The state chronicle. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1883-1893, 1888-08-24

FARMERS VIEW OFT.
sol Putnam, in Belford's Magazine for
July, lS>NI
tn 4 farmer, the son of farmer. and
the f...heI of farmers. have been all
my DAYS scratching a poor mans bacl. in
m effort to make Il living of my farm /
aln ,INty years OF age. Ny form is bent,
my hands are hard, and my eyes dim. /
own 4 hundred and sixty acres OF as rich,
we HyaycIvd and wooded land there is
~ ONO say have wo 'ked hard 10
rnsa a 1inS | have done some hing
n.aF. have l.lse,l and, III a way edu-
ctto,t three sons and one daughter
~...t ,se /! could have Ina te the living. a
s,,..r sort OF living, for myself ana family
af.r of Tie farm. hut his acteu T. - school
ny Il, has leit me very poor. FaItHa-
aacIs. lent out Of debt, 50 that y nat
G:te v- and if | were younger 4al
tal es~ gaeuluatisn. / could ye, tet
l. .pie living hy farmiug | could ut
~ n ana see, u he place L has 20
~ 20
<le. nai.s- this is M history as a far
mes .a' OF my neighbor Morton is quite
dilftseut He sold out to the II 7rmi>L
Duich went - our county-seat, and put
tis money "a National bank Heis now
aNtng in what. to me, appears palace;
;.at il certainly IS compared to my poor
house Morton drives an elegant car
aHG is accounted a wealthy man.
!, IS my condition that of Tom >hiply
also i nei-a abor, who sold to the Dutch.
ile Went to Middlehue-. and bought q.
store He IS not 80 rich as Motion. but
lie has done Well ! know three Others
j. agr comfy who got out of farming
into ma .ther business and all to their
n
agriculture. There never was. I can un-
C...r~Faud how it looked as if We we're get
jcn When land, bought AT s.l.25 an
acre rom the government, bounced up to
ten. then thirty. AMI then went on bounc-
jug up till 1t reached hundred Bat
5.5s mere sed value did not come from
y>.ltt raised on the lands, but from
Immigration hat made the lands valu
.bit For hilfy years this value has been
l.eodI.I | remember when tbs land Of
III ~ WAS held cheap al a hundred collars.
Eaw | cannot sell it at all.
u hen our Congressman, the Hon. Ly-
..lngu9 I.eatlcIlun-S, was among Us, can
yassinE for 4 return to Congress, he Was
t0u3 oi saying that the agricultural inter
est vas th. great. solid underlying inter
t,- Ut the land He would then tell Us
tat a high protective tariff was the source
81 aH ta,- profit the farmer made out Of
lis pc. duets. Most OF my neighbOr5 took
thai iu and tried 10 live on it, didn't.
have sou. q lawyer at Cleveland, who
ha, Ileiped me. from rime TO time, when
cot into a worse pinch than usual and
he has also sent me some books. that
manage to read at ntefvals,-mOStly sun
d3yS aud at night -ssn9 have got from
1hem :; deal Of useful iufoImatiOn-
I'll one read, fog example, that history
Il -lr u that an agricultural people was
easiIy conquered. IL another | saw II
stated nat slavery and serfdom We're only
p1,s ole among the tillerS OF the soil.
TINS came. the author said, from the lack
Of combination, or even ASSOCIATION among
the oppressed Scattered widely apart,
IN rural districts, there could be little as
sociation, or of that interchange Of intel
ligencr and sympa' by, which are the
foundations Of effective resistance.
I learned all this from the books sent
ne by nay son. I learned more. and that
was that in Europe the lowest form OF
pauper labor, 50 much talked about. wa
that Of the farm -iaborer. Why, the Negrt
slaves were better of before the war than
tLeS. creatures. They are housed like
cattle. worked like mules, and fed like
dogs In the wheat growing regions q
th- Baltic for example, the farm shane
g.-t- eighteen dollars and a sheepskin coa
- the end of the year. II we 90 TO lndla
we hnd the agriculturist works .or slH
cents day, lives on rice, and wears moth
Ing but a cotton shirt In Egypt th'
faraI-laborers are slaves. held down (
their wretched existence by English
French, and German bond holders
Now. it struck me one day that we far
ners had been saved from this condltloi
onIy by tie government lands that KEEP
Us from being crowded down. Then cam
ne thought, that when these lands are Al
t...ea Up. as sill soon be the case. wa
VII be our condition.: / have observe,
how. within the last twenty-five years
Agricultural values have shrunk thirty pc
cent. and this while every other sort 0
property has been on the rise. Durn}
the war. and shortly after, | sold n
wheat At a dollar and half a bushe
sold NV last crop at sixty cents Mex
harvest it will be fifty. My wool, pork
carn. and hay have all tumbled, not quit
50 badly, but very nearly. At tins rate
how long will it be before am workln
for eighteen dollars q year and that sheet
skin coat;
The most significant part OF 1t IS that
While the agricultural interest 90 down
tae country is prosperous, and all othe
interests 90 W in value. Here IS Ia
county. for example, fairly shln9ied owe
with mort cages In all the heavy invest
aents Of the entire county there IS not
hundred dollars profit. Mr.. Carnegl
clears a million on a less investment ever
year He and others like him, not ia'
sners. have the country's prosperity l
tfer breeches' pockets. When one tflh
Jf tie great American boom, ne NEAR
Carnegie Vanderbilt, Jay Gould, an
boomers Of that sort. They hold all ou
prosperity.
This condition Of things pat me to lool
ia1 found, to see if ! could find the caus
~ the condition made q discovery or
day | found that this protective tari
that the Hon. LeatherlungS was a-"hoo;
.ug up was the vampire that was suckin
the life blood out Of US. Under pretent
1f laying tax to support the goyernmen
these cunning devils had laid tax
support themselves. / was curious
know how much Of this levy for prlVa
pockets was paying. To this end g
the tariff, and went TO studying IL Is
easy matter. but it can be done by ar
farmer
Now, to begin with my house, a fran
one may be valued at eight hundred do