Mexico weekly ledger., 1888-06-21
THE WHEELERs COLUMN
W. ". vHHRKAMp. Haiter,

SAssSts ~ sAS SpVst1 4aEStNN1S
tural Wheel are j. F. Neerkamp,
presidents Jas, Elliott, vioe-presi-
dent, j, W, Middleton, secretary
Thos, Duty. CHAPLAIN VIM, Farrah,
treasurer,
The rains Of the iath and 10th
inst. prevented several parties
from attending the Moline meet,
ing of the County Agricultural
Wheel,
Brother Wheeless, please come
forward and help with ''Wheelers'
Column" it should not be neg.
leeted.
Recent events have resulted in
such a manner as to demonstrate
clearly that the people are do
termined to ''it down. upon any
and all kinds of erookedness.a
Some persons who do not under
stand the principles of the A, W.
seem to look upon II as a kind of
Communistie affair, having for its
object q new distribution ofwealth,
This is not the ease ; We only in
sist upon such a system of laws as
will prevent the enormous aeeumu-
lation of wealth in certain localities
to the detriment of other parts of
the country.
Not long ago Senator Leland
Stanford, the millionaire, said that
the people of the West had no
cause of complaint ; that the muir
murings ofthe people were the re-
suit of habit and a disposition TO
look upon the East as a land of
greed and avarice. The Senator
goes on to say that if the people
of the West would work more, COM
plain less and practice greater
economy, they would soon ,out-
strip the East. Let us examine the
Senator's statement in the light of
statistics. In a speech made in the
House of Representatives, May
14th, Hon. VIM. H. Hatch said:
"This system of taxation enriches
a few, promotes m~onopolies, en-
courages trusts and impoverishes
agriculture" Since agriculture
is the main occupation of the peo-
pie of the West, it follows that this
system impoverishes the West.
To prove this Mr.. Hatch offered
the following from the United
States census reports In 1850 the
farmers of this country owned
nearly 1900, 0OO,O worth of
property, which, in 1860, had in
creased to $1,000, 000, 900 worth; an
increase of 100 per cent. in ten
years. During these ten years we
were not under the present burden
some system of taxation, and agri-
culture fourished.
In 1870 the aggregate wealth of
the farmers of this country was
about $1,000, OOO, 600 in 1880 it
had increased until it was about
So, 000, 200, 600, an increase of only
about 9 per cent. in ten years.
During the decade last mentioned,
our farmers certainly created more
wealth than in the decade first
spoken of, yet IN spite of their
modern improvements, and more
intelligent methods of farming they
only increased their aggregate
wealth 8 per cent. Now, let US
see who has possession of the
wealth which the farmer created,
but could not retain. In 1860 the
per capita wealth of Massachu-
sets was s529; in 1880 it was
s1,56S; in 1860 the per capita
wealth of Illinois was S5O7, and
in 1880 it was 1878. In 1850 these
two States we're about equal in
wealth, but in 1880 Massachusetts
had outstriped Illinois. Now, the
question for Wheelers to consider
is, "Did the wealth of Massachu-
sets increase in accordance with
the natural laws of trude, or did it
increase on account of the special
privileges granted to that section,
causing tito flourish at the expense
of the Western farmer?" This
examination shows clearly where
our money is going; and it also
proves that the people of the West
have just cause of complaint, not
withstanding the broad assertions
of Senator Stanford.
The Audrain County Agricul-
tural Wheel met at Molino Satur-
day, at 1920 l.. m. President
Veerkamp occupied the chair.
The trade committee reported
that binding Irvine could be pur-
chased from a wholesale merchant
in Illinois, and could be laid down
here at IA IL cents per pound.
Irvine question laid over till after
noon session.
w. L. Lowrance delivered a very
interesting lecture on the objects OF
the order, and the meeting adj
journed to l p. m.
In the afternoon, on motion, a