The Meridional. (Abbeville, La.) 1856-1906, 1891-05-23
Continued from the first page.)

Is eeSeDtlal 10 sour 4
point him to the 1851 abandoned
farms in Massachusetts, to the 1882
J: abandoned farms in New sHamp.
shire, TO the once beautifui'hills and
valleys of New England. blooming
in oil the glory Of profitable diversi-
fed agriculture, but now given over
10 the briar and bramble, for an an.
swer to this assertion. l point to
that beautiful garden spot in
American agriculture, New Jersey,
and to The rich end fertile lands in
Michigan, end. other States where
the farms have deprecated in value
from 33 to,5O per cent, for a crush
ing REPUTATION of the fallacious as,
sumption. Otlers high in authority
tell ue that that lneagre, return for
the products of our labor is due to.
over production" aDdwe are point
ed to our export of bread st1fs for
proof of the assertion, when lin fact
il we had used q ounces per diem
per capita more than was consumed
in the year 1889. not one pound
would have remained for export.
j He forgets that there,are 3.0Oe.0OO
tramps in this country4and 5000. 600
human beings living in a state Of
semi starvation. There car be no
over production so long as the cry
! for bread. 1t is not over produc
ton, but it is under consnmption-a
want OF a just and equitable distri
button Of the products Of labor.
/ solemnly protest, and with all
reverence, that God is not to blame
for our deplorable condition. i
protest that it is not the fault Of
the farmer. But II assert and
charge deliberately, that the fault is
to be found in the unjust. partial. dis
eliminating and wicked financial
system of our government; a system
that has imposed upon agriculture
an unjust and an intolerable pro-
portion Of the burdens Of taxation,
and has made it the helpless victim
of the rapacious greed and tyranni-
cal power Of gold, a system nnder
which, despite The admonitioDs Of his
,ory and all the teachings OF the past
Sespite the warnings Of the ablest
political economist Of This and OF
all countries, of this and all the ages
past, our currency has been contact
led to a volume totally inadequate to
the demands of the legitimate hnsi.
ness of the country with the natural
and inevitable result-high priced
. money and low.priced products.
But again we i told that we
should not complain. for "a dollar
will buy more to day than ever be.
But where is the dollar?
Should We not buy more with 1t
than ever before2 Does not the dol
lar cost ns from two to four times
as much as ever before? But buy
more OF what? Luxuries? In his
terribly depressed condition the far.
mer aspires not to the indulgence Of
Injuries, but is happy if by any
means he may secure to himself and
family The enjoyment Of the absolute
necessaries Of life.
Let US look into this boosted pur
chasing power of the dollar from the
farmer standpoint. lie buys,a dress
fabric for his wife at 30 cents per
yard. which twenty years ago would
have cost 40 cents. The broker TO
whom he sells his cotton makes his
usual profit, the New York broker
sells it to a New Hampshire manu-.
iactnrer and makes his usual profit.
the road transporting it to the New
Hampshire mill makes its usual profit
the manufacturer manipulates il into
n dress fabric, sells it to a New
York jObber and makes his usual
profit with a bonus of 35 per cent in
the shape of an import tax cal ed
protection. the road Transporting it
to New York makes its usual profit,
the New York jnbher sells it to the
wholesale merchant and makes. his
profit, the wholesale merchant
sells it to the merchant of the far.
imers in the South at his usual profit
the road transporting it to theSouth.
ern merchant makes it's usual profit,
and the Southern merchant sells it
to the farmer who produced the cot