Evening star., 1899-03-13
FARM CONDITIONS.
Assistant Secretary Brigham Of the
Agricultural Department
fALESFo TEE INDUSTRIAL COMMISSION
Improvements Made Within the
Last Few Years.
BETTER WAGES GIVEN

The Industrial commission met this morn
ing and had before them members of the
| National Grange of Patrons of Husbandry
Assistant Secretary J. H. Brigham of the
| Department of Agriculture testified at some
| length. Other representatives of the Ma
| tional Grange present at the hearing were
Mr.. Aaron Jones of Indiana, master of the
| National Grange; N. J. Batcheller, chair
man of the executive committee; DR.. John
| Trfmble, secretary; Mr.. J. B. Ager, master
4 of the Maryland State Grange, and A. j.
! Wedderburn, master of the Virginia State
| Grange.
Mr.. Farquhar acted as chairman of the
| commission and Mr.. Harris of Ohio con-
| Quoted the examination of the witness.
/ Agricultural Conditions.
Mr.. Brigham testified concerning agricul-
| tural conditions in the United States. He
has been connected with the National
| Grange of Patrons of Husbandry, having
! been ten years master of the Ohio State
| Grange and for nine years master of the
| National Grange, and in that capacity trav-
| eled through the United States in the in
/ tereSt Of that organization. Mr.. Brigham
| said the number of men regularly employed
| on the farms OF the country is about the
| same as was the case fifty years ago.
| There is less transient labor employed. The
| hired man on the farm is better paid, he
| said, and has a better time than he had
| formerly. During recent years the farm
| laborer has had an advantage over the
| farmer. as his wages have not been much
affected by the prices of farm products.
| The work of the farm laborer also is not
as irksone formerly, the hours being
| shorter and the labor lighter on account Of
| the Introduction of machinery. 1t is now
! frequently the case that a farm hand keeps
h.. ~
| farmer does, and as the farmer lives better
| than formerly, he partakes Of the improved
| fare.
Better Time Than He Had.
| They today have a far better time than
| I had" said the assistant secretary, when
/ worked on a farm for $12 month. l re-
member when 1 was up at 4 o'clock in the
| morning and got through work after dark"
| Mr.. Brigham said that at present usually
ten hours are days labor. This reduction
| in the hours of labor had been brought
abou, without the Intervention of any or
ganiZation, but appeared to be simply be-
cause the farmer realized that with i'm
| proved methods he can get more work done
by working ten hours that if ne should
| work longer. The shorter hours allowed
| the men to go into the fields with more
| vim than when they worked fifteen hours a
day.
MIR. Brigham said the farm boys look for
| ward to leaving the farm and becoming
| He said this fact was to a large extent the
| result of the farmers talk about hard
| times The effort of the grange, he said
| was to show the boys that there was ample
room Tor the exercise of their ambition on
| the farm, and boys are net so generally
| leaving the farm now as formerly. Many
| OF the farmers sons are returning home
| from college and settling down on the
lfarms. Mir. Brigham did not refer to con-
! ditions in the extreme south but particu-
! larly TO Ohio and similar farming country
| Farnl hands now get on an average SIS a
| month when hired by the year, together
| with their board and laundrybng. The ten
| dency toward crop sharing was he said
! on the increase, and he believed that sys-
tenn would largely supplant the system of
| hiring men on certain wages for working
the farm. Speaking of such crop-sharing
| methods, MIR. Brigham said he would not
! rent a farm for money, as that system
| would result in running the farm.
| Emigration Disadvantages.
| Emigration had bean rather disadvan-
tage to the farmers of Ohio because
thI ough it the west had been settled and
agriculture opened up in advance of the
! needs of the country. He believed The time
had come when immigratio should b. re-
| stricted. He would not shut the doors on
the desirable class of foreigners but he
| would require an education and some prep
erty qualification on their part. 1t vas he
| thought, a mistake to have urged for
elSheTs 10 come TO thlS country. 1t would
| have been better if the west had been more
! largely settled up gradually by the native
| pioneers. The foreign steamship companies
| and the railroad compa MES were largely re-
| sponsibie Tor urging immigration, the rail-
| road companies owning large quantities Of
| hand and wishing to have the country set
| tied up in order that their land might be-
| come valuable and the traffic of the roads
| increased.
| Mr.. Brigham thought that the elementary
principles of agriculture should be taught
in the public schools of the rural districts
! of Ohio. Their schools both buildings and
| teachers in the public schools there he said
were of high character but agricultural
! interests were not considered in these
| schools. If the boys had elementary in
struction in agriculture he said he thought
| they would be more interested in the farm
| and would not abandon farming to such an
| extent as they do now. He said that vari-
| Gus influences in developing farming meth
| DDS had made farms much more profita BILE
| than formerly. He was not in favor of
| agriculture being taught in the ordinary
| colleges. He wanted agriculture taught in
! agricultural colleges.
Agricultural Colleges.
| I'VE want these boys" said Mr. Brig
| ham, sent to a college where the whole
| inttuei ce is favorable to work We don't
| want these boys sent to any college where
! there is the least influence against honest
labor. We want these boys to feel that a
preacher or lawyer is not half as good as a
| farmer, or at least are no better"
A recess was taken until 2 clock.
| Investment in Agriculture.
| Mr. Brigham resumed his testimony. He
| said that about 81 500, ,000. 600 are today en-
| ployed in agriculture. This represents the
| money invested in land, farm implements
and stock. Ee thought farm investments
| paid higher rates of interest forty years
| ago than today. This was partly the rea-
/ son that at the earlier date land was not
| SO high in price and labor was cheaper and
| he had a better local market. A man
| worth $1,000 in his county in Ohio forty
| years ago was regarded as a rich man. A
| dollar, he said, would formerly buy more
| than at present, except in the case of land