The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1894-02-20

a country advances in civilization ano
cult1re. it's inhabitants will naturally
damand more of the luxuries OF life,
and REQUIRE a very much larger volume
of money per capita to supply their
wants. ]; is idle therefore to claim
that even if we have as large a volume
as we had thirty years ago that 1T Is
enough to supply the demands Of the
~nresent time, when we consider the
wonderful advance which we have
made as a nation during that time.
A thought thai will bring this idea
home to the older members is the recOl
lection of our boyhood days on the
farm, and the small amount it required
then to supply the same comforts as
now. l speak from experience. Then
we raised our own wool and spun the
warn. the weaving of which was paid
| for in barter. Father and each of the
! bows had a suit of all wool cloth each
| wear and mother and the girls their
flannel dresses, ETC., without the outlay
of a dollar in cash except for the cotton
! warn going into the flannel. We grew
our own fax, and supplied u summer
wear on the same plan, even to the
straw and hay hats. We supplied u
clothing almost complete without the
use of money. The shoemaker would
come to the house to make the years
supply of foot we tr and take his pay
in farm produce. Instead Of selling
our wheat and buying -four we took
the grist to mill and paid for the grind
ing in toll. Under present system
of division Of labor and every one to
his trade I think it is safe to say that
the farmers require at least ten times
as much money TO make their eX-
change as the did thirty years ago.
Then also a greater proportion of me-
chanics living in the smaller towns
and villages had their little plots Of
ground for kitchen gardens which
saved many Il dollar. The point l
want to emphasize and impress on
your minds Is that no fixed, cast iron
per capita can be considered a tru
scientific, permanent solution Of the
money problem. Il must be based on
the demand for use those who need 1t
and have the security to pledge being
the judges; and not those who have 1t
and do not need it as at present.
TRANSPORTATION.
Next in Importance to the medium
of exchange Is that of the means of
exchange. Were our financial demands
crystallized into law and our transpor-
tation left in the hands of private cor
porat Ons as at present, with power to
charge all the traffic will bear" it
would simply be a case Of temporary
relief. The great necessity Of labor ls
% provide for the exchange of our
products one with another at the mini
mum Of expense. The less the cost of
exchange the more of each others
products might we enjoy with the
same amount of labor. Of what avail
in trade for instance would it be to
1SuOCS Jul 1hIpO4O NOGS hiO pCI IAAU III
increase of transport dues2 Transpor-
tatiOn is just az much a part of our
exchange system as Is money ; hence 1t
would be the height of folly for Us to
abandon that vital demand. l think
we have made a mistake in the past in
advocating that the government should
secure ownership of all our lines of
transportation at once. Many would
be willing to try the experiment Of
one or more trunk lines who would
nOt be willing to risk taking control of
all. | would therefore recommend
that we concentrate Our efforts to the
securing of the great trunk line as an
experiment. In making the selection
we should be careful to select a route
that would first; be cheap Of construc-
ton, second that would run through a
fertile country where local traffic would
be abundant; third, that would not
parallel any great line of road. In all
these respects l KIN )w of no line that
would so completely fill the bill as that
recommended at our last annual ses
sion known as the Gulf and Interstate
Railroad
CONTINUED NEXT WEEK..