The Jasper weekly courier. [volume] (Jasper, Ind.) 1858-1922, 1899-06-16
The Monetary Problem.
RURAL DEVELOPMENT.
by the Gold standard Irust-
breeding Policy.


The Land and Title Register, which
in no sense can be called a yellow jour-
nal, DISCUSSES as follows conditions in
country and city during this gold stand
ard, trust-brseding era:
political economists, students OF
sociology. as well as those who are
neither. have noted, with varying notes
If alarm. un~easineSs or severity, the
movement Of population from the coun-
try. its farms and its villages, TO the
cities, which has been SO marked a
feature Of the last two decades. There
were periods when this movement was
met with acclaim by the press OF the
growth Of their ambitious towns with
e%xultation as giving evidence Of the at
,ractiycness of their various cities.
Later. when the bubble Of good times
burst. and industry seemed 20 be aiiiict-
ed with a partial paralysis, and there
were crowds of idle men on the streets
ard the authorities were besisged 10
dispense charities, the same papers
lamented the congestion and plead with
the unemployed TO GO back TO the land.
With owners Of vacant city lots, the
owners OF new additions, who had
bought By the acre and that they might
sell by the square foot, who shared the
exulting sensations of the press and
viewed the thrush from the country
: with warm appreciation. When the
bnbble collapsed those of these who had
/, not let go their holdings. and some who
9 had. taking back security on them, be-
: gan TO have q dim Consciousness that
uhere was something wrong in the
economic conditions that had caused
tile movement from the farms
But there is a deeper significance &c
+ this movement than the upbuilding OF
= ambitious cities or the disposition OF
:, acres in lots. or the advance o.
. real estate prices. the resultant O.
congestion. Ii is the effect OF vas
, forces set in motion by the economic
changes that have made the last haA
of this century SO epochal, and whiei
!. have operated in every land where civ
!. ilization has made those changes pos
I, sihie. Ii is not alone the United State
;, where this transition Of population ha
]. been so strong as 10 draw attention
= and comment, but from every co1atr
" OF Europe come the same stories Q
j city growth at the expense Of the Q
i. try. The percentage of growth 9
= cities everywhere outruns that of tn
state or nation.
Even where this seems to be the e,
cep-ion when a single city is compare
~ with its state. as Boston. whose percen
= age Of growth between 1850 and IS.
was 23.6 and that of the state 2i.57,
~ Philadelphia. where the percentage
~ were respectively 2a.js and 22.'',t u
M slight margin is due 10 the inclusic
under the state OF the numerous 9th
M towns and cities in the state that ha'
W been receiving their share of the G
IL odus. The minor causes are many, b
IL the major cause is the introduction
~ labor saving machinery on the farm
oh that has produced an even greater ca
"a placement of labor than has the san
10 machinery in manufactures. The pr
ductiye capacity of the farm hand hi
been immensely increased. The unit
-, over. one hand cares for 43 acres;
the prairie states the ratio is one
- 62. In the latter the production
/. grain is ESQ bushels, and of meat 10
pounds per hand engaged. The lab
Of three men for a year on a Nor nj
- kota farm. Atkinson states. produc
In material to bread 1000 persons for o.
year. The rural population OF ii
~ country increased. during the deca
- iss0-9O. but IL per cent. while duril
IL the same time the production OF whe
increased Al per cent. that OF corn
per cent. and Ina Of oats So per Gel
On the average one man on the far
4, now can do the work that required u
~ men 40 years ago. And this displa'
ment Of farm labor in this country h
been accompanied with an immense
=. crease in the area of land under cul
walton. Between 1850 and 1890 1900
600 acres have been brought into tilla
in the states west Of Ohio. In part u
is due 10 immigration. in part TO
displaced labor turning 10 the virt
!. soil. but. especially among nat
80 population. the displaced Lave mo'
cityward. Excluding from urbani
80 those in villages Of less than 1000 p'
~ulation. the urban population in0ea'
between 1ss0-90 AZ per cent. while
rural increased IL per cent. ENcludl
New England cities, the largest ?
csntagc of growth. GIGS. was in eli
~ of from 5000 TO 10000, and the n
- greatest, 600. was in cities betw'
125. 200 and 100000.