Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1890-05-01

| Intimate result should be to raise the cost o
the long haul. Its most valuable office viii
| granting by the railroads of special priv
| ileges to certain classes or corporations
which are denied to the community at large
| price of the farmers honest toll is the un
due increase of the class of middle men anC
the dishonesty and greed OF many of them
Hence the " ide gulf between the high price:
charged to the consumer and the low prices
paid to the producer The middle tmar
Within certain limits must be regarded as
| necessity. There are many things he can dc
| for the farmers which the latter can not dc
| so profitabIv for themselves and under suci
| conditions it is wise to employ him. The
evil which exists at the present day in thi:
direction could undoubtedly be mitigateG
| by first, n familiarity the part of the
farmer himself with the market value OF
that which he has to sell, and second, bet
ter system of co operation among the farm
| ers, both in the disposal of their crops ant
| in the purchase of their supplies.
| GAMBLING IN FARM PRODUCTS.
| Few there are but are familiar with and
| deplore the conversion of our exchanges
| and boards of trade, originally designed fol
| the announcement and convenience of legit
! innate trading, into vast gambling places
| fraught with the gravest danger to- the coun-
try at large, but of which the farmer, whose
products are thus made the toy and play
| thing of the game. is the immediate
and chief sufferer The frequent and ex-
tremc fluctuations of price occasioned by
the operation of irresponsible spectators is
| the bane of the producer, whose best inter
| ests will ever be served by the maintenance
CATION, not infrequently made, that if at
times prices are thus unduy depres sed
| there are also times when they are uuduIy
| raised, there - Il simple reply. As already
| asserted, not only are fiuctuatiOn and uncer-
| taintv the bane of the producer, but the
| speculative combinations which result in
unduly raising or depressing prices are care
| fully calculated to raise them when the
goods are no longer in the producers hands
| and to depress them when they are Tn
| questionably legislation is needed to remedy
| this evil, and it should be based on the prn-
in Ia hot ha
requiring regulation, but an utterly mex
| cusable one, to be cured by eradication.
Much has been said and written alleging
| the existence of unlawful combinations for
the express purpose of so controlling the
| markets as to lower the price of the farm
erS products, and of other cOmbinati OnS
whose object is to raise the price of the ar
ticles which the farmer consumes. That
| such combinations exist it is impossible to
doubt, and the serious results of their greed
and selfishness are enhanced by the grave
difficulties attending any effort to limit their
| closely allied to the matter of inter State
commerce, that its regulation may possibly
fall within the legitimate province OF Ma
| tlonat IIeSislatIon. The great difficulty lies
| in the close observance of that line of de-
| marcation which clearly exists between
combinations for mutual self help, prOtec-
ton and the advancement by legitimate
| means of the interests of class, craft or
| industry and combinations or trusts inspired
| by greed, whose objects are unattainabIe
| save as they infringe upon the Legitimate
| rights Of others. In spite of these difficult
| that an earnest demand for adequate lcgis-
lation on this subject, sustained by popular
our strongest minds. will eventually result
in some adequate means OF controlling this
gigantic evil
PROTECTION FOR THE FARMER
now come to the consideration of one of
the Sraveet causes in my opinion of the
present agricultural depression but which
L am happy to state can be cffectually and
directly dealt with through National Iegis-
ton Few people realize that our imports
OF agricultural products estimated prices
pald by the consumers are about eq ual to
our agricultural exports estimated ut prices
paid 10 the farmer, yet such is the case
Our imports of products sold in competition
with those actually produced on our own
soil, amount to nearly Sll5001,001, and as
much more could be produced on our own
soil under favorable conditions We must
surely conclude that We have here another
cause OF depression. The subject is so vast
that can not dismiss it briefly. Indeed |
can do no better than to repeat here views
already expressed by me on this subject
IMPORTS OF AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS.
OF all the wonderful phases of develop
ment of which the United States furnishes
such striking examples, none is perhaps
more remarkable than the wonderful in
crease, totally disproportionate to our in
crease of population, in our imports of prod
ucts which are distinctly agricultural. In
1850 the imports of such products amounted
to Si0,000,0O; for the fiscal year ending in
1889. they amounted to the enormous sum of
1876 01J,0J0, increase of nearly nine hun
dred per cent, while the increase in popula-
ton during the corresponding period was
cent. This is all the more remarka BILE
when taken in conjunction with the
fact that this is -eminently an ag
ricultural country, opening up year
after year, with Il rapidity which has
alarmed the producers of the Old World, i'm
mense tracts OF country to be de voted eX-
clusivcly to tillage; all the more remarka-
BILE when we realize furthermore that over
seventy per cent of our total exports are the
direct product of the soil. Accompanying
this extraordinary movement there has been
during the past decade, in which the great
est increase of such imports have taken
place, Il steady decrease in the prices of
home grown products. To any reasonable
man the conclusion must be obyiOus-name-
ly, that in the line of products, with the eX-
ception of cotton, upon which our farmers
chiefly depend, there has grown up we'll
nigh ruiuous competition in which the labor
of the peasant of Europe, of the miserable
fellah OF Egypt. and of the unfortunate.
half-starycd Indian ryot, working for pau
per wages, neglecting 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 American farmer, rely
ing upon his own and his sons dor, or
where he employs hired help, paying them
fair rate of wages according to our Ameri-
can standard, besides providing them with
the same food and shelter as he gives to his
own family.
SURPLUS WHEAT.
Growing Il surplus of wheat, that surplus,
whose price is forced down by the competi-
ton of Russia and India, regulates the price
of the entire crop. The product of our vast
corn fields, for which a comparatively insig-
nifcant foreign demand exists. must be util
e. largely
cattle and hogs. The foreign market for live
cattle which exists in GreaC Britain is so
hampcrcd by the oppressive regulations re-
| quiring slaughter ut point of landing.
| us to exercise little benetic ial
| influence on the price of his product, while
the obstructive measures adopted by sever
| al of the continental countries in regard to
| American pork has reduced the exports of
| that product since 1851 over forty per cent.
| annually. Under such circumstances there
| can be but one cause assignable for the
! neglect by American farmers to turn their
| attention to other crops in the line of such
| agricultural products we now import, and
| that is that in this they would meet an even
| more overwhelming and disastrous compe-
| tition than they are now confronted with, in
| the raising of cereals and livestock. Obyi-
| ously then, the only course pOSS bile to en-
| lightened craftsmanship. is to assure to the
| farmer adequate protection in the diVersifi-
| cation of his crops and the production of a
| larger proportion of the articles which we
| now import.
| These may be summarized as follows, the
| figures given being for the fiscal year end
| ing June 30. 1889, and the values those at the
| ports of export:
Sugar and molasses ........... S93, }01 ,S9i
Animals and their products, except
| Fibers animal and vegetable 80. So ID, 93t
| Miscellaneous, including bread
! stuffs, fruits, hay, hops, oils, rice,
i s"ed, tobacco, vegetables and
wines, etc--.-.--- NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. il,2oi,S9i
| HOME PRODUCTION.
| For obvious reasons | omit any reference
| here TO the $9),1gO.00J expended for tea,
| coffee and cocoa. but emitting these. we
| have still the enormous sum of S26213,7 3,
| imports of agricultural products, the fan
| greater part OF which, amounting probably
| to not less than $40. D0.OO) or S15J0Jj,o)),
| could, with proper encOurageme be pro
duced on our own soil. The establish
mcnt of our agricultural experiment. sta
/ tons, the cn@rg tic research by the Depart
ment of Agriculture into the resources Of
different sections of this country, investiga-
ton of their soils and climate, and the APP
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