The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1891-09-24
Why Some States Grow Rich.

agricultural States in respect of the rate
of increase in assessed valuation of real
and personal property in the last ten
years. In on article contributed to the
New York Times, J. S. Moore is at The
pains to collate the figures and draw the
obvious inference. Eight manufacturing
States-Connecticut, Maine, Msssachu.
set,s New Hampshire, New Jersey,
Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Ver'
mont-haye in the last decade increased
their valuation by sl,931 ,416,79O, Penn
sylvauia having accumulated profits to
the extent of 9,5S2,01G and Msssa.
cbusetts to the extent of $56O,977 1924.
These eight States happen to be the
States for whose capitalists the present
tariff and all others since 1867 have been
principally constructed. The results
should be satisfactory to the tariff lords
of these States, seeing that it is big
thing for the rest of the country to con.
sent to part with its wealth for their
aggrandizement. Turning from those
that receive to others that give, Mr..
Moore finds that the FIVE great agricul'
tural States-Illinois, Indiana, Iowa,
Wisconsin and Ohio-haye Increased
their assessed valuation in the last de-
cade by but S59l ,601, ,O51. Their popu-
lation is 19,2S9,547, but their people,
though more numerous and occupying
vast areas of very productive land, Lave
not been able to accumulate one third as
much as the eight manufacturing States
have done. The larger number of men
with fine natural advantages increase
their wealth by about $500, ,OOO,O ,OG0 in ten
years, while the smaller number of men,
with smaller natural advantages, swell
their wealth by about s2,000,OOO,O 900 f!
The thing is against reason. There rnust
be some artificial condition that blesses
the one area at the expense of the other.
"Tbe reason for this discrepancy"
says Mr.. Moore, "lies 10 nutshell. The
protected American feudal lord buys
what he needs aud consumes in the
cheapest market in the world and sells
his product in the dearest, whereas the
rural American serf sells his product in
the cheapest market in the world and has
to buy all necessaries of life in the dear
est market, which is the protected home
market, and the only market where he
can supply himself. This is lamentable
enough as Indicating a false and unjust
economic adjustment. The poor ought
not to be compelled by law to enrich the
rich by being forced to pay artifcially
enhanced prices for every manufacture
the projected capitalist produces. The
thing is not right, and it is sad to see
self interest go greedy. A sadder thing,
however, is the facility with which the
| tariff lords can lead tue agriculturist to
believe his hardships are due to any
cause but the true one-the "demoneti.
zation of silver" for example, or the
want of larger "per capita of money"
"The poor, benighted farmer can not"
says MIR. Moore, for the life of him, gee
that if he uses one bag of salt in year
and pays for it 50, a. against 81 per bag
if there were no duty on salt, he keeps
that other dollar in his pocket; nor can
he see that if this is applied to his cloth
ing, to his farming tools, to bis cutlery,
to his Bible he takes to church on Sum
day, and to the varnish on his coffin,
indeed to every conceivable article he
uses, be would save half the present cost,
so that it would follow that his expenses
would be only one.half of what they are
now"
These are among the things that are
too plain to be seen. The excessive price
of manufactures under q protective sys.
tenn is thing that meets the man OF
small income at every turn. he may
not see it, because the tribute be paws the
tariff lord is hid away in the price of his
daily purchaees. But it is there, and by
the end of the year it hes eaten big hole
in the profits Of the years work. MIR.
More thinks our farmers are being
reduced to an interior position, s4nalo'
gous to that of the peasant or serf of the
old world. This is degradation the
country can not afford. Our farmers
have till now been the chief buttresses of
our political institutions. In the clash
of private interests struggling at Wash
ington for the mastery the farmers of the
country have till now constituted the
element to which patriots appealed when
the constitution was in danger. The
country can not, therefore, as has been
already said, afford to see this conserva'
tive and patriotic class of citizens lose
their influence through the impoverish.
rent the protective policy ie bringing
upon them. We can not agree with Mr..
Moore that, "after all, these farmers and
tax payers like such state of affairs, the
public ought to be satisfied" The
patriotic publicist can never be satisfied
to find our best population handed over
to poverty and ignorance. "Of course,
says the writer, "if the farmer were
relieved of these hard sensations then the
other fellows, the mill owner monopo'
lists, would not be able to become great
millionaires and buy feudal castles in
Scotland or acquire cfete European
aristocracy for their daughters" This is
very true, but the creased growth Of
castle owners would be an endurable
hardship.-BaHino.c Sun.
a Human Footprint In Stone.
On May 13, 1882, Mr.. John B. Wig
gins of Waverly, N. j., while searching