Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1878-12-04
The Road to Prosperity.

"The destruction of the poor is their pow.
erty," is statement of Scripture, marked,
as all scriptural utterances are, by breadth
and depth of wisdom not found in merely
human aphorsms. And equally true is the
adjoined statement, the rich mans wealth
is his strong city,"
In the state of Kentucky there are Tor
were when we lived there) two classes OF
farmers, the hog farmers and the mule and
cattle farmers. The hog farmers were those
who had to realize from the products of
their land every year, by reason of their in
debtedness and want of means. They fed
their corn to hogs, and sold them in the fall
at an average of about ten dollars each.
The mule and cattle farmers were fore
handed class, who could wait. They fed their
crops to horned stock and mules. A mule
colt would consume about as much as two
hogs, and at three years of age would sell,
unbroken, for one hundred and sixty dollars.
The two hogs annually of the hog farmer
would amount, in three years, to sixty dol
lars Thus the man who could wait came
out one hundred dollars ahead on the price
of the same amount Of feed.
The Western farmers know that it is a
wasteful disposition of their grain crops to
sell them all. They know it would be better
to feed them, but they are, most of them, too
poor, and their needs too urgent, to buy and
raise cattle, by which they could more
profitably dispose of their crops and keep
the manure they would make We see by
a recent issue of the Country Gentleman that
an attempt is being made, in poor way, to
remedy this evil by buying up the calves OF
the New York dairy counties that would
otherwise be deaconed," and carrying them
West. A man has invented way of car
ing for and feeding these young calves on
the cars, so that he loses very few, and he is
able to carry them as far as Nebraska at a
cost of less than four dollars head In
this way it is hoped that many of the poorer
farmers will be enabled at least to begin a
stock of cattle to consume their corn, in
stead of being compelled to sell it ALL as now,
for twelve to fifteen cents bushel.
The continent of America stands, so to
speak, in the middle of the world, with
Europe and Africa on her left and Asia on
her right hand. In natural resources OF
metals and minerals, in fertility and diversity
of soil, in climate, in facilities for both in
ternal and external commerce and for manu-
features, she has no equal These means of
producing wealth give her pre-eminence
over her only rival, Europe, to start with.
Add to this that she has been peopled from
the choicest of the middle and working
classes of that continent; that she is
burdened with no costly governments, nc
hereditary aristocracy, no standing armies
does she not possess every advantage III the
race for supplying the less civilized millions
of the world with every product of manu-
featuring industry and skill ? Why has hel
commerce declined, and why are her scarcely
bora industries staggering, instead of march
ing forward
1t seems to us that it is because our pub
lie men do not understand their business, OIL
rather their duties. 1t is their business t
get office and make money out of it, but i
is their duty to study and understand tn,
principles of good government, and carr,
them out in wise administration of public
affairs. They have not done it. They hav,
stood in the place of public business, ano
have granted favors to the urgent and tn
wealthy, but have forgotten the people. A
least they have forgotten the farmers. Fo
commerce they have given subsidies, bull
lighthouses and breakwaters and forts
dredged out harbors and excavated chan
nels. For manufactures they have lai,
tariffs. For mechanical industry they hav
granted patents. For railroads they hav
bestowed lands and subsidies. For bank
ers they have furnished currency for les
than two per cent, to be loaned to the pee
pie at eight per cent. What have the
done for the farmers, who maintain no lol
bies and offer no brides Well, some on
once answered that question to us by refer
ring to the homestead act. The farmer
had been granted free farms. The force {
stupidity could go no further that such a
instance as that Would manufacturers n
gard it as boon to them, if, after establish
ing their factories the government shoul
offer to build dams and furnish building
free to as many more as wished to engag
in the same business Would the merchant
be thankful to see the nation setting u
mercantile immigrants with ships and stor
houses, free of cost ? Would the patentet
of our great inventions appreciate prote
ton that would encourage those who by in
provements threw theirs out of use wit
bounties in place of fees2 And were OF
national banks gratifed when banking WI
made free Just so much were the farr
ers benefited by law that FASTENED, Fl
beyond the natural demand, the settlemel
and cultivation of wild land, the produc
of which entered the markets in competitio
with farms that had cost 80 much mon,
and so many years of toll. New Englan
agriculture is swamped to-day by the resul
of the homestead law. No one could ha
objected TO the natural course of developme
in this direction, but is it not too much
ask the farmers to be thankful for poll
that has hurt more people than it has bel
fitted
This nation should manufacture for I
world This is its manifest destiny" b
that destiny can be hastened, or greatly
tarded, by good or bad laws. In order
promote this end we must have cheap foe
produced at a profit. We have cheap fo
now, but it is produced at loss, not only
the labor that makes it, but to the land fro
which it springs. And that cheap fo
goes across the sea 10 feed the laboring poT
lation of competing countries As sure
natural laws are sure, so sure is suffer-
and ruin to follow, just in proportion to t
amount and continuance of this impoli
action.
What remedy do we suggest We 4
almost afraid to state it, as it lies clear
our own mind, but apparently unthought
by those who are called our statesmen. !
what harm can follow the propounding,
so humble a writer as we, of ideas that,
they fall to the ground unnoticed, as ii
probably will, can harm none of those gr