The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1890-09-30
RAILROAD AND FARM.


oned their posnlyds an1 now UNDER wlseS
administration on the 0ne hand and
mose iibernl understanding On the other,
- farm ana the railroad ~ sesn 70 b In
separshiy united - alIies and - partnsrs
TIE tafght u he one y 10 bankruptcy d
the Other. AZ ~ tfme ~ ~ csGsnisesion
q your socissy. Gfty yssss ago. thsrs wefs
fhree thousand miles u railway tn the
Unitsd States, end today thsrs ere one
hundred and seventy thousend.
Every mills Of new railroad brings into
cuItivsfion Ons huDdreu Thousand fresh
sores. BY keeping iris fsct II mind Ne
shall more eieesiy conpfehsnd the ire
mend0ns possutisiity q this vast sxpan-
Son a our railway system. 4 hall
century ago there were 1900. Co.,
co inveetod ii agriculture and
nov shWs ars III ,O0O, 10000. Ihers
wese fben lNo0,0O farms and nov there
are between 100000 and 500. go Within
~ Lost thirty yesss he acreage devoted 20
corn has incrsAssd from i4.000 go 70 7S,-
100000, and the amount produced from
0W.Oo0,0oo 70 900 900 200 o. bushels, while
wbest IL IL same period hes expanded It's
srea from 100000 to 100000
u sores, end the amount pro-
uced from 100eo6NoO - 5o0,0ol0o0 81
bushsas. 6inos 1910 the land Improved
and undaS culttyAsiOs has grown from
lis0o00Oo % 5oO.0o0 go Of acses. Ourpopu-
lation sincs 1910 hes Increased from i7.000,-
CO 70 0Byn0,O00.
n~as aftsr 1850 that sntsrpriss. capital
md credit discovered tie enormous profits,
direct and incidental, which could b de-
rived from railroad copstruction. This led
TO constant overbuilding and largely in ex-
cses ~ present needs. but the con6dsnce Of
the investing puhiic In sbs growth and
future o. The country was 20 great that
thsse wns no limit - the absorption Of
stocks and bonds n the markets OF both
the Old World and The New. Railroads
were oxtsnded through The wilderness and
across the prairie for Thousands Of miles
vhefs there was neithse ton of freight
nor cosIOod q psseeneeFs. but energy and
business capacity peculiarly American
weso equal - tha emergency. A canvass
orieinnl IL ~ conception and unequailed
In ~ ineslliepnt activity a it. execution
- tnougnrafed among the populations Of
Europe Tor settlers along these ghosly
lines.
POPULATION AyD rB0sPERIry.
The rsilwsy managers rightly argued
that with population upon the rich landso Of
the WEST would speedily come large and
pfoAtahle business, and the Tspid growth
Of towns, villages and cities. The eloquent
aeentof he railroad. armed with msps aud
pieturss, Suffered The Irishmau's cot. the
German village, and penetrated the
mouutaius and H. valleys 0f Scandinavia.
He presented 70 doWn-tr0dden and hops
less peepse. who had no opportunities for
knowing anything Of the continent beyond
The go, glowing descriptions Of the prom
issd land. Theirs tbe farms we're free.
there ssindspendsncs, liberty and citisen-
ship. There were fortunes and The highsst
honoss II the state Tor their children. He
fseiiitated With cheap transportation and
instruction - 70 travel their progress To
their new homes. Of ths II, 800, 600 Of i'm
migrants who came to this country
alter lso0, II. sol. 600 Aere brought here after
the commencement Of this railroad
Development fChesrs.] But the North
Western lfnes did not rest their prosperity
alone upon the European harvest They
persuaded the farmer OF New England 70
ssnd hts boys to Wisconsin, Illinois and
lows, the farmer Of Illinois 70 send his
boys TO Kansas, and the farmer of Kansas
70 send his boys TO Idaho, Wyoming, Mon
II IL always painful 10 disturb the illu-
siops or shattef the sentiment which fur
nishes the poetry or the sloquencs Of .
people, but modern research Is busy de-
stroyipg oil the treasures Of our childhood
and al the rhetorical opportunities OF the
platform. POcahontas has been merc,-
lessly sscri6csd. the tradition Of Joan OF
Arc has bean bopeiessly impaired, and this
summer upon the edict OF the Swiss
Canton William Tell has been efIaced.
The staple. never failing and always
fresh figure for the art and elooueuce
Of the Fourth OF July orator we're the
siowntrodden and oppressed millions who
He'd from tyranny to seek liberty upon our
shorea While thousands OF them un-
students OF the economic forces which have
caused our present conditions, to bring
this vast army OF contributors 10
our wealth under the business relations
which led them 70 emigrate. and destroy
the poetry which SO often adorns the
essay OF the college commencement and
the patriotic anniversary. Laughter
The results OF this vast expansion of popu.
iation has been TO absorb nearly the whole
Of our public domain, and produce an
enormous surplus Of agricultural pro-
ducts. This great army. spreading
oyer the fertile acres of the West
Aid Northwest and receiving from the
government free farms, introduced no
variety in their agriculture. but entered
without exception into the planting and
harvesting OF the same cereals.
As . consequence We have be-
come not only the largest agri-
cultural nation in tho world. but we DOM
mate the prices of the products of the farm
in all the markets of civilization. (Cheers.
Our productiveness under these settle
ments thus made al q pace unknown to
natural laws and under such tropical con-
ditions made the output of the farm 30 per
cent greater than the absorbing power Of
the country. We produced 80 per cent.
oil the food OF the world and not only cas-
lily commanded the countries which are
compeiled to buy from abroad, but SO low
cred TO the prices OF wheat and corn and
hive stock that We paraiyzed the prosperity
Of agriculture ali over the world.
With the reduction in prices the farmers
found the railway rates an insuperable OBJ
STAGE TO the continuance OF their business
Out OF thu IRE and smoke of one of the
hereest and what threatened to be one OF
the most disastrous controversies of our
time was evolved one of the most beneti-
cent and far-reaching principles of the cen.
turv. principle which has always been
and stun Is denied BY the railway managers
OF Europe. 1t was that enormous volume
OF traffic economically handled in the lar
gest possible cars and drawn by the most
powerful possible engines would so reduce
the cost OF transportation ~ to enable the
railway 70 carry it at rates unheard of be-
fore and still make . reasonable re-
turn upon the investment Cheers. Un-
der the operation OF this rule railsay
rates In the last twenty years have gone
down over 100 per cent. while the products
of the farm have fallen about 30 per cent
The rates OF 1870 applied to the tonnage of
1859 would have yielded for the year one
thousand millions Of dollars more than the
gross revenue OF the railways OF the United