The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1896-10-23
HOW THE FARMERS HAVE BEEN


N' hSFCtCS d al &c pdit u hiS
speeches to telling farmers how they have
been robbed under a gold standard" OF
course he does not present any facts or
statistics on the subject, first, because his
oratorical mind has a natural adherence
for facts and statistics, and, secondly, be-
cause there are none that support his as
s%ortions. They are all the other way. Since
the so-called demonstration of silver in
1873, or, to go further back, since the
adoption of the gold standard in the United
States in 1853, some farmers have been I'M
fortunate and some have grown poorer, as
is the case in all other occupations, but
also, as in the case of all other occupa-
tons, the great majority, the mass, have
prospered and got ahead. The aggregate
wealth Of the country is immeasurably
greater at present than it was twenty or
forty years ago. and all classes have shared
in the prosperity that has produced it
perhaps not all individuals, because always
there are individuals who are constitu-
tionally incapable of prospecting, but all
classes. The agricultural wealth of the
country has increased In as great proper
ton as any other.
LII Trying TO snow now the Farmers nave
been robbed under the gold standard
great stress has beel laid on the extent OF
farm mortgages. This is an old story, and
has served the calamityites in more than
one campaign, but nothing is too old or
threadbare for the Bryanites in this cam
paign. 1t is a favorite trick with them to
try and make the farmers believe that they
have suffered more from hard times than
anybody else. that they are hopelessly en-
victims of the money power whatever
that may be. The truth is, farmers have
not felt the hard times of the last few
years more than other people. In hard
times all classes suffer alike, just as in good
times all prosper a ike. Fate does not make
fish of one and flesh of another class. In
matters of this kind we are all in the same
boat. So far as farm mortgages are con-
cerned statistics show that they constitute
only about one-sixth Of the total mortgage
indebtedness of the country carried by in
dividuals. City properties are much more
heavily mortgaged than farms. OF farm
ers who own their farms nearly three>
fourths hold them free of incumbrance.
Only 2s2 farms out of every LOCO occupied
by their owners are mortgaged to any en-
tent whatever, and three-fourths of the
mortgages represent money borrowed in the
purchase or Improvement of farms. The
total valuation of farms in the United
States in 1890 was $13. 279, 252, Gao, and the total
mortge ge Indebtedness on them v. as S1,oSa,-
995,960. or only about 8 per cent. of their
total value. This is a much better showing
than city property could make. The pro-
portion of mortgages to the total value of
farms is small, but compared with the pro-
ductive value Of the farms it is still small
er. Statistics show that in the seven years
from 1880 to 1896. both years inclusive, our
farm e~xports-observe not the total prod
uct but the exports-amounted to s4.I3S, $685.
las, or more than four times as mich as the
entire mortgage Indebtedness or all the
farms in the United States. When to this
is added the home consumption and the
support of farmers families, it is evident
that no other occupation can make as good
a showing.
The farmers of the United States nave
not been robbed by the gold standard. They
have prospered under it,. They have sur
fered sometimes from crop failures and
sometimes from low prices caused by over
production, but in the main they have pros
pered. What has hurt them most is the
present tariff law, which has reduced the
price of many farm products and greatly
crippled the home market. Farmers have
not been robbed by the gold standard. but
they have been robbed By free trade. They
40 yo+ roal hottor ooya heaarSo ptrr. prax.
ent money is all as good as gold. Nor do
they need an increased volume of currency,
for our present supply of money IS aburd-
ant. What they need. in common with ALI
other classes, is the election of William Nc
Kinley and a Republican Congress and the
restoration of protection and reciprocity.