The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1890-04-12


Naiia Walta -s...s*.s.. .f. III y son
Whsseom !. ~ ai,ef sohts
sElTTLk aA1URDAY. APRIL ~.
oskxPRoDucTION AND ITS REMEDY.
'.Ovsrpsoduct,cn' Is the title Of IN
article contributed by G. Wood Davis 70 the
April number Of the fss~m. II relates TO
overproducslon by the agricuitufists Of the
United states. In assuming 70 account for
alleged distress among The farmers Of this
country NJ. Davis says that IL Is due to
the fact that there are altogether too many
fsrms. too many cattle and swine. too
many bushels Of corn. whsat, rye. oats.
harley. buckvhsat and potatoes. too many
tons OF hay. and too great production OF
nearly all other farm products for the num-
her Of consumers.
This position Mr.. Davis supports by
statistics. relying for these mainly upon
thai eminent Massachusetts, ssatistician.
Mr.. edward Atkinson. Estimating the
agricultural workers u ten million, and
their investments In farms and
equipments At $1,000 .ooo. 90. he In
asia that the employment il
something worse than pro6ticss The
climax Of his argument is reached by the
assertion that - short crop brings the
farmer moro profit. and oftsn more money
in gross. than does . FUN or large one"
And 10 this latssr proposition his sta
tistics are largely addressed. BY these he
clailns 10 show that the corn crop n 1859
was greater BY CO. 0oo. 900 bushsls than Vas
that at 1857. and Jet. counting the cost OF
handling he extra amount. IL will bring
the growers les BY Sioo.0o.oo. And he
claims that while The crop Of 1873 wss 90
per cent greater than that OF 1s7A, the LAT
ter brought the farmers 3l19.0o0.00o more
than they obtained for The much greater
crop Of is7S And he states that the five
last crops tabulated exceed the Ave next
preceding crops In the enormous aggregate
Of 2.i2S, 10000 bushels. and yet produced
10 The farmers s7i ,o00.0O less money. In
other words. that The farmers furnished 10
the country over two billion bushsls OF
corn for ssvsnty-ons million dollars less
than nothing. The results Of his figuring
on wheat and other crops are very similar.
and he claims that our stock Of cattle Is
fully two million head In excess of our
needs.
II the accuracy Of these statements and
the soundnsss Of these conclusions were
admittsd. the remedy would appear 10 be
plain and simple. II would be worse than
idiocy for the farmers 10 continue the pro-
dueticn. every i've years, Of two billion
bushels Of corn for seventy one million dol
lars less than nothing. aud other staples in
proportion. Through Oranges. Alliance,
and similar organizations they should cur.
tail projection within the limits Of heal thy
demand. and send np prices accordingly.
The only other alternative would be 20
change their employment. 60 into the cit
ses o. engage in manufacturing. But un.
fortunately for these latter propositions
there IL already giat In both Of these de-
parsments which the mere reduc-
sion Of agricultural production would
asgrsvats. There are good MANY
unemployed ia simost every city. and In
most lines Of manufacture the oyerpro-
ductaon Il almost or quite proportional
- that in agriculture.
Bat lis hish,y improbable that ali OF N.
pecpis OF the United States are oyerfea or
ovessupplied with the necessarsss al life :.
the exteat that Mr.. navis's figures would
ind1cate. In this country and in MANY
ethers there are millions OF people who
ere actually suffering FOR the ,Ainx. as
vAich Mr.. Davis tries 60 prove thu. a..
have . rainoas superabaadanoe. Amope
these may b mentioned the coal ana iron
miners Of fennsylvania. And in this con.
nDetson may be repeated what has been
hsresofcss mentioned In these columns
that these miners are only ahss 20 obtain
employ nent part Of the time. and in con-
sequence they and their families are suffer
ing for . portion os that surerahundsnce
al corn. wheat. beet aud pork because Of
limited demand for the prosucts OF their
labor. while farmers in The west are burn
ing corn Tor lack OF fuel and could rrof,t.
seiy use large amount OF the products
al TIE iron mines they could manage 10
exchange their produce for them
10 that, while devsaing schemes Tor sub
s&disins ocean transportation lines for the
improvement ct our foreign commerce
which is hsss-rase shiaS Of itssls-ther,
would 10 abundant conversation in ssady-
lag. mastering and adopting remedial
measures - 10 interstate transportation.
oeyond doaes there are snoarA men.
vcnsen and children In the United s,as.s
10 consume without becoming sryfes:~d or
suffering discomfort. ell Of thu agricultural
rodacss 81 cur most srcsr<reas rear. thar
can b spar<d from The ordinary demands
cf eas foreign commerce And II al al
these people eosssd b enra.ye.i With even
sesersiSe rersssrsty in their ether svcss
ssens. they coala veil slseEd 10 pay sAe