Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1889-08-14

era Il that they can not hof,e to compete
with the cheap labor Of Russia and india,
where men in agricultural pursuits werk
for ~ littie - ten cents day. The farm
ez muzt depend ON their home MARKET
Instesd Of having England and other ma
lions which consume this chezpIy pro-
duced grim Of the East do our manufae-
turing for "a, we must do it ouseiyes. II
the farmers could sell all their products
in tllis country they would be much better
Of, and the nearer home the market il
brought TO them the better for them.
The influence Of manufactures on the
price Of farm products and lands can be
illustrated by a comparison between any
almost wholly ON agriculture Soath
Cxrolina. for instance, has rich ailayiai
soil and Il an old settled State. But
according TO Senator Butler farming land
can he bought there for 81 aud 81 an acre.
and according to the Agricultural Depart
meat report the average value is 81 10 al
acre. But In Massachusetts,, where the
SOL Ia rocky and much more expensive to
cultivate, the average value Of farming
land Is siJ 81; in Rhode Island it is
| $50 81; in Connecticut, $40 81, and with
a corresponding difference in other
manufacturing States.
There Ia he same contrast in wag, 5
paid agricultural laborers. In New York,
according TO the statistics gathered by the
Cleveland Administration, the average,
with board, last year, was $500 a month,
and in the New England States it was still
higher, being SIS in Massachusetts, while
| In Pennsylvania it wa- SIC and in Ohio
sl5. But in South Carolina 10 was -. In
North Carolina %, in Georgia ss.sl, in
Texas sI2, and in other Southern States in
proportion. This was for farm labor
alone, and shows incontestab.y that the
farmer in the manufacturing State not
only gets a great deal more for the prod
uce OF the soil, but that the laborer also
gets twice as much as in the purely agri
cultural communities.
In South Carolina the average wages o.
farm laborers was $685. in 1879, whil'
now it Is y. This Is attributed to great
er demand for labor and the increased
value Of products, the result of the growtl
OF manufactures in the South. In Ala
bama and Tennessee the increase has beel
still greater. The farmers Of this country
III fhs ar mi II nf
freights, can not expect to compete wit
those Of Russia and India, where they liv
without the advantages Of civilized lif
c required in the United States. Our farm
ers are immensely better off than those @
any other nation, as witness the constar
immigration to the farming lands OF thl
country. But II we did all Of our ow
Il manufacturing instead Of importing $74'
III ,47G Of merchandise, we would consum
II all Of our wheat and grain instead c
sending it abroad to compete with that {
!. Russia and India.
" Surprising the people Of the Sout
IL manufactured the 1866, 600, 900 worth {
/ cotton fabrics which England exporte
u last year, as they might well do instea
i OF sending the raw material to Englan'
." what influence would it have on the farm
" ing lands Of that section? 1t would III
questionably add immensely to the
T. value. But they stand welded to Il
D. Free Trade folly and as result we 81
~ the extraordinary difference in the cond