The morning call., 1892-06-20
CROPS AND MARKETS.

The farmer who has a large crop and no
market is ia a much better condition than
one who has a scant crop and good mar
ket. The test Of prosperity is in the amount
of produce he has to sell 10 get given sum
OF money. When corn is drug in the mar
ket he cannot pay taxes nor interest money
with il, nor use it to square accounts with
the grocer. A great many years ago the
discovery was made that one year with an
other American farmers could produce
surplus Of such products as they could pro-
duce at all. The question then arose as to
a market for the surplus. There was n
limit to the distance that corn, wheat or
meats could be transported TO market.
They used TO try to overcome this difficulty
by feeding grain TO cattle and making the
cattle carry themselves to the slaughter
house, but il was found that in long trip
a good deal Of corn that had been converted
into livestock disappeared. 1t cost about as
much to drive cattle to the slaughteT-house
as to carry them there.
1t was this condition of things that fixed
the idea Of home market in the minds Of
a school Of statesmen. If corn could not
be carried 10 market with profit to the pro-
ducer why not lead the market to the pro-
Queer? Every person who does not raise
corn is a customer Of one who does. Bring
the two together. Let the man who makes
cloth, The man who converts hides into
leather and he who turns leather into boots
and shoes come to the farmer. who, of
course, is tied TO his farm. But it was found
that these finished products could be car
ried much farther on the same percentage
of cost than raw material. The freight on
500 worth of cloth from Europe would be
but small percentage of its market value,
while the freight Oh grain for the same dis
tsGce would absorb its entire value. The
remedy for this condition Of things was to
impose fax on these imported goods at the
port Of entry. For time this tax raised
the price of such goods TO the consumer, but
ii also built up home industries which give
the consumer a home market for his prod
ucts. The nearer this market came to him
the better off the farmer was. He thus found
a market for his surplus corn, ard if he
had to pay little more for his boots, shoes
and clothes he had something to pay with.
Let us suppose farmer raises 1000 bushels
of grain of various kinds each year He
wants to find a market for perhaps 500
bushels. Under the old condition Of things
this grain would not average on The ground
10 cents bushel. But with home market
at his door the producer sells at 80 cents a
bushel. He has apparently made $500 by
the change. But the free-trader comes
along and tells him that he has had 10 pay
more for his boots and shoes, more for
clothes, more for such tools as be has to
buy than he would if there had been no
duties on these articles. The farmer asks,
How much m0re?" The free trader re-
plies. so per cent more. The farmer finds
upon examination that he has not expended
more than 500 for articles on which duties
are levied, and accordingly on the free
traders own showing is only $50 out OF
pocket on that account. But he has sold
his crop for $500 more than he could have
sold it for if there had been no home market.