The Iowa plain dealer. [volume] (New Oregon, Howard County, Iowa) 1867-1895, 1885-10-08
Fleeing FARMERS.
Startling Facts and Fl gures thai Ought
10 Arouse the Kara-Eisted
Sons OF icil.
Extracts from an Able Speecii Made BY
Thomas Wolfe. Of Lamar,
Missouri.
HOW THE FARMERS a.E EonBEp.

HOW THE FARMERS ALE ROBBED.
To ini..s s. upon yuur minds with reason.
able cc1 liTty the MA :n,tude OF the extOr-
tons OF lie Transportation companies, and
that You may rriliiz Just how ii affects
each enc Of yon pcr-o a.iv, will illustrate
what wish 10 say by taking the case Of the
farmer who has cultivated one hundred
and sixty acres tor ten years. and from
what he has .ctu :iis don. vol my see
how you and yours haze bee robbed, and
you can then realize its effects upon your
selves and upon the country at large.
The farmer who cu.tiyates 160 acres OF
land ought to turn of each year crop Of
hogs. cattle, sheep, corn, wheat. oats and
other crops etua. il. value to forty bushels
of corn per acre, which would yield him in
ten years a crop ii WIN equal to the value
Of u 900 bushels IT cora.
Now We com. IL he astounding part in
this drama OF iite a. W. deduce the follow
ing startling cts, a. q result of this farm
ers labor for ten seifs.
This mans eros have been worth in
Lamar, am tod. out twenty cents per
bushel on IN average Of ten years, which
would give him, III Lamar. for his ten
years labor, $l2,80O. While, during this
same time, this mans crops were worth 60
cents per bushel in the city of New York,
where the price of farm products are fixed
Tor this country. which would make the
total value Of the products Of his llbor,
In New York. actually worth $38, 400,
which is inst three times the value Of our
farmers crops in Lamar.
This shows that our farmer friend re-
ceived the sum of 81, $50 in value Der year,
or total value in ten years Of ST., 6OO in
the products OF his soil and Of his labor,
which is Just one third the total wealth
created by himself and family in ten years.
| You all realize that the extortion has been
I fearful outrage upon that farmer, be-
cause you know that, had that man re-
| ceived that protection from his Govern
ment TINT he ought to have received from
ito laws, he would not have been robbed Of
that vast sum of money, because he would
only have had to pay reasonable charges
to market his crops, which brings me "a
/ the kernel of this question. and that is
what are reasonable charges for the trans
ought this farmer to have paid to market
his crops?
WHAT THE FARMER OUGHT TO PAY.
/ think It was In 1874 that special com.
mittee was appointed by the United Statei
Senate to investigate the question of thu
charges Of the railroad companies FOL
transporting farm products from the West
to the East. and make their report to thu,
body. They made their report In duo
time, and n it they stated that the unjus
extortions Of the transportation companies
ct that time amounted to over $500, 700. OOt
per annum-out Of the people Of the West
eyn States. But recently the Legislature
Of New York. by special committee, made
thorough investigation Of the charges fol
transporting food crops from the West t
the East, and the substance Of their report
WAS that all charges for transporting whea
end corn over Z cents per bushel Tor 1000
miles was unjustifable extortion.
this subject and have como to
the same concu sion. Last sum
mer about I 900 Quo bushels Of corn werl
taken BY rail from Chicago to New Yorl
City for cents per bushel, which is abou
1000 miles. This winter several hundred
thousand bushels of grain were t,ken from
st; Louis to New Orleans AID then trans.
shipped and taken to Liverpool, England
Tor less than . cents per bushel; n ID, re-
Gently, steamships plying between Nev
York and European ports offered to carr.
wheat and corn, rs ballast. free OF charge
With these facts of actual transaction be
fore us. backed up by the committee re-
ports referred to. am justified in declar
Ing to yon. that q charge of 7 cents pc
bushel for carrying grain LOO miles By
the companies now operat ng the railroad
Of the country is not only paving but al
extortionate charge, and that the farmer
Of Southwestern Missouri ought never
pay over lOa cents per bushcl for transport
Ing their grain to New York City. which i
about ]. 500 miles. Or. put ing it in littl
different light, the price Of grain in Lama
ought never to be over 10 to II cents pc
bushel below the price of grain in Ne,
York City. and that all charge over tbs
amount is unjustlfable extortion and rob
berry.
Now, gentlemen. here is where the hun
comes in. Suppose that our farmer frien
who has cultivated J6O acres of land for th
past ten years had received that protectio
hom the unjust extortions Of the trans
portati n companies that he had a Fight
expec; from the laws of his country. an
! had paid only ten or twelve cents per bush
a to market his crops, how would his ban
account have stood!
Il would have stood something like THU
1000 bushels Of corn, worth in Lamar I
cents per bushel, or total value of $50, IN
| or nearly two and halt times more than
Wns actually worth In Lamar to him.
Now, for little while, let us suppol
that our farmer friend had received th,
fortune Of $3O,720. of which 81. 1920 b
been total loss to him. would he to-da
be living as he is? Would his wife hA,
hoeu oyorworked and half clothed for thol
ten wears? Would his children now