Democratic messenger., 1893-09-30
EFFECT ON FARMING.
WHAT A RESUME INSPIRED BY THE
PRESENT CRISIS REVEALS.

Ahe of Itau y
Rapidly Declining Tendency Since 1870.
Looking For the Causes of This Very IN
satisfactory Condition.
Wien by reason of unfavorablc con-
diii"ns nearly half Of the population is
deprived III whole or in part of its power
to purchase of the products of those en-
gagged III manufacturing industries, the
whole commercial and industrial world
suffers from paralysis; the exchanges
become dcr"nged: boarding ensues:
monetary stringency follows; mills. fac
tories and furnaces close; operatives,
ceasinS to earn, lose their power to pur-
chase the products of their own labor
| as we'll as Of the labor of others. and the
circle of declining activity constantly
widens.
Such are the conditions now exist
ing, and they are largely if not almost
wholly due primarily to the loss of the
power on the part of some 45 per cent of
the people to purchase other than the
veriest nece: saries.
On the other hand, whenever this
great multitude of people have large rev.
ennes. their purchases are of such vol
ume and the character and quantity
bought so constant that manufacturing
plants are fully employed, and new ones
are built TO meet augmenting demands.
The mill owner buys raw material i'll adj
vance of consumption; operatives and
artisans have constant work; the wage
scale being an ascending one. the ability
of the worker TO buy the products of
his own labor and of the labor of others
is enhanced; money seeks employment
with confidence; the merchants stock
rapidly disappears and is constantly re-
plenished; collections are easy, and, in
short, labor is fully employed, manufac-
turers are overrun with orders, money
is abundant and times are good.
AS the prices of farm products have
fallen, so has declined the purchasing
power of that body of producers consti-
tuting nearly half tho working force of
the nation. and SO has wancd the pros
perity of all.
At the taking Of the census of 1870 Sc
per cent OF al tho males following regu-
lar vocaiiOns We're engaged in agricul-
turc, and this was approximately the
proportion of the people living upon the
farm, but by 1880. owing to the growth
of manufactures. the proportion had
been reduced below 40 per cent and is
now probably about 45 per cent. :.
After the close of the civil war farm
products brought such prices that the52
per cent of the population then directly
dependent upon agriculture had ample
revenue. Their purchases of tho prod
ucts of manufacture were so liberal that
many establishments ran night and day.
The mill owner, tho producer of raw
material, the merchant and al those
engaged directly and indirectly i'll dis
tribution or construction, as well as
those employed i'll the subsidiary indus
tries. were fully employed at rcmuncra-
tive rates, the result being an era of
prosperity never equaled in our history,
as neither before nor since have those
prices for farm products been equaled.
AS the power Of the farmer to buy de-
clined, so has declined measurably tho
activity of the industrial and CONNER
cial world. except as an impulse has
been gwen to commerce and Eanufac-
lures by the construction of an immense
railway mileage, often i'll advance and
excess of local needs. While the de-
velopment os transportation facilities
served TO mask and postpone some of
the inevitable results due to the farm
er's loss of purchasing power, the almost
entire cessation of such works tends to
emphasize the loss of that power, which
the farmer exercised i'll such way as ta
cause u rapid extension of the industrial
equipment of the country, until it has
become more than sufficient to meet de-
mands reduced by reason of the loss OF
revenue suffered By the greatest body Of
workers in the country.
The n:tioH is likely never again T.,
have its economic conditions hidden hy
a Fictitious prosperity growing ont of
great railway constructions, rs such
operations arc no longer possible. thers
being no region. except very limited
southern areas, whcrcexpenditures could
be made - appear rs promising returns
to tempt the rcssessors of available
funds.
For more than - years-1S1S to 1885,
all the great primary agricultural sta
pies have been declining in price. al
though there have been periods when
the price of some one was high for a linn
ited time. This is more notably true as
respects secondary products, especially
meats and lard. but the trend of the
whole scale has been constantly down
ward, anl the general price level at tLc
end of each year was lower than at its
beginning.
While the cost Of production cannot
have been lessened rs much rs per
cent since 1915. prices for the staple
product of the farm averaged Sc per
cent greater during the five years ending
with 1879 than now. This is especially
true as respects the five staples corn,
wheat. oats. hay and cotton, which en-
ploy lO5. .00O.GGO ont of the 2O6, 6,OO0.0 coo
acres now devoted to staple crops.
The following table shows III five year
averages the gold value per acre (in the
local farm markets. of the product of
the five staples named for quinquennial
periods since 1866 and an es innate Of the
the value. with average yields. of an acre
under each such staple in 1898 at present
prices:
vAIt, oF Az ACRES PRODUCT
ls,6- ISL lS.6- ISL lSS;- is.U.
~. ~. ~. ~ ~
Corn. si.I ll.0 aG2 los SSl s.95
Wheat. 1915 ll.D I2.W lOD 80. go
oais... I0.e aSl SIS aI7 40 5..5
Hny.. IBIS li.S lis, Ills I0I9 IuU
Cotton.. :S.DI 2S55 l..3 1865 1881 1865
Totals. SSH .5es J9is $40 49H 4O.s5