The great West. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1889-18??, 1890-02-28
power the ability to change in size at

power the ability to change in size at
will.
That tells the story, that's how the
farmer has been impoverished, and
will be until he prevents the constant
increase in the size of the measure he
must fill.
Now let us go to the figures and |
see what has been the result:
In 1870 the statistics show that:
Farm values equaled So, 1892, 803, 1851
Farm machinery 1886, S7S, 429
Orchard and vineyard
prod. Al, 49,, 139
All other farm prod. 2,447, 1888 1855
Live stock products 1925, 276 ,457
Total agricultural
values ...........$14, 519, 1872, SAT
1880.
Farm improve
ments ............ $1O,197, O96, 776
Farm machinery. 1926, SCOOPS
Orchard and vineyard
prod. ...5O,S7G,15
All other farm pro-
ducts. ....................2,2 PA ,4O2, 564
Live stock products. IL, 500, 434, 100
Total. $14,378, 36O,17S
Being $241, 462 ,4O6 less than in
1870.
Now let us see what the farmers
had been doing these ten years, from
1870 to 1880. They had added to
the. number OF farms, 1,248, 1922
farms; had added 95, 849,953 acres
improved land; had added 437, $50
new recruits to the farm forces. OF
products, we produced in 1891 3d.
500 900 bushels of grain more than
in 1870; OF cotton, 1,6979, PIP, 100
more than in 1870; of live stock, 49,
sol 1853 head more than in 1870;
yet we fell short in money $241 1872
400 of equalling 1870, while in ad-
dition to this incomprehensible loss,
all farm lands in the United States
shrunk in value 1928 per acre.
(See Spofford's Statistics).
Read the account of the condition
OF New England farmers upon our
fourth page as taken from a Connecti-
cut paper. Those farmers have that
wonderful thing, "a home market"
at their doors and yet their condition
is probably worse than that OF the
farmer in the west.
J. R. Dodge, the government statis-'
tician, shows that:
In 1867 10, 1921 SCI acres produced
212, AL 400 bushels of wheat that
sold for $421, 796, 400. In1888, 81
1886, 13S acres produced IA, 1868 900
bushels of wheat that sold for $685.
24S, 1920. In 1889 38, 123,S59 acres
produced 49O,56O,OO0 bushels OF
wheat that sold for $342.491 ,8O7."
Albert Lea Standard:
Ex-Auditor Frink OF Rice county
has made thorough investigation,
and announces that the mortgage
Indebtedness OF that county is as fol-
lows:
Number of mortges, 2,033;
amount of mortgages, $1,547 40;
assessed value. 8, 1855, 472 actual val
lie, 7,717,484."
This makes the amount of the
mortgages almost equal to fifty per
cent OF the total assessed valuation,
and it must be admitted that at pres
emit, real estate in Minnesota will not
sell. for cash, for more and except in
rare cases for not even that. But
taking real estate atits alleged actual
value according to this showing it
is blanketeG with mortgages to the ex-
tent OF 25 per cent. This rate OF real
estate Indebtedness is probably fair
average for the rest OF the state, and,
we believe, is not too large for the en-
tire West Add to this the amount
of the farmers unsecured indebted
ness and it will be seen where they
stand. Some expert protectionist
can perhaps then make clear to us
how gloriously the farmers have pros
pered under fifty per cent tariff taxes,
and how, if continued, it will save
agriculture from the gulf of bank
ruptcy with which it is now most GER
tainly threatened.