Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1890-05-09
Sarm Copies.
BETTERlNG OUR SITUATION.

ed into a class of agricultural grumblers
and farm depression orators it is this
United States. To hear some of these
talk and others write, one would think
that the farmers of this country were
four times over bankrupt OF course
there is a depression in agriculture, but
it is not in this country alone. 1t is yet
worse across the sea. The truth is that
we have builded faster in this country
than we can cover well, and we are now
forced into markets with our surplus
where we must compete with other ma
tions-in fight, commonly speaking,
with other countries which have the
same things to sell that we possess, and
it is game of undersellng, and the
producer 1000 miles away gets the
worst of it. Nor will cheap transpor-
tation solve this problem. Cheaper
freights on our corn, wheat and beef
mean decreased price to the consumers
and no rise at the producing end of the
line. Cheaper freight always means
cheaper food for the buyer.
While study upon this point is all
right it needs something beside "be
wailing our woes" to set matters Alright.
just now the largest overproducing we
have is in the class of demagogues,
office seekers and agitators who are
working their "racket" for their own
schemes, and not one of them has a
! a tn nf
ural depression, save the wrecking of
commercial enterprises, upsetting rail
way and transportation concerns, and
putting a new and untried element in
power in our government with the con
fessed purpose of making all other in
dustries secondary to agriculture. \
specimen "brick" of this is foreshadow-
ed by the asking of government to re-
celve the farmers product at 90 per
cent. of its market value. and hold it a
year for the farmer to redeem. but deny
ing the iron man the same privilege, or
refusing to store coal for the miner; for
these two products are products of the
earth as surely as wheat or corn.
While we hear about the shrinkage of
farm values in this country, and New
England farms especially, what about
the same troubles in England-their de-
cline in farm values, the depreciation of
rents, and the falling of of one-third OF
the wheat acreage of that country in
three years? If we are so unfortunate
here. and they so prosperous there, why
does 100 millions of the surplus wealth
of England flow to this country in one
year for investments? To make the
depression Of this country appear great,
the agitators suppress all facts of like
nature in Europe, and the actual condi-
ton of labor there, and largely argue
from false premises here. This is nota-
BILE in the farm mortgage cry. and the
alleged rapid increase of these. Lately
we have obtained some pretty reliable
figures of the farm mortgages of the
State of Illinois. At the first trial bal
ance the actual amount of secured in
debtedness shrank oyer one-half from
the figures that have been given out to
show the "deplorable condition of the
farmer there. Then it was found that
all of the mortgages in the State had
been by these same economists" charg-
ed against the farms, when in fact 60
per cent was on city and village proper
ty, and not on farm acreage" and at
last assuming that not dollar had eyer
been paid on any recorded mortgage,
the amount would not aggregate ID per
cent of the farm taxable property of the
State. Could the exact amount be
known of the credits on these mortgages.
| which the recorders books do not show,
) there would be a yet farther shrinkage
of value of farm mortgages. Assuming
, that this same proportion of 60 and &C
per cent holds good, then the farms of
Indiana are mortgaged less than pei
cent of their taxable value. Canada is
reported as carrying a total mortgage
debt of 40 per cent of her wealth, and
+ late consular reports from Europe put
r the mortgages in England, France and
= Germany at full half of their landed
and dwelling value.
So far as America is concerned, there
will be an adjustment. and a restoring
of equilibrium that will in time right af.
fairs, and set us again upon our feet
Agriculture, like all else, swings from
one extreme to the other. We are now
swinging back from the extreme point
where we were projected by the open
handed land policy of our government
After the war we failed to see that two
million soldiers would not go back tt
4 the old life, and there must be an econo
mic change of some kind, and so not con
tent with giving each soldier farm
>, the broad prairies Of the West were
thrown open for homesteads. and every
man upon the face of the earth who
4 would accept it, was given a farm; anC
n he came and all his clock" Not vel