The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1888-08-21
THE PRESENT OUTLOOK

For the Farmer, Gardener and Fruit Grow
err Swallowed with Doubt by tue Mills Bill
To The Editor Of he IatciiiCeHoer.
SIR:-For the past month or six weeks
the agricultural press has been com.
menting on the Mills bill, but as they
cannot side with either party, it can
plainly be seen that they oppose it from
the beginning. Being writer for their
horticultural department, / am in cor
respondenCe with them dnity. They
have written letters TO many OF their cor
respondents calling for the outlook ut
the present time.
While do not care to discuss politi-
cal issues, must denounce this bill,
which is now pending before the Senate.
strikes a death-biOw at the farmer, gar
dener and fruit grower of the United
States. Those OF you who can look back
some thirty years ago can remember
something OF the past. 1t will, no donbt,
bring to your memory q sad thought,
and you may ask yourself the question,
can We make living on our farms ut
such prices as we received in those days?
Can We, at the present rate OF wages
aud the high taxes which our farms are
placed under by their present valuation
make the two ends meet?
The past twenty years have been OF
prosperity, and our farms have advanced
in value which make our taxes higher
each year.
THE PRESENT
is anything but bright. Wool on the
free list was summons OF death to the
sheep husbandry. Wheat on the free
list will place the farmers OF Ohio, Penn
sylvania and West Virginia at the mercy
OF the West. Vegetables coming from
the West Indies and Canada will also
place damper on the market gardener.
These things, small us they may appear
to the disinterested party, amount to
much to the tiller Of the soil. The wool
growers farm is adapted to that branch
OF industry, and for him to dispose Of
his sheep TO grow corn or wheat would
pay him n less profit than his present oc.
Cupation. Moreover, his farm would
decrease in value each year. Those
green hillsides which afford the bounti-
full pasture would have TO be turned
under for the water to carry TO the val
leys.
The farmer who makes n specially Of
corn and wheat will be brought in COM
petition with Canad&'s great wheat dis
trict known as tho Manitoba territory,
not speaking OF the imports from other
countries. Can this be done? | must
answer emphatically no. Our soil has
passed its natural fertility and now has
to be supplied by commercial fertilizers
which are high. These countries are
level, and the latest improved farm ma
chinery can be worked to an advantage.
Vegetables and fruits on the free list
do not matter SO much rs the above, and
yet it will injnre them to some extent.
As | am interested in these and give them
careful study, ! will quote the amount OF
some articles from the Bureau ofStatis-
tics from the Treasury Department. The
figures will be for the ten months ending
April 30, 1888, with the present tariff:
Bushels. Value.
Beans ana !t?SS s:SI'e ~
Potatoes ,4oJ,ISJ :UJa, ~
Fruits, free OF duty ..........". b'OOUVO
The fruits that come free OF duty are
bananas and cocoanuts, which cannot be
grown in this country, but injure the
sale of our own fruit. These articles are
grown by pauper labor, and how we, as
u people, can stand and be robbed OF
these millions OF dollars each year, and
not have n word to gay is something be-
yond measure.
The tiiiers Of the soil are the wheels
which run the Government wagon, and
to them should be shown some respect.
They as a class, work harder and more
hours than any class OF people, and re-
Ceive the poorest pay. Should the pend
ing bill become n law, it will cause many
farms to change hands.
The general farmer rs u class has but
little to say regarding who shall repre-.
sent him, and hut little attention is paid
to the proceedings Of Congress, but while
this is true, they do great deal OF read
ing, aud they know that their prosperity
rests on protection to the manufacturers
and the protection OF their own produc'
tons. A well known fact to all is, that
when our manufactures are running we
can find n ready sale for our produce; but
once stopped, put damper upon the
farmer as well rs the day lnborer.
L. W. REID.
| BridgeDOri, o., Augua Is,