The great West. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1889-18??, 1893-04-21
EASTERN MONEY MoNoERs
Tho East Has the Advantage or IL to /
Over the West.


Tho East Has the Advantage OF IL to
Over the West.
| From speech delivered by A. C.
Fisk, president Of the Southwest sill
yer convention held at Ell Paso, Tex.
as, the Chicago Sentinel quotes the
following extracts showing that the
demonstration of silver has proven
highly beneficial to the East and
detrimental to the West and South.
Upon this subject, Mr.. Fisk said:
l will compare the states of Kan
sas, Nebraska, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana.
Louisiana, Alabama, Georgia and
Texas, upon which the country de-
ponds for the production Of wheat,
cotton and other products that enter
into daily consumption; these / will
designate the producing states. Mas
sachusetts, Vermont, New Hamp-
shire, Maine, Connecticut, Rhode
Island, New York, New Jersey,
and Pennsylvania; these l will
designate as the banking, money loan
ing, manufacturing and railway owner
ship states, which / will call the wealth
states. The producing states have
72O, 600 square miles of land, while
the wealth states have 160, 900 square
miles, nearly five to- one in favor of
the former. The population, ten
years ago, was nearly equal With
nearly five times the territory of pro-
ductive soil and about the same num-
Der of people to do the work, the pro-
ducing states gained in wealth, dur
ing ten years from 1880 to 1890, about
$500, 100000, while the wealth dis
trict, with about one-third the terri
tory, unproductive soil, about the
same population, gained, in the same
time. more than So, 000, 100000. The
size, territory and gain in wealth
taken together show that the East
has possessed advantages of fifteen to
one over the Western or producing
states.
The produce states of Indiana, IL
linois, Iowa, Nebraska. Mississippi.
Alabama. Georgia and North Carroll
ma, having total area of 1876, 900
square miles of land had, in 1880, a
population of 100000 people.
Massachusetts,, with $500 square
miles, one fifty-eighth part of the
producing states, had a population in
1880, of 1,783,0o0. The assessed
value, in 1880, of the producing dis
trict was $2,792,919,155. Massachu-
sets had an assessed value of 81, 1884,
759,8O2. The great factors in pro-
duction are capital, land and labor.
The producing district possessed
these factors over Massachusetts, in
land, fifty to one, labor seven TO one,
capital two to one, yet, under the
systems which have grown up. fos-
tered by the money power of Europe
and Wall street, ten years later, in
1890, the producing states increased
their assessed valuation $3.50, AL, 974,
while the one little state,
one fifty-eighth the size, abb
solutely barren, increased their
assessed values $569,377 1924
more by ten millions than the great
producing states above named.
These figures are suggestive and any
one who believes that it is right for
the Rothschilds and the crowned
heads of the old world to manipu-
late every branch of the United States
government so far as to transfer q
portion of the earnings to the other
half, while the greater part of it
inures to the benefit of the crowned
heads of Europe, let them keep on
voting for the gold standard candi-
dates, but those of you who believe
the producers should have an inning,
should make new declaration Of
independence and throw off the
tyranny O. our oppressors
The East and foreign countries
hold our railroad bonds and the
East is, therefore, enabled to fix
rates for transportation of the great
Trans-Continental lines. Like every
other element, the railroads are also
managed and manipulated in the in
terest of the Eastern or manufacture
ing states. If time would permit l
should be glad TO give you some
astonishing figures, which would
show the West is Disseminated
against in the matter of raw materials
and manufactured products. The
rates are all fixed in the interest of
the Eastern manufacturing states.
The West has to pay not only rail
road fixed charges for three, four
and five times as much as they ought
to be but also have to do it in the in
terest of the other sections of our
common country.
To illustrate, 1000 miles of rail
road in Kansas built by the Chicago
and Rock Island is capitalized at $685.
900 per mile. The St. Louis and San
Francisco $50 miles is capitalized at
more than $4,000 per mile. The
Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe 49,
Coz, and the Denver and Rio Grande
$4,000. The Union Pacific line from
Denver to Omaha is $40 miles, as
good road can be built for $13, OOC
per mile and equipped for $4,000,
but that road is bonded for $4,000
per mile, on which we have to pay
as fixed charges, interest at the rate
of Z per cent, or Sc, 900 per mile, or 9
total interest of $3,471, 800, or 49,
GIG, 900 more annually than we ought
to pay. The financial situation of this
road is only given as an illustration
! Nearly all the roads in the country
are in the same condition and the
i Western farmer has to pay three an6
four times as much as he should pay
to keep up the fixed charges of these