Southern standard. (McMinnville, Tenn.) 1879-current, 1890-04-12

NiiOiiS"u POVpiSi anu uu HOuCot,
beneficial accumulation Of wealth in
this country under our present
financial policy, and more especially
by virtue of the present system of
tariff taxation?
The prosperity of huge corpora
tons, the accumuDationg of vast for
tunes in the hands of the few, the
swollen bank accounts of trusts, sym
dicates and protected manufacturers,
are no more evidences Of peoples
wholesome growth and greatness
than were the riches of Dives when
he refused a crumb of bread to
Lazarus, nor than the ill>gotten pos
sessions of the Scribes and Pharisees
who devoured widows houses and
made long prayers in the days of our
blessed Saviour on earth. The only
genuine strength, progress and glory
of a nation must arise from the in
creasing value of its agricultural
lands, and in the yearly incomes and
substantial gains of its laboring peo-
pie, thereby as a consequence secur-
) ing their c0ntentment and their
happiness.
Sir, our present system of protec-
| tive tariff taxes was enacted % years
ag0v and | deny that the farmers of
: the United States have been prosper
. Gus under its operation; l deny that
| they have had fair profits on their
| labor; | deny that they have had
reasonable yearly incomes, or, on an
< average, any income at all, after
2 bearly securing necessaries of life. On
e the contrary, | assert that while
: farmers have been compelled to con-
3 tinue the payment of war taxes in a
5 time of peace, there has been not
t only no increase in the value OF
Y their lands during the last quarter of
a century, but an absolute loss OF
e not less than 33 per cent.
h Reliable statistics warrant me in
e saying that the improved farm lands
d of the United States, if put to sale to-
day under the most favorable cir
cumstances 10Y possible, would not
y upon a general average realize more
It than two.thirds their value twenty
five years ago. Take the lands of
n the State of Ohio a. an illustration OF
n this startling fact. Ohio is n of
the most favored States by nature in
the American Union, and yet three
a years ago Governor Foraker, in an
official address, comparing the value
of real estate in 1887 with what il
e was in 1880 in that great common
e wealth, said:
n There has been a heavy decline
Of Farm property is from % to 80 pei
d cent, cheaper than it then was.
But the rich and productive lands
k of Ohio have been not only rapidly
diminishing in value, but their own
is ers have also been forced to mortgage
D. them to a most alarming extent. |
If is estimated from official statistic
es that the mOrtgaged Indebtedness o
the farmers of Ohio reaches the enor
ut nous sum of $500, OOO, 600.
In Illinois, that empire Of natura
is resources and vast cultivation, tn
showing as to her farming lands an
farming interests is still darker an,
d. more disastrous. A recent numbe
ir of the Bankers Magazine, comment
u ing on the report of Mr.. John
It. Lord, chef Of the ILLINOIS, bureau G
v, statistics, points out the fact that tn
M private debts secured by mortgage
a of record in that State exceed $402
er 0OO, 200.
ed 1t is also shown hal of this NOR
on gage Indebtedness $751;, 600, 900 is GU
he side of Cook County, the farm il
is debtedness, exclusive of mortgage
he on chattels and town lots, bein
NC $40, 600, 1000, with an annual intereS
an of $4,919, 900. Taking the entire aN
on erage of the State, 90 per cent. of i
g, whole face is under mortgage. Tr
'er Bankers Magazine characterize
in these figures as stupendous an
nd alarming, and yet there are othC
en- States with even worse records
rs, debt and financial distress than III
YER nois or Ohio. According to the la
last report of the labor bureau
n Michigan, over Al per cent. of all Il
mt farm lands within her borders a
is, under mortgage.
ac> & = = s.
mt. In Indiana, Kentucky, Missoul
ry Kansas, Iowa, Nebraska, and indet
RS throughout the whole Northwe: