The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1897-05-08
why Hard Times ?
From the Pittsburg Post.


,rhera ts one explanation of the hard times COM
mon anoueh and that is the lack of purchasing
mower bv the people. Whence comes this? our
harvests have been bountifu for years back. We
have the most skilled mechanics the most enter
r;s eapita listsand the best organized industries
Of the world with natural resources TO draw on
snch MS no other nation has. All the conditions are
here for great prosperity. The explanation of lack
Of purchasing power by the people doesn't explain
If is an effect. not cause Whence this lack OF
purchasing power, with daily reports of reduced
prices OF products and falling wages?
We get an inkling of the causes III late govern
ment report showing how much the farmers nave
suffered from the effect of low prices few figures
cited from this report are eloquent.
In 1896 we produced . 23, 600 bushels of corn;
the farm price for it was 215 centsa bushel and the
total value $ie1 900 600 In 1891, for corn produc
lion of 900 bushels, the farm price was 406
onts bnshel and the total value 1886, 0,000
ar s,45 600 600 more than the farmers received i'll
1896 for vastly larger crop. This is heavy item
10 take out of the farmers pockets when it is con-
sidered that they had more land to cultivate and
Greater expense in growing the crop yet the return
is s345 100000 less.
There was slight improvement in the price of
wheat the latter part of 1896 over the four preceding
wears owing to scarcity abroad yet the farmers re-
ceived for the crop of 1896 SOP 100000 less than for
tbe cron of 1891. The average of wheat was 72.6
cents bushel. against 81 in 1884, bat we had the
advantage of a failure of the European and Indian
crops which forced up the price of wheat other
wise we would scarcely have got more than the 90
cent average. The higher price was accidental and
sno s,node and it will scarcely do for the farmers
to depend on
Oats make a worse showing. For vastly larger
i,r~, 1896 the farmer receives 900 less than
ne average crop of the six years from 1890 to
1876 and s50.0O0OOO less than for the average from
1880 to 1889.
Here is a falling off i'll the three great farm pro-
ducts of Co., received by the farmers in 1885,
compared with the average of preceding years.
This decline in prices of farm products has been
going on gradually for over 20 years. If cotton and
other crops were included the loss would be vastly
increased In this we have the explanation of the
shrnkage in everything else-in the prices of mill
and factory products and the wages of the mechan-
ic. the laborer and miner. Farmers and those de-
pendent the marketing of their products consti-
tute fully one-half the population Of the Union.
The Republican remedy for this condition is a
custom tax of % cents bushel on wheat, 10 on
corn and 10 on oats, with an increased tax on al
most every article the farmer does not raise on his
farm. OF breadstutfs and provisions, the products
of the farm, we exported in the last eight months
s2s4 600 900. and imported the vast amount of 81.
349,O25 win some one please point out how tax
on these meager imports is going to help to better
nrices the exporters of the immense volume of farm
products?