The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1888-10-11
SOME TALK no rARMnas,

Aa farmers talk Is now running wild
and loose In the school houses and at
the cross roads ofstark county, auppoae
we make little talk 10 the farmers,
Just for variety, Now, We happen 70
be a farmer, both by birth, education
ana muscle We MIXED the bowie
quadruped in our day Of buddingadolea
cence, and currled the horaea, fed the
steers, and set the ap0rtiye shepherd
dog upon the tremulona sheep, even
before we had taken IN the rudlmentt
of arithmetic, panin' and geography.
We can remember when the farmer
were the rich men OF the country W.
can remember when the farmers can't
10 the county seat with well stuffed
wallets TO pay their taxes, make theli
purchases or deposit their surplus II
the bank. II u business man had 90
caaion 10 borrow money he would g.
the we'll to'dO fam Of the nelghbOr
hood aud would rarely return empty
handed, Cotton was king AZ the south
and corn was king at the north, Aerl
culture was universally regarded ~ th,
basis OF Americas prosperity
How things are changed now and fol
the worse. Wealth i0now concentrated
In the hands Of capitalists and corpora
tions. Railroads and trusts" have thl
call. Investment companies are iunnt
throughout the land for loaning The
surplus money Of mOnopolists To The
struggling agrIculturlsts of the West
The most universal Of modern farm i'm
proyements Is the mortgage, The
farmers Of to-day, ~ u class, ARE the
hardest workers, aud aside from u few
rich cattle companies and absente,
landlords, they live from hand 10 mouth
frequently running behind, borrowing
money when they can and struggling
constantly TO meet the interest on lhel
mortgages and 10 save their homestead'
from being sold out under the hammer
The statistics show, that under oul
delectable protective taritl, there are
more mortgages In Ohio than there
were ten years ago. The value OF farm
lands has not increased In localities
where manufacturing cities are locatsd,
but OH the contrary have decreased,
The statistics Of the Federal census
show that agricultural prosperity In
the United States has always been un'
der q low tariff, and agricultural de
preston has always been under q high
tariff. y
In n recent article In the interest Of
western farmers, printed In the Kansas
City Times, we find the following very
truthful and forcible explanation of the
causes why high tariff has built up
and fostered monopoly and trusts, and
has ruined the farmers;
"The great natural resources Of this
country are still to be found In It's ngri'
cultural products. But the price OF these
products Is liked abroad, because the
price of the surplus likes the value OF
the crops. Under the system of eNclu'
sion, instituted by protective tariff, the
world buys only so much Of the Ameri.
can grain as II Is compelled to have to
avoid starvation after bending all It's
energies 70 grow what oldand worn-out
land can be made to produce. The Eu
ropean purchasers are obliged TO limit
their purchases and the prices they pay
for Americas surplus crops, because
they are hampered IN exchanges. Their
own products are excluded from the
United States rs far as possible by the
exclusive duties imposed upon them.
While the farmer Is thus com
PEELED to meet the most
rigid terms In the disposal of his
crops, he is at the same time com
PEELED to pay the highest prices for ev-
erything which he needs. He pays not
merely the taxes exacted by the custom
system of the government but the boun'
ties which the home manufacturers are
enabled TO exact from him because they
are protected from competition lie
pays taxes and bounties on the lumber
In his houses and fences, on his window
glass, on his furniture, on his agricul.
tural implements, on his farm tools, on
the very salt with which he seasons his
food, on his blankets, on the clothing
necessary to keep himself, his wife and
bis children from the cold, on pretty
much everything he wears and uses in
his daily life, s,ib u, tN aa N
This pnfairsystem OF discrimination
has crowdedthe farmer int0fa condi.'
ton Of chronic impecuniosity. Ills
necessities have still further made him
the dependent of the monopolist. lie
has become borrower.