The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1896-07-28

1 are the causes OF the continued low prices
Of farm products. and he well suggests
/; that IL may not be an easy question TO
| answer. There are. however. some rca-
sons for IT which We can give and which
we believe have no sort Of connection
with the gold or silver question. We are
indebted for much that We shall say to
an address by Mr.. Geo. r. Powell. an eN-
pcrienced farmer from Columbia county,
! New York. and we wish that the results
OF his investigation could be put in the
hands OF every farmer in the country.
As early as 1855 there was "A conference
held in Philadelphia to consider the best
means OF promoting agriculture. il was
then considered depressed. AT the first
census. in 100. there were but 3.25 per
cent. of all our population living in cities.
while in 1850 there are 2gD per cent.
Betwcct f190 and 1850 the population OF
the whole country increased twelve times.
while that OF the cities OF eight thousand
Inhabitants and over. increased eighty-six
times. The constant tendency Of popu-
lation was towards cities. from the belief
that life is there easier. socially more
agreeable, and remuneration for services
more certain. How delusive this is. "A pc
Rod OF commercial and industrial dcpres-
sion shows in lurid colors.
The main reason for agricultural dcpres-
sion is not merely the withdrawal of the
people from country districts making those
who remain the more isolated. but the
enormous extension in the last thirty
| years OF the area Of culture i'm our West
orn States, IN India. Russia. Australia.
and South America. when wheat sold
I'm our Eastern cities for $50 and 500 a
bushel. Dakota and Nebraska were sup
posed to be a part of the great American
/ Desert.
In 1852 The government granted the right
| OF way Ia the Union Pacific railroad. the
| first Of the great trans-Continental lines.
! and from that time until now there have
| been constructed about six trans-Conti-
! mental lines of railway, and q region that
was supposed so be desert has been de-
vcloped into the most productive cereal
region OF the world. About 90. 900 acres
Of land were granted by the government
in connection with the construction OF
| these railways. Every possible induce
many and in Scandinavia, sell 10 tie emf
| grants from congested regions Of Europe
20 como and occupy them. The agents for
the railroads could. IN Russia. in Ger
man = and I'm Scandinavia, sell TO the emf
/ Il
IDLY low price and could give him steam
ship and railway transportation 10 tho
very spot at little more than the cost Of
board for the time OF travel.
in the ten years ending with 1850. tetore
this Western development there were add-
ed 5S5. oO1ncw farms. an increase OF forty
one per cent Of farmers. against fifty
nine per cent. Of population. For ten
years ending $50 $1,000 farms We're add
cd. an increase OF farmers Of thirty per
cent. and Of population Of seventy per
cent. in 1880, farms had increased by
1919 900, an increase Of fifty per cent of
farmers without any corresponding in
crease In the consuming population.
Then farm products began to decline. so
Tint IN 1890 there were added only about
seven hundred thousand farms or less
than half Of the preceding decade while
the increase IN the cities from those who
had been driven from the farms had m
creased seventy-fcur per cent.
A recent writer IN Harper's Weekly de-
scrlbes farming community OF German
Russians who had settled in Mcpherson
and Campbell counties, South Dakota.
This settlement began in 1sS7-Ss. and it
continued to increase until 1912. when
about sixteen or seventeen thousand Of
these people had settled in that prairie
country. They had been brought up 10
hard work and great thrift. Their houses
were built Of sun-burnt brick ana roof
ed with sod. a sturdy. self-donying.
primitive kind Of people they have
made the town OF Eureka, which viii not
be found on any map ten years old, a
place where more wheat is unloaded year
by year from wagons than any other
place in the world. In 1855, nine hun
dred thousand bushels Of wheat were mar
keted there. -Four years later this amount
had been increased 10 two millions of
bushels. and Tor last season alone. that
is, by February Of 1886 Of this year. three
million bushels OF wheat drawn in wagons
had been unloadcd I'm the elevators of
Eureka. Much of this was hauled sixty
or seventy miles away from the town.
In addition TO such production another
element which has brought down the
price Of grain ia the East has been the
reduction Of freight from points West
70 Atlantic ports. In 1870. the freight On
n hushe of wheat from Chicago TO New
York. by rail. was thirty cents and on
a bushel Of corn twonty-elsnt cents. in
1880. the cost had been reduced 10 eigh-
teen and one-third cents on wheat and 20
clevent and one-thrd cents on corn. This
reduction of cost OF transportation re-
duced the price OF wheat by that much
TO our Eastern farmers.
Another potent cause Of the reduction
in the price of wheat has been the out
put by foreign countries. In the second
week Of July, 1891, there were shipped 10
the English markets the following num-
Der Of bushels Of wheat:
From lndia,..,.................. 1900 0Q)
From Russia,.................... l.5-0 90
From Australia, ...................... $4,000
From, North lra.riaa -1n ~.