The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1889-08-13
UNCLE JERRY BUSY.

UNCLE JERRY RUsK, the genial granger
who presides over the destinies of the
agricultural bureau in HARRIsoN's cabinet,
is determined to magnify his calling if asking
questions and answering them himself can
do it. In speaking of the resources Of some
of the southern states, he runs right up
against q snag in this shape: Il cannot
understand how it is that farming in Vir-
ginia is not more profitable; the land is
good, the markets are near, the climate is
excellent for the crops; the land ought to
be worth 500 in places where it is only
worth $40" This kind of thing is so annoy
ing to the old man that he announces his
determination of finding out all about it,
and as his object is laudable one. he is
entitled to credit and assistance at the
same time.
There are several reasons, Uncle JERRY,
why land that ought to be worth 500 Is
only worth a tenth Of that figure They
are so numerous that they can't all be emu
merated within the narrow sphere of an or
binary newspaper article. The fear re
mains, however, that in any one Of the
cases, let alone all of them, craftsmanship
will be unable to cope with the situation,
especially when the craftsmanship is of the
character that is now shaping the affairs of
the government. For instance: The price
of land, like the price OF horses, is not gov
erned by fixed rules, certainly not by law,
but is largely creature of circumstances.
We can readily conceive of hundred dol
lar horse being worth only ten dollars, by
taking him from where such animals are
scarce and in great demand to where they
are plentiful and nobody wants one
Yet it would be the same old horse
wouldn't it, Uncle! And how would you
go to work to remedy it. You may say
that there is a slight difference between
horses and land, in that the former can bt
removed from one to the other of places
suggested, while the land remains right
where it has been from the time it was
placed there, and not even Republican ad
ministration could change it if it wanted tt
ever so much That is all very true, but
your effort to break the force of the com
parison lacks steam. Land can't Prov
around the country or be taken around
looking for chance for an investment; but
those who cause the land to be valuable
because productive and desirable, can and
do change places with remarkable facility
Now, if those who want land of the char
acter you mention in Virginia are not suffi
GENTLY numerous to create competition
and thus force up prices, or being
more or less impecunious are unable
to pay more than ten dollars per acre, OF
don't want the land more than ten dollars
worth, we can easily see in either of these
conditions reason why it doesn't jump
from $40 up to 500 under the present OF
any other administration.
Uncle JERRY ought to know, if he does
not already, that land is worth more in
some places than it is in others. This is
not very profound conclusion to arrive at
but it seems to have eluded the penetrating
search of even a cabinet minister. Land
around where Uncle JERRY is carrying on
his Investigations into the condition of Vir-
ginia real estate-in WashingtOn-mig
fetch, say five or six hundred dollars an
acre; while much better soil, more
loamy, fertile and easily cultivated
in the Old Dominion would go beg
ging at One-tenth or perhaps one
fiftieth of such figures. There is no why
to it except what is herein suggested, and
the only remedy we can think of is to move
Washington down there. Since you can't
get the mountain up to Mahomet, let Ma
homet take spin down to the mountain.
Meantime, Uncle JERRY, go on with your
investigations. There is not much to do
at headquarters now, and your employers
would rather you did something than
nothing