The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1897-11-04
Prosperity,


the city papers flourish, the farmers
can realize no more for their products
than previous to the Mckinley ad-
vent, with the single exception of
wheat. Foreign starvation raised the
price of wheat in this Country. But
what do the farmers realize for their
wheat in this extremity2 The boast
ed dollar wheat has not reached our
locality. When Benjamin Harrison
was President, the great Russian
famine ragged IN that country to an
alarming extent, the president allud-
ing to the starving conditions of that
people, informed the farmers that
every bushel of their surplus grain
was needed by reason Of foreign crop
failures, and that the farmers of this
country would realize handsome ad-
vance profit on their products. But
the fact proved that as soon as tenn
porary reliefreached the famine strick-
en- county, the prices of farm pro-
ducts relapsed to a lower standard
than before the famine. This expert
ence taught me never to again listen
to chief magistrate of the nation as
regards the prices of farm products
when there is d shortage in foreign
countries. By holding on my surplus
wheat and other crops, taking the
inspiration from the president, l lost
on all my products. So much for
promised prosperity from headquar-
tiers of the government.
The New York World, to which |
have for many years, been a subscri-
Der, also doomed wheat and farm pro.
ducts, asserting that wheat was now
on parity with gold, thus proving
the fallaCy of the free coinage of sill
yer, which the silverites always claim.
ed that an ounce OF silver bought as
much wheat as ever, not conceding
the fact that the wheat conditions
were abnormal throughout the world,
which would necessarily establish ab-
normal prices. Later however, the
W0rM asserted "that dollar wheat in
the market meant sixty-cent wheat on
the farm" The prosperity that we
see on paper is very different pros
perity that we realize on the farm.
For the fallacious and contradictory
teaching of the World, | wrote that
paper as follows
To the IVoyM:
have no further use for the WwM.
A paper that bolts a regular nomha-
tlon and advocates the single gold
standard and monometalism must part
company with me.
There might as well be only one
code of laws, one nation and one gov.
ernment for the world, as only one
standard of value-the unit value of
the gold dollar. The simple gold
standard, once firmly established for
the world, will produce an equality OF
conditions of each class Of business,
as it shall stand in the scale of bust
ness of the world. l am a farmer, and
ifthe single gold standard shall become
a fixed business principle, 1t will be
more profitable to operate a farm in
any other country of the world than
in the United States. The same is
true with the laboring classes. The
United States then can offer no better
inducements to farmers and laborers,
than China or India. In the event OF
the single gold standard, farmers OF
all importing countries will get the
highest prices for agricultural pro-
ducts, while farmers of exporting
countries will get the lowest. Then
as the cost of production, costs a
great deal more in the United States
than in any other country, by reason
of higher wages, the farmers of the
United States are left in the race ol
profits. Necessarily labor must be
better paid In importing countries
than it is in exporting countries, other
wise, how could the laborer live in
importing countries, when he can
barely live in the United States which
is an exporting country. Then the
farmers of the United States are put
to disadvantage by reason of the tariff,
which compel them to buy in the
protected home market, but are
obliged to sell their products in the
open markets OF the world. l see
nothing in the Worla that is to the
interest of American farmers and
American laborers, but it is a splendid
sheet tor Wall Street and Lombart
Street. That the Thrice Week
W0rM is cheap, is not saying that i,
is advantageous to the interest o.
farmers and laboring men.
john c. WENNER,
Cambria, Pa.
P. S. Well the consequence is the
New York Wora no longer visits me