrong when farm product
e do not bear just relation to the product
Of other labor. 1t can therefore be rem
cdied for right, not wrong,is omnipoten
The cost Of the table is two-thirds tn
cost Of the household and there is no 9th
er standard so proper by which to adju-
scale Of prices as agricultural produc
tious. No matter what the price is,
we make fair exchange, Bat when th
odds are from two to twenty against u
when We give ba>hel OF corr for
box Of pills, as tbey do IN the West, an
, the pills cost five cents the joke is tc
severe. We have to sustain ourselves
working more hours and enduring create