The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1890-04-24
FACTS FOR 4HEFARMBRS,


Continued from First Page.1
the question Of IN undue Limitation
eur currency. Many carry this line
argument to extremes, but 1t Is by n
means impossible that these subjects al
correlated. However the question +,
currency Is now receiving special after
ton from another branch 0 fthe govern
ment; legislation on the subject Ia no,
pending before Congress and we can n
doubt look for an carly and satisiactcr
solution OF this vexed problem.
THE MIDDLE MAN.
Another cauae operating to depreasth
price OF the farmers honest toll, Is Il,
undue increase Of tho class OF middle
men, and tho dishonesty and greed c
many OF them. Hence tho wide p,l
between the high prices charged to III
consumer, and the low prices paid 10 III
producer. Tho mi,dlc.nlan within cer
tain limits must DO regarded us a neces
sity. There are many things he eau d,
Tor tho farmers which tho latter cauno
do so pr0titably for themselves, and TIN
der such conditions It Ia Wise to emplo,
him. The evil which exists at tho pres
cnt dry could undoubtedly be- mitigate,
by, first, n familiarity ON tho pa,t Of III,
farmer himself with tho market value O
that which hehas to sell, and second, !,
better system OF cooperation nmony I'll,
farmers both in the disposal Of ,hei
crops, and 10 tue purchase of-tLeit SUP
plies.
Few there are but are familiar will,
and deploro tho couvorsioni Of our OK,
changes and boards OF trade, originally
designed for the encouragement and con.
venietce Of legitimate trading, into vast
gambling places, fraught with the gravest
danger to the country at large, but OF
which the farmer; whose products are
thus made the toy and plaything OF the
game, is the immediate aud chief suf.
ferer. The frequent and extreme 1uctuu.
Lions OF prize accustomed by the opera.
ton OF irresponsible Spectators is the
baue Of the producer, whose best inter.
eats will ever be served by tho mainten.
ance Of n firm and reliable market. To
the allegation, not infrequently made,
that II mt times prices art so undulS de.
pressed, there arc also times when they
are unduly raised, there Is n simple re-.
ply. as already asserted, not only are
%tluctuntion and uncertainty the bane OF
the producer, but the speculative COM
binations which result in unduly raising
or depressing prices arc carefully calcl.
lated to raise them when the goods are
no longer in the producer's hands and
and to 'depress them when they arc.
Unquestionably legislation Is needed to
remedy this evil, aud it should be based
on the principle that the evil is not Il
necessary one, requiring regulation, but
an utterly inexcusable one, to be cured
by eradication.
IMPORTS OF AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS.
Oh all the wonderful phases OF devel-
opment OF which the United States
furnishes such striking examples, norn
is perhaps more remarkable than the
wonderful increase. totally dispropor-
tlonate to our increase of population, in
our imports Of products, which are dis.
tinctly agricultural. In 1850 the, i'm.
ports Of such products amounted to
forty million dollars; for the fiscal year
ending in 1889, they amounted to the
enormous sum Of 3i0 millions, an in
crease OF nearly 900 per cent, while the
increase in population during the cor.
responding period was considerably less
than 800 per cent. This is NIL the more
remarkable when taken in conjunction
with the fact thatihisi Is pse-emineutly
an agricultural country, opening up
year after year, with Il rapidly which
has alarmed the producers Of the Old
World, immense tracts OF country to be
devoted exclusively to tillage; all the
more remarkable when VIC realize fur
thermore that over seventy per cent OF
our total exports are the direct product
Of the soil. Accompanying this extra
ordinary movement, there has been dur
ing the past decade, in which the great
est increase Of such imports has taken
place, Il steady decrease in The prices of
homegrown products. To any reason.
able man the conclusion must be Oh.
vious; namely, that in the line Of pro.
ducts, with the exception OF cotton, upon
which our farmers chiefly depend there
has grown up a we'll. ~nishEruinous com
petition in which the labor Of the peas.
ant Of Europe, or the miserable fellah Of
Egypt, and OF the unfortunate half
starved Indian. ryot, working for pauper
wages, neglecting all the amenities OF
life in order that women mud children
as we'll as men may work in the fields,
is pitted against that Of tho American
farmer, relying upon his own and his
sons labor, or where he employs hired
help, paying them Il fair rate OF wages
according to our American standard, be-
sides providing them with the same
food and shelter as he gives to his own
family. "NI1' al
Growing a surplus Of wheat, that sur
plus, whose price is forced down by the
competition Of Russia and India, regu-
lates the price OF the entire crop. The
product OF our vast corr fields, for which
a comparatively insignificant foreign de-
mand exists, must BIZ utilized largely BY
the farmer ior tho raising Of cattle and
hogs. The foreign market for live cattle
which exists in Great Britain is so ham.
pered by the oppressive regulations re-
curing slaughter at the point Of landing,
as to exercise little or nc beneficial in
tluence OH the price Of his product, while
the obstructive measures adopted BY
several OF the Continental countries in
regard to American pork has reduced
the exports of that product since
1851 over 40 per cent annually.
Under such circumstances there can be
but n cause assisnable for the neglect
by American farmers 10 turn their atten.
ton to other crops in the line Of agri-
cultural products as we now import, and
that is that in this they would meet an
even more overwhelming and disastrous
competition than they are now con.
irouled with, in the raising Of cereals
and live stock. Obviously then, the
only course possible 10 enlightened
craftsmanship, is to assure toithe farme,
adequate protection i'll the diversified
ton Of his crops and the production Of q
larger proportion Of the articles which
We now import.
COMPETITION on Dun owv so,1.