The weekly Union times. [volume] (Union C.H., South Carolina) 1871-1894, 1890-05-09
A word TO FARMERS.

A WURU TU FAKMERS.
Secretary Rusk Sends Out a Circular
Letter.
He Discusses Agricultural Depression and
Suggests Some Remedies
Must he Protected.
Secretary Rusk has sent out to the farmers
circular letter, in which he discusses agricul-
turel depression, its causes and possible RENE
dies. He says much of the depression is due
to careless culture, want Of business-line meth
DDS, too large bodies of land, the oppression Of
mortgages the troubles arising from transpor-
tation, the Intervention of the middleman,
gambling in farm products by exchanges and
boards of trade, and the operations of trusts or
combinations. He says that our imports of pro-
ducts sold in competition with those actually y
produced on our own soil, ,amonnt to nearly
l66s Sscses}a Rs sJes pro-
,tions. He calls attention to the wonderful in
crease, totally disproportionate to our increase
IN population, of our imports of agricultural
products. In $780, our imports of farm products
were forty million dollars; in 1889 1856 600 coo,
an increase of nearly 900 per cent. while the
increase in population in the same period was
less than 300 per cent. Over 20 per cent of
soil. During the past decade, in which the
greatest increase in imports has taken place
there has been steady decrease in the prices
OF homegrown products. The reason for this
he traces to the competition of the pauper
labor OF Europe with our own. The price of
our wheat, of which we grow a surplus, is
forced down by competition with Russia and
India, and regulates the price of the entire
crop. Farmers have to use their corn, for
which there is an insignificant foreign demand,
for fattening cattle and hogs.
lie continues: "Thc foreign market for live
cattle which exists in Great Britain is so ham
pered by the oppressive regulations requiring
slaughter at point Of landing as to exercise
nttie or no beneficial influence on the price of
his product, while the obstructive measures
adopted by several of the Continental coun-
tries in regard to American pork has reduced
the exports of that product since 1881 over
forty per cent. annually. Under such circum.
stances there can be but one cause assiCnable
for the neglect by American farmers to turn
their attention TO other crops in the line of
such agricultural products as we now import,
and that is that in this they would meet an
even more overwhelming and disastrous COM
petition than they are now confronted with, in
the raising Of cereals and live stock The only
course possible to enlightened craftsmanship
is To assure to the farmer adequate protection
In the divcrsitcation of his crops and produc-
tion of a larger proportion of the articles which
we now import.
"Thcse may he summarized as follows; the
figures given being for the fiscal year ending
June 80, 1850, and the values those at the ports
of exports: Sugar and molasscs, 93,30l ,S9i ami.
mails and their products, except wool, 2,263,-
OLD; fibcrs, animals and vegetables, 81, ,I53, 1885,
miscellaneous, including brcadstuils, fruits,
hay. hops, oils, rice, seed, tobacco, vegetables
and wines ETC., Il ,25i,S94.
For obvious reasons | omit any reference
here TO the ninety millions expended for tea,
coffee and cocoa, but omitting these, We have
~
of agricultural products, the far greater part
of which, amounting probably to not less than
240 or $50 millions, could, with proper encour-
be sas We our SSn him
beTfeiiis of home market for all that he may
be able to produce on our soil This includes
all the sugar and molasscs, all animal pro
ducts, wool, silk, flax and other fibreS, all ouI
breadstmfs, fruits, hay hops. rice, tobacco
vegetables and wines; but many of these thing,
will never, can never be produced on Ameri.
can soil in competition with the labor of Euro.
pean nations, especially when, rs in the case OF
sugar the industry abroad has been helped by
liberal government bountics.
COMPETITION ON OUR OWN SOIL.
OF the seven or eight million dollars worth
of live animals imported into this country, the
greater proportion were of ordinary markets
bic stock. as contra. distinguished from pure
bred stock imported for breeding purposes and
admitted free. Ofall other animal products,
including wool, there is not one that is not now
being raised upon our own SOIL and yet in
cluding wool and hides, the imports of these
animal products amounted in the year referred
to, to over sixty million dollars; to this add
twenty millions for fruits, eight million for
barley, over two millions for hay and hops,
three and a:half millions for rice, eleven mil.
lions for tobacco, three millions for oils, two
and One-half millions worth of vegetables, the
same for eggs, over million dollars worth of
cheese-thesc represent some of the imports
aggregating nearly one hundred and fifteen
million dollars, which, in spite of the produc
tiveness of our own SOIL are brought into this
country and sold in competition with our far
mcrs
FOREIGN MARKETS.
1fthere are products grown to better advan
tage in other countries, remission of duty or
which would seem to be in the interest of d
large portion Of our population, such rcmis
sions should only be accorded as the result OF
sion of duties by such other countries OH pro
ducts more readily grown there. Many of those
countries which would he specially benefited
by remission of the duty on sugar by our gov
| crnment, would afford an excellent market fol
our breadstufs and dairy and meat products
were il not for the high duties imposed thereon
| by them. So with other products, and when
ever duty on such products is lowered or re
| moved and protection TO our farmers thus di
| minished il should be as the price of conces
| in favor of our own farm products. In this way
| and in this way only, can our farmers bt
| adequately protected, new markets being thu.
| thrown open to them for those products which
they can most easily and chcaply produce.
To farmers producing, as do ours, a vast sur
| plus of agricultural products, the question o
| foreign markets is and should he deeply inter
esting. Not only do they offer an outlet fol
| this surplus, hut if untrammclled by irksom
| restrictions and uncontrolled by combination
/ such as I have referred to elsewhere the.
serve as useful checks upon those who nigh
| otEcrwlse succeed IN controlling our home mar
kets. Unfortunately, irksome restrictions d
| exist, and especially is this the case with ref
| ercncc to our live stock industry. Evidence j
not wanting that demand exists in Grca
| Britain for our live stock, and but for the op
| prcsSive restrictions imposed by the Britis
| government, and said to be necessary owing t.
| the alleged existence of contagious discas
among American cattle, there is little doub
but large proportion of our product of liv
| cattle would find there profitable marke
thus greatly relieving our home markets. S
with our pork products, oppressed by the EN-
bargoes placed upon them by certain European
powers, with the result Of an enormous dc
crease during the past six years in our export
of bacon and hams; for whereas these export
| in 1870, 1880 and 1881 average about 745, 900