St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1890-10-11
HOME MARKET OR HOME.
Budd Reeve Talks to the Farmers
of North Dakota.

To the Editor of the Globe.
BUXTON, Oct. cit Is universally ad-
mitted the farmer is behind in the
struggle for wealth; his slim pocket
book, the mortgage on his farm, his
taxes, the small price he gets for every
thing he sells, and the extra price he
pays for all he buys is every day talk
from ocean to ocean. Still he goes on.
With a string of expenses q mile long,
and an income of only forty rods to
meet them he wonders why he is be-
hind and when he is going TO catch
sees and acknowledges that he is
being oppressed and robbed by trusts
and monopolies; that he is the victim of
high tariff and Indirect taxation, and is
contributing to support a hundred diff
ferent families besides his own. Whose
fault is this, and why does he do 1t? he
can stop if he wants to. Why does he
go on? You would think to hear them
talk, the farmer was being held in a
state of involuntary servitude; that he
was struggling to free himself; but a
powerful master stood over him with q
lash, like a ~slave-driver, holding him
down and forcing him to do something
against his willard that he was wait
Ing lOI oi my lIhO LuC OI6 lIlGl
marched through Georgia ''irom At
lanta to the sea''to come and emancipate
him.
Poor Oppressed Slave.
He will ait win vain; there is no army
coming to do it. He must doit him
self. The present condition of the
farmer reminds me of a story I once
heard about a girl who always lived in
the country. She got to be about twenty
years old and had never been away
from home. So her mother thought
one day she would send her to town to
do a little shopping at the store.
And she told her to be very polite
to the store keeper, and always
in answering questions to be sure
The girl always said plain yes
and no at home, and had never heard
"yes. SIR and mo, slr'' used before till
her mother told her to address the store
keeper in that way. When she got to
town she forgot the 'no, sir" and all
she could remember was Eyes, SIR" So
she said Eyes. sir" to everything the
merchant asked her. He took down al
most every piece of goods in the store
and asked her if she would not buy it.
She said Eyes, sir" He waited on her
till noon, and when he had 10 go to din
ner he asked her if she would not
go along. She said Eyes. SIR" After
dinner he asked her if she would
goods? He said: "Yes, sir. He sold to
her all the afternoon till supper time,
and when he had to go to the last meal
in the day he asked her if she would not
go long? Eyes. sir" After supper he
asked her If she would not stay all
night. Eyes, SIR" 1t is sufficient to
say that when that girl got home with
her purchases, she was beheld by her
mother
With Astonishment,
and the neighbors smiled. The farmer
who votes for protection and says,
Eyes, sir" to everything the Eastern
manufacturer asks him, is simply re-
went to town TO trade. He has only his
own.ignorance and stupidity to blame
for his condition. He claims he has
things on his hands he doesn't want, and
is not able to pay for. But he is not load.
ed with a single thing in the whole pile
of his expressions and useless collec.
tons, but when asked if he would have
it, he said. Eyes, ST." Can we say
this is because the manufacturer IS 9
rObber? Or, in the language OF
ARENAS Ward, is it because the
farmer is ga damph-ool?" Or is it both:
There is not a daily market report
printed in the United States but quotes
the influence of foreign markets on the
price of wheat. Here is one: 'Decem.
Der fell off a fraction. Liverpool was
dull, and London quoted prices un.
changed. French country markets un
changed" Another reads: "Wheat
declined two cents on account of lower
quotations in Liverpool" Again,
wheat advanced sharply OIL accounto
increased foreign demand" So it goes
every business day in the year; year il
and year out
The Foreign Market
is ever present on the cold Dakota
prairies to influence the price of wheat
up or down. The farmer is a genuine
cosmopolitan. Everything he raises en-
tiers directly in composition with foreign
markets, and depends upon them fol
value and support. You hear it said
eve can't have better prices till there
is a better export demand. Our STUFF
must be needed abroad before the mar