The Sauk Centre herald. (Sauk Centre, Stearns County, Minn.) 1886-current, 1894-08-02

sR&CtS1y W uoh thO lthkAQC4Co Va
modern reformers. The address in full
is here published, and every man in
Minnesota, es pecially the farmers,
should study it well:
Hard times an d industrial and economic
depression, in various forms and from
various causes, hare been in Our midst
during the past sixteen months. In the
wake of these times and as an incident
thereto are u n amber of 'I-told-you-so''
reformers who d ave an easy, fippant and
-demagogic way of diagnosing and ac-
counting for all our troubles and all our
AILMENTS, and who have no difficulty at
all to suggest and tender, in connection
with their own personal services. n variety
of reforms of social and economic char
octer as swift knd sure relief for all in
dustrial congestion and stagnation. 1t is
the aim OF these reformers, first of all, to
breed as much alarm, suspicion and dis
trust as possible and to array class against
class, poor again st rich and capital against
labor, and, above all, to make our farmers
restless with the idea that they are now
suffering chiefly from the expressions of
the ether classes of society, especially from
those who have accumulated more than
the ordinary Lew Ell of wealth and are there
fore termed capitalists. 1t is openly
charged, or in s. pine form insinua.ed, that
our legislation has all along been framed
SO as to oppr less the farmers and to
enrich, at their Expense, those who are not
engaged in such pursuits. Il is assumed
tina. all other classes have combined to
;despoil and imp oyer:sh the farmer; that
he has been Tho neglected stcpson Of Or
.ganiZed society," on whom tribute has been
levied wiCaout stint or reason. It is
assumed that while most other classes
have been prosH erods to greater or less
degree the farri er has not prospered at all,
but, on the CO.. :rary, has become more
and more iTupo| -erished. and that he is to-
day a mere serf at the foot of the economic
ladder. 1t is assumed that this deplor-
able condition dhus assigned to the farmer
is wholly the offspring Of economic and
financial legislation hostile to him and
calculated specially to enrich the so-called
capitalists. To substantive these assump-
tions and insiI uations statistics are APP
peal d to. "UP to $780," we are told,
''our national wealth was equally dis
tributed betwed n the farm ers and the rest
of the people" In other words, that
The We ,Ith of Cur Farmers
was at that tin be not less than so per cent
of the entire Wealth of the nation, and
that since that period the rate of increase
of wealth has been gradually to the dis
advantage of dhe farmer, until in 1890 the
farmers shard of the aggregate wealth
was only 90 pei cent. In short, the farm
sers have not ind reased as rapidly in wealth
since 1860 as th rest of the nation. This
may be true, bi ut it entirely fails to estab-
lish that our "a rmers have not been thrifty
and prosperous Up to 1860 we WERE to
an unusual degree, an agricultural peo-
pie. Our gritGltural population was in
that year II, 00i 900 out of total of 81, 010,-
600, while in iss0 it was q, 000, 900 out of q
total of G., 600, q00. In 1850 the population
of our cities wis LOCO, coo; in 1890 over 49,
O0O, 900. In lisp our manufactures were in
their infancy. In that year there were
employed 1,311l000 men in DER factories, as
against 4, 342,Od men on our farms; while
in 1890 there W rs 1852, sos men employed
in our factOrits, as against 6, 000, COO men
ON our farms. In 1860 there was employed
In our manufa cturing capital of 81 co.,
B55, us, as against Sc, 524, AIS, 305 in 1890 In
1850 the value bf the products of our man
nfactures was 81, 1856, 961 $40, as against &c.
go, 10 ,620 in 1890. In 1860 our railroad
system was still in it's childhood and I'M
developed. VIE had then in this country
about $4,000 m les in operation, as against
10000 miles, capitalized at 10000, 0O0, coo,
in 1893.
These figures afford a very clear and sat-
fsfactory expld nation why the increase in
farm values h4s not, since 1850 kept up
with the incre|lse of wealth in other direc-
lions. While the pace, by comparison,
has been less, fet, considered By itself, the
growth of our farm industries has been
rapid and marvellous. In 1860 there was
44,00 farms OF the aggregate acreage of
407, 2l2, 5SS acrds, and of the value of s6 49,
045, 007, as against 1884 Gal farms of the
aggregate ACREAGE of 623, Pts, 6l9 acres, Of
the value of st3, 279, 90 $40, in 1890. In 1860
the value of live stock was 81, 0S9, 329,9l
and of implements and machinery $780,
11S,14l, as against S2,2OS, 757 ,573 of live
stock, and s4Jf, PAT Al of implements and
machinery in ls9o. In 1860 there was pro
fiuced .13, 104, d29 bushels of wheat, 172, 6f3,-
1S5 bushels OF oats, 1885, 1853 bushels of
barley and Sd3, 792, 742 bushels of corn, as
against 399, d92, 600 bushels of wheat.
623. 626, 900 bushels of oats, G., 600, COO BUSH
els of barley and / ,4s9, 970, 90 bushels of
corn in 1890; and the ratio OK Increase has
been as great since 1890 Us In the decade
ending with THAT year.
Bon eft to Agriculture.
A stud of bur statistics and an exam
nation of our agricultural and industrial
development makes it plain that the
rapid growth|o LOT our nation in commerce.,
in transportation facilities and in manu-
featuring has not been at the expense or
20 the detrim|eat Of our agricultural in
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