Evening journal., 1896-11-05
SENSE FoR FARMERs.

COMMON SENSE FOR FARMERS.
The most disconnected class OF peo-
pie in our country Of late have been 4
the farmers. The general depression |
Of business has seemingly affected
them, even more than it has mechanics I
and day laborers. There must be
reason for this, and one that can be
understood easier than those given by
most writer's on political economy, |
many of whom are inclined to serve up
sophistries which are rarely under
stood by the people. Besides this, theo
retical writer's on this subject have fads
of their own. and no two OF them agree
as to a remedy The trouble is that
their ideas are not OF a practical ma
ture, and il Is doubtful If they really
understand them themselves.
The most prominent of the class Of
writers OF whom we speak in this coun-
try is Henry George, a man OF ability,
but, unfortunately, his one idea favors
a single tax theory, which, he thinks.
will cure every evil. Like the patent
medicine man, he proposes to cure
everything with one kind OF physic
There are writers on political economy
and moral philosophy notably John
Stewart Mill, whose works, as we'll as
those Of the late Francis Wayland, go
to the root of this subject and expound
1t fully and logically. But few people
have either the ability or the leisure to
comprehend the writings OF the last
named authors, and as a result their
ideas are confounded by the class of
authorities on these subjects to whom
we first alluded.
II is a mistake to suppose that either
the farmers or the mechanics Of this
country are not intelligent They are,
and they understand the practical side
Of most subjects with which they have
to deal. Few OF them, however, have
the learning to comprehend the full
meaning of either Mills or Waylands
works, and they are, therefore, the
more readily misled by writer's who
themselves, do not know much about
political economy, but fancy their
theories are equal to any emergency Of
the body polite.
It is plain that all the trouble OF our
farmers and mechanics has come from
over-production among the farmers
and planters Of cotton and wheat, and
among the wage-earners OF certain
classes OF manufactured articles Cot
ton raising in the South has become
,pr,,gt,lIo hoo,Voo fho ,,,orl-ot hoe
been surfeited with that staple, and the
low price Of It has er-estimated the
manufacturers OF the North. Our West
ern prairies have supplied such large
quantities Of wheat that 1t has become
drug in the home market and moth
ing but its failure in other parts of the
world makes ii valuable for export.
Clearly then, the cure for all this
difficulty OF the agriculturists OF the
country lies with the farmers and
planters themselves. They should
raise diversified crops. The farmers Of
the West. on land suitable to raise al
most everything required for domestic
use should give up growing nothing
but wheat. which heretofore has been
the only thing from which they could
procure money, and raise every pro-
duct which they use in their families
so far as possible. Thus they will have
less use for money and the wheat they
do raise will secure a more ready mar
ket The same plan should be adopted
by the cotton growers of the South. Is
not this practical suggestion?
There is an old saying, and a goot
one. that one should not place all his
eggs in one basket. This is what the
agriculturists of the country have beer
doing for some years, and though ther'
is a prospect now. owing to a foreign
demand, that both wheat and cottoT
will be profitable this year, is it no
we'll to remember that a continuance O
depending on the sale Of one staple II
too uncertain to be depended upon, anC
that prosperity lies in having "mor,
than one string to a bow"