The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1884-12-20
Causes OF Industrial Depres sion

From The baltimore Sun.
The wide prevalence Of the present indus
trial depression, and its persistence and Sc
verify in the face of many circumstances IA
vorable, under normal conditions, to the in
ception of large enterprises and to great
business activity, constitute an economic prob
lem the solution of which, whether from a
theoretical or practical point of view, IS OF
the very greatest Importance. Side by side
with abundant crops, superintendent manu-
featured products, and vast quantities OF cap
ital seeking investment at very cheap rates.,
we have the spectacle of Il large amount OF
distress, short work and low pay. Multitudes
of miners and mechanics are working for
wages which-account being taken of their
purchasing power and the number OF hours
of work per day-are lower than ever before,
and in many cases actually less than IN Eng
land, while thousands are out of work alto
gether The factors entering into this result
are numerous, and vary in kind and in the
degree of their influence, but some OF them
rise far above the rest. Prominent among
them is oyerproduction, brought about partly
by natural and in part by artificial causes.
Not that there can be too much OF any good
thing that enters into general consumption,
but that the producer has produced at exces-
sive cost and is unable to let his product go
at the ruling prices without loss. He lacks u
market, and while he waits for it interest is
piling up on his debts. The farmer, for ex-
ample, in the decade from 1870 to 1880 in
creased our exports of agricultural commodi-
ties-a measure of surplus production at times
when the foreign demand is good-as follows
Cotton, So per cent; dairy products, lo2 per
cent; cereals, PA per cent; live cattle, $50
per cent; beef, 1873 per cent, and hog pro-
ducts l ,138 per cent, while during the same
= Ia 81 IN
something under so per cent. The wheat
crop of 1880 was 49S, 900, 900 bushels, and of
this quantity 186, 900, 900 bushels-this being
tho surplus left after home needs were salts
fied-were sent abroad for sale. Great as was
this surplus, the tendency has been to increase
it, despite the fact that the foreign demand
has materially lessened. Immense areas OF
new grain lands are being added annually to
the acres under cultivation. The income of
the government from the sale of public lands
was in 1879 but 1924, ISL; in 1880 it was ST.
DIG, 506 in 1881, s., POI 1858; in 1882, 81, 1885,,
40; in 1888, 81, 955, S64, and in 1884 treach-
ed the unprecedented sum of $3.50. I05.
In view of the fact that in Nebraska the
farmers are burning their corn and when they
sell any it brings but 16 to IS cents bushel,
it is of interest to consider how the increased
product from this largely increased area OF
grain land is to be disposed of at profit that
will enable the farmer to pay transportation
charges and leave him balance for the pur-
chase of merchandise. This is the question
of questions, inasmuch as the prosperity of
the agricultural interest is the basis on WHICH
the prosperity of all other interest must, in Il
country like the United States, ultimately
rest. A common answer is: Build up
home manufactures that will supply an ade-
auate home demand. Let us mine our own
coal, keep our cotton at home for our own
cotton mills, make our own iron and build
our own railroads, thus creating home mar
kets and domestic commerce in lieu OF the
foreign markets and foreign commerce in
which at present we are at so great disad-
vantage" This is an attractive programme
on paper, but one of the distressing facts OF
the situation and the one from which we arc
now seeking most to escape is the already ex-
cessive production of our mills, factories and
furnaces. The mines and manufacturing es-
Establishments at present in existence, although
wholly unable to consume our surplus grain,
are largely in excess of the country's needs,
and their over production is generally recog-
nized as one of the chief causes of the present
depression. We find by experience that a
manufacturing surplus is no cure, under pres
ent conditions at least, for an agricultural
surplus. According to Mr.. David A. Wells,
writing Ill recent NUMBER OF tne North
American Review, ''to furnish domestic
market adequate to absorb the probable wheat
surplus of the present year would require. an
enlargement of our manufacturing enterprises
to at least five-fold what they are at present.
As to do this would only intensity the evils
resulting from overproduction of goods un-
salable in the home market, we are driven to
conclude that, both for the manufacturer and
the farmer freer access to large foreign
market has become indispensably necessary.