Courier Democrat. (Langdon, N.D.) 1891-1920, 1891-08-13
M'KINLEY's HOWE MARKET.
1t Will Take About $50 Years to
''Bring the Factory to the Farm',-
Farm Exports.

wv. L. Wilson in St. Louis Republicl
The Statistical Abstract of the
United States for 1890, book of $50
pages, prepared 10y the Bureau Of sta
tistics under the direction of the secre-
tary OF the treasury, has just appeared.
This volume contains great variety
OF statistics on the finance, trade and
agriculture of the country, and other
Important matters for the fiscal year
1890; and for many proceeding years;
in some cases for the entire existence
of the government.
1t furnishes the fullest and most
trustworthy data we can have as to
these matters, for much of it is made
up directly from the books of the treas
ury and other departments, and all of
it is supervised or prepared by trained
experts.
The American farmer who has been
patiently voting taxes on himself for
quarter OF century at the instance of
Mr.. Morrill,, Mr.. Sherman, Mr.. McKin-
ley and others, in order to build up a
home market, with home consumers of
his produces, and who has been COM
pelling himself, by law, to pay these
home consumers so per cent. more for
what he has to buy than his other con-
sumers would charge although
both sets pay him the same price for
his products-should get a copy of this
abstract and figure on it a little at
nights. If he is good at figures, he can
find here the exact facts for ciphering
out the date at which he will get that
sufficient home market, and have the
s'factory by the farm" to take all his
products at home, and he may refresh
his soul amid its perplexities by learn
ing the exact speed by which he is
moving forward to this promised
destination.
Let us turn for moment to these
official tables, and see what comfort
they give him.
In 1860, out of a total merchandise
export (emitting fractions) of 1916, ,OOO,-
OOv dollars in value, agriculture fur
nished, $256,O00, 900, or 81 per cent. In
1890, out of a total merchandise export
of $845, 100000, agriculture furnished
1929, 100000, or 744 per cent. Here
then we have the rate of progress in
decreasing our agricultural export.
and our dependence upon foreign mar
kets for its consumption, from 81 per
cent. in 1860 to 744 per cent. in 1890, OF
about 8 per cent. in thirty years.
At this pace 1T will take only 345
years more to reach the vanishing
point. when we shall have home mar
ket to consume all our surplus farm
products.
Why, then, should the farmer rage
and vex the air with his unreasoning
complaints? Does he expect to reach
home market by telegraph or light
ming express? Let him be satisfied
and thankful to know that he is NOV
ing toward it and that he is now able
to calculate, by ''fggers" and the rule
of three, the precise date of his arrival
as accurately as the astronomer fore
tells the eclipses of the sun and moon.
After just 345 years more, with not
more than thirty-five upward revisions
of the tariff meanwhile, in the year of
our Lord 22S6 some future Mckinley
will lift the exultant 'Eureka!'' and
proclaim that he has at last found a
sufficient home market for the Ameri-
can farmer. Could anything be more
plain and satisfactory? And consider
ing the price he has been paying for a
home market-not more than fourtl.
or a third of his annual product could
any thoughtful farmer expect to secure
it at an earlier date?
But it may be suggested by some
sceptical and hard-headed tiller of the
soil that I have taken the wrong data
for my calculation, and that the correct
way to find out when we shall reach
the farmers home market is not to take
the percentage of decrease in the agri-
cultural part of our general exports, for
that is merely comparing the exports of
the farm with the exports of the mine
and factory, and so forth, but to take
the percentage of decrease in our ex-
portation Of the several staple farm
products in consequence Of the increas-
ing home consumption Of them brought
about BY the tariff. This is probably
right.
Let us then SEQ what the tables show
IS 30 these. They do not SO beyond
1883. In that year out Of total wheat
crop cf 2eo, ,0oo. 600 bushels We Exported