The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1890-04-02

Thus tbs staple products o, agriculture by
increase OF farms by railroad building and land
settlement, and tho increase OF agricultural
implements are grown TO excess, while other
products with which our farmt are not fimil.
lar are neglected and left TO foreign labor TO
produce while our own rural labor Is only par.
TALLY employed, or else in crowding pro luction
OF these old siaI les. and sill further lowering
prices ana intensiTying dissatisfaction with the
result OF agricultural eff ort. 1t is futile 20 at
lie nlt To defy the law oil supply and Il, mand
20 !ong as farmers insist on growing only The
bread, grains, cotton, tobacco, and cattle. and
To neglect other products which are needed
which we import at a cost OF more than 800.
UOOJO annually, Just SO long will the lamenta-
ton over low prices continue. Diversifcation
IL essential TO agricultural salvation. There art
writer's anu speakers no are doing incalc "a liable
injury by their influence In repression of any
tendency To wider range or rural production,
encouraging Incidence and idleness, paralyZing
enterprise. intensifying rural inertia, and ca
coulaging dependence on foreign production, and
the draining OF the resources OF tho coIntry
10 foreign lands. They appear To deprooa @ any
effort toward Independence or the cultivation
of sclf-reli tnce the stimulation OF invention
the acqui sitiou of msn1al skill. or the develop
menr or rural taste. h ir I'D ice points in ia
direction OF aimless poverty and practical serf
dom.
TEere is a further cause Of low prices. which
farmers should understand, very difficult 70
remedy, demanding serious consideration and
wise action. IL Is iOund in tho combination of
carriers AMI middlemt II TO absorb "a large share
OF the proceeds II the sale of farm products
Beeves are s Id by gro @ers for seven-tenths 10
lnfeC-iCurLnb OF the prices OF n Few years ago,
and the meat IL 81 10 consumers in the retail
markets At litls IL any. reduction from the
highest prices of the last twenty years. For in
stance, prime rib asts have besn sold in
Washington during that period for - cents per
pound, and sirlOin steaks Tor the tame. There
has besn little variation, rs u gen raj rule, in
the prices or the less valuaUl, cuts. The same
complaint comes irOm consumers in other
cities. Another aspect OF the case bears upon
the inexperit need buyer. The meat that il
bought ~ -. % 10 ~ per lOJ, live weight is
a "A lv fhsas afps
prices IA thaJ which cost s4.jJ 10 80. Rarely ia
there difference made in the selling prices OF
cuts from beeves Of difierenG qualify.
COMMISSION WHO II Is ROBBERY.
All kinds of meats, VI stables, ana fruits fur
nish, similarly. subsistence 10 armies o. mid
dlemen. Milk ia brought from farms for the
supply OF New York for less than cents Der
quart and sold 10 customers for cents The
hucksters OF city markets oiten get as much for
handling product in single day as the grower
obtained for producing IT. during seasons
growth. The contrast between The rice of fruit
on II farm and in city market is IL suggestion
II greed ami eXto4 tion. In many markets tho
prices of variable plo lucts are fixed for the day
a early dawn, not with ref renee to their COST,
but in view Of the comparative quantity, to
squeeze from the buy the last cent that his
patience VIII endUrs without declining "A pur-
chase. The poor ore robbed still further, when
commodity Dsts % cents peck, by u charge OF
Is cents for half peck. which is II clear y ,naly
of % per cent. for buying in small quantities.
Thus, by ever ypmaginable trick Of trade the cost
OF buying Is increased, While me pfoducer gets
dealers in futures no bet upon the price OF grain
in the coming months and bend their energies
10 shape prices 10 suit their deals 90 other in
jury than merely 10 prey upon each other; they
disturb tho natural flow OF trade and check ex-
p, ration by temper Try rise In values which
leads inevitably 10 lower prizes later aud greater
fluctuations, which are tho meat aud life of this
ass aud ,h3 bane OF the farmers market for
wheat The actual buyer OF grain, If n specula-
tor and not merely commission merchsnt and
forW arder may scheme 10 delress prices while
buyilg and TO boom thom In 5, ing TO the great
i'm ury OF the grower. The hon, 81 and legitimate
business Of receiving aud forwarding grain, or
that OF the buyer who IL a conscientious me
chant aud not Il professional manipulation OF
prices, helps rather than hurts the farmer but
the others. who play games OF chance disguised
as business, ar the enemies OF the grower and
consumer anu OF every man who gains n liveli-
hood by the sweat of the brow. This class is so
large in the various marts OF trade that it's
az regate gains absorb al essential part OF the
products OF ma ional indus ry.
DOWN WITH THE CONFINES
The middl men, working In trade guilds,
cieto', exchanges, ana boards OF trade, COM
bine TO control the transfer Of lands, farms, city
lots, riNlroad shares and bonds, stocks aud
securities Of oil kinds, an all real ana ersonal
property, and To swell comm ssions and fees OF
such transfers. Cities are filled with non-pro-
ducers, not merely teachers and physicians and
otner useful professionals, who arI IN a sense
producers and IN every view useful and
Iects airy members OF the body poll &c, but pt o.
pie who, under the guise OF goblet Necns in the
distribution bet ween producers and consumers
combine TO fix the prices they pay or the gools
OF the former and Sc up daily h rate demand
ed for the latter. Free competition sh ,ul1 y
duce this share OF tn middlenon To n mi aimum
but for the inducement and opportunity COM
bine, formally and informally. 10 control prices
OF products and costs OF vending Thus the
share demanded often amounts 70 a confsca-
tion of tho growers rroit, and the number o;
stlesmen Is so increased that they complain
that they cannot make n wing The trout l. IL,
there are Z many Of these producers who alb
sorb tn products OF the farmer Ia the distribu-
ton 10 the consumer