The Cook County herald., 1895-08-10

Secretary Morton IS Opinions.
The publsheds interview with J.
Sterling Morton, United States secre.
tary oi agriculture, has naturally raised
something Of q ripple in the minds 'od
farmers. Mr. Morton is A man of strong
opinions, and he has not hesitated te
speak them ont plain. The difference
between his ntterances and those o.
most holders Of public offices when they
speak Of the farmers is that they indulge
In unblushing flattery Of farmers and
end with ttibute to the nobleness OF
the plow OF Cincinnatus or George
Washington: 'Esc1. =; -: :; :
Secretary Morton criticises the farm,
ers instead Of praising them. He says
money is: to be made in agriculture,
that he himself has made money thus.
It is not strange that thefarmers do not
enjoy being told Substantially that they
go around and around in ruts; that they
have not developed any of half dozen
rural industries as they might have
done. The egg and poultry trade is one
of the most striking cases to the point.
France manages to get 81, ,0o0,0 900 an
nually out of the shipment OF eggs to
England; while we, with all creation
for hens to range over, actually do not
get eggs enough to supply ourselves.
s. The: light Mr.. Morton Incidentally
throws on the cold storage business is
of vast illumination. The cold storage
mon, buy eggs from the farmers in sum-
1uer at 9 and 10 cents the dozen. They
pick: them away in houses where the
temperature is just above freezing and
keep them four to six months. Then
they sell the same eggs as "fresh laid, ="
and the retailer gets anywhere from 95
up to 90 cents a dozen for them. Poul-
try is Kept over in the same way. The
s'broilers'' sold inspiring at such exor-
bitant rates have been in cold storage
ever since the previous summer. Why
do not the farmers run the cold storage
houses themselves?
American farmers might make twice
as much as they do Of the pork trade;
Mr.: Morton says. Bacon alons ought to
bring American farmers 100000, 900 q
year more than it does. So it''would if
American hogs had ~ inches of fat on
their backs instead of three inches.
American bacon is too fat. Europeans
will not buy fat pork. They demand it
lean,' therefore pay more for hog meat
from other countries. Danish bacon is
reckoned much better than ours; There,
too, is the onion crop. The American
farmer thinks it such small business
to raise onions that we actually import
vast quantities of this useful and neces-
sary vegetable every year. g..
The worst charge brought against
farmers by the secretary is in
deed serious one. He says that Ameri-
can farmers do not treat their wives
we'll. To themselves they are self indul-
gent in tobacco and other luxuries; to
their wives they are skinny and penuri-
ous to the last degree. Farmers wives
toll like slaves, and Mr.. Morton believes
they are in most cases little better off
than slaves He once saw a meek, hard
working farmwife beg her husband for
IS to buy a new gown she needed great
". She timidly asked him if he could
not afford it. He. said he could not, and
she went off without it. Then the farm
or turned to the Gclerk and ordered $40
worth Of plug tobacco. i
: But is it true that so many farmers
are stingy and unkind to their wives?