The times., 1899-05-05
THE INDUSTRIAL COMMISSION
lie Grand Power Tells of the Agricul-
turnl Condition..

lie Grand Power, one of the chief statis
ticans of the Census Bureau in charge of
agriculture. and formerly labor commits
sioner of Minnesota, occupied the witness
stand before the Industrial Commission
both in the morning and afternoon sessions
of that body yesterday. His testimony re-
lated 10 the agricultural conditions of the
country, and more particularly to the
Northwest
There are today. he said. more farmers
owning their own homes in this country
than ever before. The small! farm is mot
conducive to the prosperity of the country.
1t is the United States farmer who deter
mines the price of wheat the world over,
and it is the small farmer who raises stock
and other produce besides small field of
wheat-thus keeping himself and family
in employment the year round-who fixes
the price of wheat in this country.
Mr.. Power made the startling statement
that it was the farmers of the country who
/ do most of the speculating in the wheat
crop. The farmers are very largely the
lambs. Three-fourths of the money that
is lost in wheat speculation in the North
west is lost by the farmers. They ara in
variably on the bull side of the market
always sanguine of better prices. and a:e
consequently an easy prey for the pro-
fessional."
An interesting feature of the testimony
was the relation which the farm bore to
the city. The tendency on the part of the
farmer after he has gained a competency
to invest his money and move to the city,
Mr.. Power thought, acted as a constant
drain on the intelligence and best citizen
ship of the rural districts of the country.
1t also impoverished the community from
which the farmer moved. as his place was
always supplanted by less prosperous in
/ dividual. The city also possessed advan-
taSes over the country by being able 10
levy taxes in various ways OH the farmers
necessaries. In this connection it was in
cidentally remarked that the farmer stood
less chance of escaping taxation than any
other individual in the country.
The legal regulation of corporations was
declared by the witness to be one of the
crying needs of the hour in this country.
Each corporation is the creature of some
State, and its affairs should be thoroughly
under the supervision of that State and in
cidentally under the supervision of every
State in which it did business. The present
tendency of legislation to restrict corpora
, tions, the witness said, was on the same
lines as English legislation in its attempt
to control franchises for the past 500 years,
/ and which had proved not to be a success.
/ He thought more harm was done by fran
chises obtained by dishonest men for the
I purpose of unloading the stock of their
! organizations upon the public and then 60
| ing out of business, than was done by
corporations organized for the purpose OF
| controlling and monopolizing any particu-
lar line of industry. AS an illustration OF
the legislation which should govern corpor-
ations Mr.. Power cited the laws of the
various States governing insurance COM
panies.
! 1t is the intention of the Commission to
/ request Mr. Power to testify on industrial
matters, as his experience in that direction
has been very large. His testimony yes
terday was regarded as the most valuable
yet taken On the topic of agriculture.