The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1897-08-09


great mass of men with little capital rec
ognize that the true economy is to be
| found in combination of capital, which will
thus enable al working together to achieve
results impossible to any working by and
for himself alone. No one doubts that
| large capital enables the Manufacturer to
put in new machinery, and SO reduce the
cost of production. To get this large cap
ital is the object of those combinations
commonly known as trusts. These are
the especial product of modern tendencies
in business, and to the trusts must be
| ascribed most of the greater cheapness of
products which is always most noticeable
IN those that the trusts control 1t is
said that the trusts use their power to en-
nance prices after they have suppressed
competition. But this only means that
having produced cheaper than others they
can afford 10 and do sell more cheaply than
other manufacturers can do and i've. Yet
such Is the constant Improvement in me-
chanical devices and in chemical and cleo
trlcal science that the trust cannot always
insure Itself against competition. There
must then either be new combination or
ruinous competitive war that will make
the product sell more cheaply than ever.
Ihe evil of the trust, therefore, very large
~ cures itself
Undoubtedly if farmers would cooperate
more than they do especially in the pur-
chase and use of labor-saVing machinery,
their profits would be increased. In other
words, they would be able to produce more
cheaply. There are very few articles that
the farmer produces whose price ne can in
any way control. His remedy for low
prices must be to use every means to pro-
duce stil more cheaply. This is in fact,
what the farmer is always trying TO do by
what many regard as penurious and I'M
wise economies. Where capital cannot be
had these may be necessary and therefore
justihable. But even most of these farm
ers will admit that if they had more capt.
tai they could use it to greatly increase
their profits, and possibly this, too, when
under their forced economies they know
mat they are losing rather than making
any money.
Farmers have not been slow to see that
they had more land than was for their
profit, unless they could also have an in
crease of capital to work it with. The
fact that farm values have been declining,
and at the same time farmers have been
deserving the farms for other occupations,
is recognition OF this truth. 1t is from
the working capital in money, cattle,
horses and other stock, rather than from
the growing and selling of crops, that
most of farm profits of late years have
been made. Money makes money every
where. But the gains which money itself
makes are much less than what the farm
er can make with it if he understands
stock breeding, and can use it in buying,
breeding ana selling any kind of farm
stock. This is a much safer business
than the majority of city business men
are engaged in. 1t is very rare nova
days for a manufacturer to make more
than 10 to 20 per cent. Merchants make
even less than this. The gains of grow
ing and breeding farm stock are much
greater than this. 1t only needs that capt.
tai enough be rightly invested in breed
| ing stock to make any farm profitable.
But it may be asked what has invest
ing in breeding stock to do with produce
ing crops more cheaply? Simply this: In
| just the proportion that farm capital is
thus invested in something that will be
| certainly productive, the farmer will be
[ able to make such Improvements as he
\ cannot now afford in the farm itself. The
land will become valuable enough to pay
for high manuring and for undertaking
| when it would not 10 so if by any means
| the farm could be made to pay. II does
| not matter bow the farm is made prof.
| table. So soon as this is the fact all
! kinds of inn rovements can be ma lie on it
and they will prove profitable also. When
| ever wealth increases the removal of nat
| ural distractions to perfect cultivation
| becomes at once the first object sought
| Yet those among men who were making
| a bare living would be allowed to re-
main indefinitely. The reason is that aft
| er wealth has been increased the removal
| of distractions to cultivation becomes a
| necessity. This is seen in the increased
! improvements of land near cities where
| thousands of acres are made into gardens,
| though having no more natural fertility
| than land in other localities which con-
tinues unimproved. This Is seen wherever
| land increases in value from any cause,
| and especially where this is done by MAX
ing the soil directly profitable.