The Princeton union., 1894-08-02

It's wake large army Of unemployed and 1
furnished them with labor
No Good Result "f AntngOlsm,
Now what good can be accomplished,
what immediate and substantial relief can
be obtained, by arraying the farmers against
the capital which has developed our rail-
roads and our manufacturing establish
ments Capital may become tyrannous,
and so, too, may labor. But neither the one
nor the other should therefor be suppressed.
Legislation has not been framed, as is al
legged, in spirit hostile to our farmers On
the contrary, they have been the recipients
of legislation especially designed to aid
homestead and timber culture laws, under
which the government has fitted out the
farmer with a part of his working capital
his farm. Aside from the land grant rail
roads no class has had a more generous gift
than this. And the very gift to the rail
roads was especially made and designed to
aid the farmers settling on our frontiers to
obtain railroad facilities at a much earlier
time than they otherwise could have OBJ
tanned the same. No other class of men en-
barking in business have been furnished by
the government with such aid as our home
stead and timber culture settlers. And the
gift was not only given to the native born,
but foreigners barely landed on our shores,
with their intentions declared" could at
once initiate claim to the generous land
bounty of our government. a
In addition to furnishing free homes to the
poor and needy farmers, the federal govern
ment years ago gave to each of the states
a land grant, amounting to 10000 acres for
each senator and representative in congress-
for the purpose of establishing agricultural
colleges. Our own state has availed itself
of the provisions of this grant by establish
in cti wit nnfVprSitV
a school of practical agriculture-the best
of its kind-for the benefit of the sons and
daughters of our farmers. Since making
this grant the federal government has given
to each state, for the support Of such
schools, an annual appropriation of SIS 5,OOO,
with an increase Of $1,000 a year for ten
years, or until the appropriation reaches
$25 600, at which figure it is to be main
tanned and paid annually to. each state.
The federal government has also, years ago,
made provision by law for the establish
ment of agricultural experimental stations
in each of the several states, and supplies
each of the states with annual allowance
of 1000 for station work. Under this law
Minnesota has had for several years and
still has an agricultural experimental sta
ton of good excellence at st. Anthony
Park. where numerous, varied and import
AIT experiments in all departments Of agri-
culture are constantly carried on. One of
| the experimental force, DIR. Otto Lugger,
| has made the acquaintance OF many OF our
! farmers in his efforts to relieve them from
| the ravageS OF graSSnOpperS, chlnch DuSS
and other vermin.
Benefits OF Protection,
Our protective tariff legislation, while
greatly extending and enlarging the field Of
| our manufacturing operations, and greatly
| increasing the demand for labor and palpa-
bly, maintaining good wages for the same,
has also been of great advantage to our
farmers. The large industrial army fos-
| tered and maintained under our tariff laws,
| has been the great consumer of our farm
| products and has furnished us our great
| home market, which has absorbed more
| than 80 per cent of all our farm products.
| This home market has not only been by
| far our greatest market, but it has also
| been our steadiest, most certain and most
remuneratiye market. The farmer has al
| ways Jared much better in the home mar
| ket than in the foreign market. Most of
our agricultural products are sold and con-
sumed at home, and as to those, a fairly
good price is generally maintained.
| We always have a considerable surplus of
wheat, cotton and corn to export. AS to
corn, owing to our peculiar soil and eli
mate, we have, to limited extent a sort
OF natural monopoly, and therefore are not
| wholly at the mercy of the foreign market
as to price; but in respect to wheat and cot
| ton, the export price of our surplus fixes
and controls in the main the price Of the
home market. AS to products, consumed
| entirely i'm our home market, we have no
competition of any consequence, except
with ourselves, but as to wheat we are in
| competition with Russia, Austro- Hungry
India and the Argentine Republic. The
latter is especially fast becoming our most
formidable competitor. While we export 8
large surplus of wheat and flour, our
product of oats, barley, fax hay potatoes
CATTLE hogs, sheep, cheese, butter and eggs
is mainly consumed at home and the price
is fixed by the home market. This price is
much better and more favorable to the
farmer than the price of wheat, which is
fixed by the export price of our surplus.
The total value of our wheat and fou1
export i'll 1893 was $169. .O29, ,317, while the
value OF all other cereals and breadstuffs
of all beef, pork, mutton and dairy product:
and of all eggs and hay exported was il
the aggregate only $139, 900. 900, leaving al
excess of $30.OO0,OOO in favor of flour an(
wheat over all of these other products com
bined
l have taken the pains to ascertain ant
compile in tabulated form the price at st
Paul and Minneapolis of some of the lead
ing products of our farms for the twelv,
months of the year 1898, with the averag,
1 price for the entire year, and for the frs
seven months of 1894, with the averag,
price for these months. And this is tn,
| result:
1893. 1894