Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1889-06-30

eral east of the Mississippi than many i'm
acme. From AN essay by Hon. David Ames
Wells. published in the Popular Scsfnce
Monthly In May, 1893, we quote: In the
New England States mt the present time
Agricultural land not remote from large
centres OF population can often be bought
for a smaller price than fifty yeers ago
would have been regarded ne fair APP
praisal, and even less than the cost OF tne
buildinos and walls upon it. Since the
last deceDnial appraisal OF real estate IN
Ohio Gn 1880 there has been heavy ne
cline. Farm property Is from Is to 30 per
cent. cheaper to-day th-.u II then was IN
the ten cotton States the value OF hgrlcui-
tural land was in 1860 Si.47s, 0OO, 900 IN iSso
II .Ol9. coo OOO-a decrease OF S45JOOO,OoO.
IL would require an addition OF 10 per cent.
OF its value in 1880 TO raise 1t 20 its Vhiue
In 1860. Meanwhile thcpopulation OF these
so,ne States hns increased 80 per cent. In
fseo the value of improved land IN Georgia
was 90 per acre, in 1886 below S3.50-de1
crease $3.50. We're the agricultural
land divided out among the people the
value per head would have been IN 1861
$50. in 1886 SG3-decrease Fs7. In ths
June No. Gss8J Of the same periodlGal Joel
Benton Of New York, makes the folioWing
statements: "Other business plants that
have been we'll handled usually sell az q
profit. but the farm goes of at a sacri-
nee. Two farms within a hair Gays
ride of the place where | am writing;
in one of the best sOiled aud best seitleu
counties in the State of New YORK. nave
lately been sold mot under constrmnt) for
less than hdlf what they and their improve
ments originally cost involving losses re-
spectively Of from eight 10 ten thousinu
dollars. And this is not a strange or lnlfe-
quent thing. 1t, or something Ike IL, -
one of the commonest Of modern occur
rences.p Again: In hundreds OF town
ships i'm New England. from when tho
population has withdrawn itself 10 aSgrau-
die certain factory-towns or TO develop
the West, the whole farming area mas me-
with irreparable loss. Farms can be bought
for far less there than their surface lnl-
movements cost" From a speech OF Mayor
t,Ovson. Of Richmond, recently delivered
i'm that city, it seems that the farmers OF
VIRGINIA have in the decline OF their real
estate suffered clear loss OF 20 u0O, u00 III
the last fifteen years. and in the decline OF
their personal property IN the country
during the same time S2OUO,UVO. ne
statistics for Maryland, Delaware, the
Carolinas, Kentucky, and tennessee
are not accessible 20 the writer, but from
the data already given and what may be
inferred as to the other States IL would be
safe to assert that the country people
of the United States have sustained a
clear loss in the decline of their lands ana
personal property of Sl,OOO,OOO'OJO since
isGO. besides negro property co1hscated,
~. 900 900 600: coniiscated and destroyed
during the war-say ~ 600 900 making
a sum total of S6 ,O00. 600 600: and still the
work goes strangely on for 1t has by no
means stopped. All fer Jregion!. t11e-
thinking, 6oe-speakiug, free schools, &C.,
Sc. Would il not he web Tor some OF our
members of Congress to propose 70 that
body TO invite Generals sherman and john
ston 10 lay before Congress better plan Of
notification than is possible under the
fourteenth and fifteenth amendments,
since their proposed treaty was set aside I!
II is more than probable that they could
suggest amendments suporseding the four
tenth and fifteenth that would be really a
credit 10 our country. As matters now
stand we are in q status Of political anarchy
and our agriculture drifting into hopeless
min. The restoration of agricultural pros
peritv is essential to Anglo-Saxon vitality
In the United States. But political
thoughts that look only 10 the restoration
OF commerce are not sufficient for our pres
ent condition. D. L' II.