The Iowa plain dealer. [volume] (New Oregon, Howard County, Iowa) 1867-1895, 1884-08-14

mcnts In machinery, which. with the guild
ance Of very few men, can produce M
much NJ hundred men working with their
hands, bad but just commenced TO occasion
ftnn'eni. The improved machinery which
has increased In thousand nlulifotiti wrys
since fsGO IL to-day turning out finished
work ut a rtitc TINT would scarcely have been
dreamed Of at that time. Here is a most
prolific source Of increase of wealth
Another cause In the markedadvancemcnt
in the period In question was tho increase
IN the volume Of money occnsioned by tho
war. Ivy which, alone the business Of tho
country was raised above a partial systsni III
barter. and which WINS essential 10 the de-
,elopment OF the many new enterprises
that sprung up on every hand, and which
contributed to the increased production Of
wealth:
But there liz one cause Of increase in the
aggregate wealth of the nation that we give
The Republican party the credit for--pcr-
mps We should say. will witch We Charge
the Republican pnrty--and that is tine gi-
gntic tracts of land that have been nb-
snbed by railroads and land gmbbers.
There was JUS. as much land ON the CONT
pent when tho Pilgrims first set foot upon
America as tieic Ii .c-Jay. Only That
which was actually appropriated II ii,S time
Of taking the census was included IN the
report II was not until 1862 that the plan
Of diSposing Of public lands by wholesale
was entered upon by Congress, and in the
succeeding decade In amount almost be-
yond comprehension in acreage aria vnlue
has been stolen. And this makes large
slice in the increase shown in 1890 Tho
Central Pacific Railroad alone has received
subsidies In the shape Of land grants and
bonds amounting 10 over one hundred and
tifty.six millions Of dollars. In order TO
give some idea " the magnitude Of these
lard-e grants ve give the following extract
froiii an article entitled "The Land
Thieves. published heretofore in ths Sen
tiHel.
an lands we have by act Of Congress do
ger than the Austrian Empire, larger than
tie Getman Empire and Itels combined,
larger than Egypt and Greece. largei tha,s
France, Great Britain ahe United King
DOM and Belgium combined, larger than
Spain. Portugal, and Italy combined.
This hpsed portion or forfeited area Of
land, IN cqral III size ,nall the Ncw England
Sutes. NeS iurt, PENNSYLVANIA, New Jer-
say, Delaware. the district IT Columbia,
and one more State ms large as Connettif
cut and 2l5, 79i acres besides.
IT is larger than the combined areas of
England, Iteland. Scotland, Wales. Bel
GUM. Netherlands, Denmark. mud Switzer-
land by 1884 miles.
1T is larger than Chill and all she took
from Peru"
A pertinent qucotion in this connection
is, who has been beneated ny this increase
Of wealth? II Inns been estimated TINT The
power to produce the various manufactured
products of the country has been increased
over 5o per cent. by the improvement in
labor. sa-ing machinery; but the laborer and
poor mans bread and tlothrs c-me not one
whit easier than Mt the beginning Ut this
marvellous period of prosperity.
One would naturally suppose that, with
the addition of such large estates as are in
cluded in the several Immigrants and steals,
the average size Of the land holdings
throughout the sountry would be largely
increased: bit s:,th Is nht the case. The
official reports If the census shbw TINT the
average size of farms decreased from 19S
acres in 1850 to l53 acres In 1870; yet it
was during this decade that these grants
were largely made.
In 1870 the pressure Of the hard times
that eliminated in the crisis of 1873 was so
severely felt thit men Mtrt not investing
largely in lands; and throughout that ems
tire decade men were losine their farms
under mort cages by thu thousands. 1t is
safe to conclude tina. the average size of
farms did not increase during that period of
unparalleled disaster
The last quarter Of century has most
assuredly been n marvellous age; but il is
remarkable for nothing more than the fact
that the men whose ingenious hrains have
pevised the many labor saving implements
and the men who operate them to produce
this unparalleled increase are not the ones
who enjoy the fruits uf their inventions and
toils-unless we make an exception Of the
man who ascrbes all this houndless pros
perity to the effects Of n tariff tax.
One turns from the perusal Of Mr..
Blaines letter IN an examination Of the
daily papers and is ut once struck with the
fact that there il somewhere an anomaly. TIN
the one hand is an account showing from
official reports the existence Of prosperity
unboundcd if not unheard- Of. On the
other hand we read OF failures Of the larg-
est business houses almost daily in all parts
of the country, most Of whom were sup
posed to be financially sound and the con.
clusion is forced upon us that "A panic il
upon us, and is daily advancing amce.
Twenty years Of amllcledadyancementi in
production on the one hand. On the other
u most distressing panic for nearly lalf tn
period, which, after an abatement for a
short time, is again renewing the onslaught
Evidently there is som thing that that let
ter fails TO mention.
The letter is lengthy production oi
sophisms, and is emphatically the work oi
a demagogue. 1t will probably furnish the
text, if not the material, of numerous Re.
publican campaign hanngues: but the in
telligent laboring man, who has but to open
his eyes to observe the tendency of the
times, will not he caught with any such
chaff