New Ulm weekly review. [volume] (New Ulm, Minn.) 1878-1892, 1890-05-07

less than 300 per cent. This Ia all the more
remarkable when taken in conjunction with
the fact that this is pre-eminently an agricul-
tural country, opening up year after year,
! with rapidity that has alarmed the pro-
:ducers of the Old World, Immense tracts of
1 country to be devoted exclusively to tlllage;
all the more remarkable when we realize
furtherm ore, that over 20 per cent of our to-
tai exports are the direct product of the soil.
Accompanying this extra ordinary move
ment there has been during the past decade,
| IN which the greatest increase of such i'm
ports has taken place, o steady decrease in
/ the prices of homegrown products. To any
| reasonable man the conclusion must be OBJ
vious, namely, that in the line of products,
with the execution OF cotton. upon which our
farmers chiefly depend, there has grown up q
well-nigh ruinous competition in which the
labor of the peasant of Europe, of the miser-
able fellah Of Egypt, and of the un ortunate
half starved Indian ryot, working for pauper
wages, nsglecting all the amenities of
life in order that women and children as we'll
as men may work in the fields, is pitted
against that OF the Am erican farmer, lying
upon his own and his sons labor, or where
| he employs hired help, paying them o fair
rate OF wages according to our American
standard. besides providing them with the
same food and shelter as he gives to his own
family.
Growing a surplus of wheat, that surplus,
whose price is forced down by the competi.
| tion OF Russia and India regulates the price
OF the entire crop. The product of our vast
| corn fields, for which comparatively insig-
nifcant foreign demand exists must be uti-5
lized largely by the farmers for the raising of
cattle and hogs. The foreign market tor live
cattle which exists in Great Britain is SO
hampered by the oppressive regulations re-
curing slaughter at point o landing as to
exercise little or no beneficial influence on the
| price Of his product, while the obstructive
measures adopted by several OF the contin-
entail countries in regard to American pork
| have reduced the exports of that product
since 1881 over 4Oper cent. annually. Onder
such circumstances there can be but one
| cause assignable for the neglect of American
farmers to turn their attention to other
crops in the line of such agricultural pro-
i ducts as we now import, and that is that in
/ this they would meet an even more overwhelm-
ing and disastrous competition than they are
now confronted with in the raising of cereals
course possible to enlightened craftsmanship
| is to assure the farmer adequate protection
| in the diversification Of his crops and the
production OF larger proportion of the ar
| ticles which we now import.
| These may be summarized as follows, the fig
ures given being for the fiscal year ending
June 80, 1889, and the values those at the
ports of export:
Sugar and molasses.. .............. 500, 3O1, 1914
Animals and their products, ex-
Fibers, animal and vegetable. 5s,4Ss, $50
| Miscellaneous, including bread
stuffs fruit, hay, hops, oils,
RICE Seed tobacco, vegetables,
Wlnes etc.,. II, 254, S94
For obvious reasons omit any reference
here to the $9O,00O,0OO expended for tea,
coffee. and coca, but emitting these, we have
still the enormous sum of 1896, 273,73S i'm
ports of agricultural products, the far great
er part of which, amounting probably to
$40, 900, 900 or $3.50, oOO,OOO, could, with
proper encouragement, be produced on our
own soil. The esta blsh ment of our Agricul-
tural Experiment Stations, the energetic re-
search by the Department. of Agriculture
into the different sections of this
and climate, and the application, in
general, OF scientific principles to agriculture,
all combining, make this assurance doubly
sure, provided always that this diversified
tion be encouraged and fostered by the APP
plication of the principle of production to the
development of new industries on the farm
1t is simply the extension to our agriculture
i Of the protection so beneficially extended in
the past to our manufacturing industries.
In the days when the farmers were prosper
Gus, when good crops were accompanied with
high prices, and the value of agricultural
land went up accordingly the farmers, to q
man, stood by the principle Of protection
urged on behalf of the manufacturers, who,
burdened then with the heavy load of taxa
ton imposed upon them by the civil war,
were Threatened with grave disaster in the
face of European competition. Now, in the
face of the severe competition which to-day
confronts the farmer in foreign markets,
duty, fairness, and in the long run self-inter-
est demand that we should afford him the
bensfts of home market for all that he
IvSn0 ha H1n+ 10 ~l,,1o o,,~ ,,>s1
This includes oil the sugar and molasses, all
animal products, WOOL silk, fax and other
ibers, all our breadstuffs, fruits, hay, hops,
rice, tobacco, vegetables, and wines, but
many of these things will never, can. never
be produced on American soil in competition
with the labor Of European nations, especi-
ally whens as in the case of sugar, the indus
try abroad has been helped by liberal gov
ern ment bounties. 1t is worth while noting
that the price per pound of the great bulk Of
the sugar imported was, at the point of ship.
ment 2.9l cents. 1t should be borne in mind
that, while we estimate in our statistics the
value ofimports at the price in the foreign
port OF shipment, the value Of the export is
on the other hand. estimated at the price at
the port ofshipmentin our country, 50 that to
the former must be added transportation,
commissions exchange, and dealers profits,
which without the duty, would add fully 25
to 80 per cent more to arrive at it's value at
the point of consumption; this would bring
up the cost, to the consumer. of our agricul-
tural imports to nearly $500, O00,000 or es-
} timating solely such as could be, with prop
er encouragement, grown on our own soil,
we have value of OF much less than $780,
600, 900 as the possible reward of diversified
agriculture, q sum almost equal to our agri-
cultural exports estimated at farmers prices
] that is less cost of transportation and
J commissions or other shipping charges to
point of shipment.
Before leaving this subject, glance at the
} competition which our farmers have hitherto
5 been compelled 10 meet, even on our own soils
will be found most interesting. Of the ST.
600, 900 or SIS, 600. 900 worth Of live animals,
: imported into this country, the greater pro-
; portion were of ordinarily marketable stock,
, as contra distinguished from pure bred stock
> imported for breeding purposes and admitted
free OF all animal products, including wool,
: there is not one that can not now, indeed
f that is not now being raised upon our own
t soil, fand yet, needing wool and hides the
4 imports of these ANIMAL products amounted
Z in the year referred to over 100000, 900: to
this add $20,000,000, for fruits. $s.OOO;-
: 900 for barley, over $4,000, 900 for hay and
hons T2 200 000 for rico III 000 000 for