Hopkinsville Kentuckian., 1890-10-28
BASSETT g. co.
oNE.sipsp PROSPERITY.


The sid,ar. View af rros? rlty- Every
wheel rurn nE In t.e mis- n W Il 10 ou
the arms The nrmer's Prosperity Has
U.ns West aud coii 'psed.
When Pres dent Harrison was al Terro
Iiautc. Ind. he had someth ng to say
about pr,sperily l,ut the Prosperity
that the rrcs dent referred 10 IN n was
q onr-s,dcd prosperity. lie counted
prosperity much Ms Gar Reed runs the
House OF Representatives. SEQ only
one side whom 1t serves his purpose
best and ignore the others dc altos oscthcr
II was the prosperity OF the manu-
facturcrs that the President spoke Of
lie said II was told as ! approached
your city that ihcro was not an idle
wheel In Tcrro llauto"
Precisely so; but tho Pres dent was
worry wide the mark when he drew from
this that everybody olsc was getting on
equally we'll. 1T is very pleasant 20
know" ho said, shat this prosperity is
NO generally shared by all our people 7"
DO the farmers think they art sharing
in IT tDo? Il not the contrary n notor,-
Gus TACT? Our high protect on st Super
intendcnt OF the Census, Robert 7. Por-
ter has said on this subject that the
American farmer is just now passing
through the gloomy valley OF hard
mes" and yot Porter juggles with his
figures and proves to his own satisfac-
tion that "the direct benefits he tho
farmer) receives from the present tariff
are far in excess OF the bcnoiit Is received
by any other classr
This talk about the farmers prosper
ity In the home market, as tho result OF
protection, Is, however, breaking down
all along the line. from East to West
The failure OF the protected home mar
ket TO bring prosper ty TO him was first
fclt in tho East IL began in the de-
cline OF New England farming villages
and in the dcsertion OF New England
hill farms Right in the midst OF the
greatest manufacturing comm unitics
this decline OF farming has gone on.
The census just taken shows that tho
townships adjoining the pr ne pl manu-
featuring cities OF Connecticut have
lost about 10 per cent of their popula-
tlon in ten years
In the State OF New York the farmers
have failed TO share in the general
prosperity that the President boasts OF
Already in 1887 Mr.. ]. T. Dodge. the
high protectonist statistic,an % tho
Department OF Agr culture, reported as
follows: New York farmers are more
in debt than they were ten years ago
The average depreciation OF farming
lands Is fully one-third in ten years
Drnl.., IA t..a ~ hn Ia In . n
state would not soil for more than the
cost OF the buildings and other improve.
monts Thirty Ier cent OF tho farms
are mortgagej for two-thirds OF thor
estimated value"
The protectionists always make the
same answer 20 those facts-.t Is West.
ern competition. they say.
but how docs the matter stand further
West? Take Ohio, for instance A
correspondent OF that high tariff organ,
tho New York Tribune, writes letter
to break the force OF the recently pub
lished facts as to tho decline OF the
farming population OF Ohio but he has
to make admissions which damage his
case fatally. He had to admit that tho
farm values OF Wayne County had fallen
off six per cent In ten years and that
the loss OF population Is still greater
Every county In the Western Reserve,
he says shows loss OF population in
the agricultural districts. In Wow OF
these facts the Tribune's correspondent
makes this sorrowful admission: mo
one denies that there has been depro-
ciation OF the farm lands of tho State in
the last decade" Then comes the cut
and-dred explanation, "thc attraction
Of tho cheap lands OF the West"
Apparently wo are not yet far enough
West Lot us try Iowa Tho Commits
sloner OF Labor Statistics in that State
has just made public some facts of a
startling character. lilo has received
answers to his inquiries from 7lO farm
ers recommended to him us reliable
persons"
He finds that ''sevonty-slx per cont
OF tho farmers OF tho State are prevent
cd by pressure OF their debts from hold
ing their grain and other products for
tho bost market prlces Eight per cent
have lost their farms by mortgage lore
closure since 1880" Thirty-elght pee
cent Of farmers children arc kept OUT
OF school ffty,eight days each school
year to do farm work; 663 of these
&rmers report that since 1885 farm
products have been sold below the cost
OF production
But perhaps our cheerful protection
tat President looks still further West 70