The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1891-11-24
PRESIDENT PoLK's MESSAGE.
His Address Before the Indianapolis
Conventional Startling Array of
Facts and Figures.

representative of the farmers of almost
every State and Territory in the Union,
youcann not be unmindfulo Of the weighty
responsibility which attaches to your
position.
Entrusted with the high duty of leg
islating for a great organization whose
success or failure may depend on your
action, | feel assured that you will ad-
dress Yourselves to the task with that
deliberation, and patriotic purpose de
manded by the situation the ~stupendOuS
interests that have been committed to
your charge.
Upon no body of men, perhaps, in
our history, since the meeting OF the
Continental Congress has greater or
or .ver responsibility devOlved than
upon this assembly. Theirs was the
high and exalted duty Of esta bllsh1ng a
republican form of government; yours,
the no less grand and patriotic duty OF
preserving it. Their demands for equal
rights before the law were no more the
just protest of a lib~erty-lOving people
against the eXactIOnS and uSurpatlOnS
of ~mOnarchial tyranny, than are yours
which were declared at st. Louis and
reiterated at Ocala against those inc
qualities and determinations which
| threaten to undermine the liberties of
| the people and to destroy the great agrl-
| cultural interests of the country.
But you are to be congratulated that,
| like our continental fathers, while con
| fronted with formidable forces and
difficulties, you have the invincible
power of right, of justice, Of equity and
of truth to inspire and sustain you.
Moreover, you have a unanlmlty and
| sOlidity of sentiment among the great
conservative masses of the country as
a mighty reserve power, and which, If
| directed Alright, must ultimately and
| inevitably achieve for our cauSe a
glorious success.
Wonderful as has been III growth
and development as an organization In
numbers, no phase of III progress has
been so marvellous and gratifying as III
the education of the masses in the true
principles of political economy. The
gray-haired sire, whose slnews and
muscles have been tOughened and
hardened through a life of toll and
labor in the production of wealth, has
been forced, by unjust and oppressive
legislation, to address himself to the
no less important problem of securing
a Just and equitable distribution of
that wealth. Diligent, honest and
earnest research and investigation as
to the causes which have brought the
American farmer to the verge of bank
ruptcy and ruin has forced upon him
the alarming conviction shat many of
the most sacred and important func-
tiOns of the government have been
usurped and appropriated for the
benefit of the favored few, to the
detriment and ruin of the neglected
millions.
THE SITUATION.
The gravity of the situation, the
great unrest which is agitating the
public mind and the magnitude of the
interests involved, demand the most
candid and deliberate investigation
and consideration. What are the
alleged grievances of the American
farmer? Are they real or merely thee
retical?
Let the record answer.
During the decade from 1850 to 1850,
farm values increased 1O1 per cent.
From 1870 to 1880, farm values in
creased only 8 per cent. But nOtwith-
standing this alarming decline in this
great industry, the aggregate wealth of
the country, from 1870 to 1880, in
creased IS per cent. and the agricUl
tural population increased over 90 per
cent. From 1850 to 1850 agriculture
led manufacturing 10 per cent. in in
creased value of products. From 1870
to 1880 manufacturing led agriculture
81 per cent, showing a difference of
81 per cent. in favor of manufacturing.
The ten staple crops of the country,
wheat, corn, rye, barley buckwheat,
hay oats, potatoes, cotton and tobacco,
2 per cent. more than the same crops
in 1893 C(1Ip 0oToo1 n7rOno 0e I C17 F,0~2
less than half the acreage and half the
amount brought the farmers $40, III, 600
more than the anne crops of 1887, not
w~ithstanding that during this period
the acreage and number Of farm hands
had doubled, and agricultural ma
chlnery and implements had been
vastly improved. The farmer is
alarmed to find that within the last
decade agricultural lands generally
have decreased from 30 to 40 per cent.
in value.
Owning less than % per cent. of the
wealth of the country, the farmers paw
over 80 per cent. of the taxes levied
and collected. Two-thirds of the wealth
OF the country is not assessed onefarth-
ing for purposes of taxation, and vet
the government has the power to force
every taxpayer in the land to offer his
life In defense of that untaxed wealth.
With all his facilities for transporta-
ton, which are equal to the demands
of the productive power of the country.
and his accessibility to marke- s, he is
forced to sell his products at prices
barely covering the cost of production.
Despite the theory that diversified
ton Of crops and home markets would
conduce to his prosperity, he sees thou
sands of New England farms, within
easy reach of great aggregations of
consumers, absolutely abandoned to
the brier and brush.