The midland journal., 1894-03-23
QUESTIONS OF THE DAY
Curious Views.

has no just reason to complain OF
the low prices of his products, see
ing that everything he has to buy
is low in proportion. In the next
sentence he adds that wheat is
temporarily depressed from cover
production," but flour is even lower
than wheat. If this gentleman
does not remember, he ought tC
remember, that prior to 1860 the
farmer could take five bushels OF
wheat to the mill anywhere and get
a barrel of the best flour, and the
oflal of the five bushels of wheat
besides. No doubt he does remem-
Der it. At that time the price of a
barrel of flour was the price of five
bushels of wheat in practically all
our markets. On the day this let
ter was written family flour was
worth at the stores in this neigh
borhood from 1870 to $5.25-Say
an average of So 90. Wheat on the
farm here was worth about AZ cents
but say SO cents for prime. So that
a barrel of flour, without the bran
now costs the farmer ten bushels OF
prime wheat, and, unless the fig
ures lie, wheat is twice as low as
flour. But the tax bill, which was
then $75, and which 60 bushels OF
wheat paid, is now 500 and il
takes 200 bushels of wheat to pay
it, or 140 bushels more than it did
Indirect tax is, moreover, fully
double what it was, and wheat
being worth only half as much, il
takes four times as much wheat tC
pay that, and nobody knows how
much it is. 1t takes twice as much
to pay a dollar of debt; twice as
much to shoe a horse; twice as
much to buy medicine and pay the
doctor; twice as much to pay the
preacher and lawyer and under
taker; twice as much to buy a
low priced (?) wagon or plOw OF
harrow or reaper, and these not
worth half as much as they used tC
be, for they will, none of them, last
half as long. 1t takes twice as
much wheat to pay labor as it did,
and labor is no better paid than il
was. Now the money price OF
wheat is beyond any doubt much
below the average of commodities
whereas taxes and debts are double
as costly, for they have remained
stationary or increased, while farm
products have declined in price
one half.
The farmer has mnch smaller
surplus to sell after paying eXpen
ses, taxes, and debts than he for
merly had, and that surplus sells
for less than half its former price
Flour is not cheap to the farmer al
one dollar a barrel if it takes ter
bushels of wheat to get the dollar
The. gentleman whose views are the
subject of discussion is a recently
retired merchant, and should know
these things, for he is now farmer
He ought to understand that The
farmer has no money, and does no
make any. The product of hi
labor and capital applied to th'
cultivation of his land is not money
but wheat and corn, and grass, an(
tobacco, and pork, and beef, ant
other commodities; and a thing il
cheap or dear to him according a.
it costs less or more of what h,
makes, products of his labor an(
capital. If our friend will inves
tigate from this standpoint he will
find that the money equivalent o
commodities the farmer has to sci
is in general less than the money i
costs to produce and market them
1t will cost this gentleman now II
cents bushel to market his grain
viz, s cents freight and 2 cent
commission merchants charges
which will be at the rate of nearly
one bushel to market five, after i
is delivered to transportation. Sew
eral years ago when | lived a
Woodstock, on the Baltimore ant
Ohio main line, twenty four mile
from Baltimore, | shipped SOM
corn to a commission house, ant
the sales showed that it cost me
cents bushel after ! put it on tn
cars, and sold for 40 cents, or tn
marketing of five bushels cost m
exactly one bushel. l ask m.