The Weiser signal. [volume] (Weiser, Idaho) 1890-1904, 1900-10-04
able when monopoly controls the

The farmer is one of the most i'm
portant factors in our national life.
Some one has said to him, The hand
that guides the plowshare feeds the
world" He is not a stakeholder in
any of the trusts, but he feels the ex-
tortion practiced by them all. l am
not farming Sc large scale, hut the
misleading reports which have been
circulated concerning my oat crop JUS
tify me in making reference to my
own experience. The New York Trib-
une recently printed a dispatch from
Nebraska to the effect that / had just
sold forty-eight hundred bushels Of
] oats at 30 cents per bushel supposed
to be the yield of 100 acres, and that
the amount received for the oats was
more than double the price paid for
the land. The Tribune article then
proceeded to dilate upon the prosper
1ty of the farmer, using my experience
rs an Illustration, and asserted that
the farmers of Nebraska were becom-
ing so opulent that they were joining
the Republican party. The facts are,
first: That l had five acres of oats in
stead OF one hundred and twenty
acres; second, That the oats have not
yet been threshed, so that the yield is
not known; third, That oats are sell
Ing for less than % cents in Chicago,
! instead of 80 cents in Nebraska and
fourth, That the land upon which the
oats We're raised cost me over 500 an
acre instead of Sc. If. when threshed,
my oats yield forty bushels to the acre
and | sell them in Nebraska for 20
cents per bushel, the total income from
the five acres will be $40, or less than
eight per cent. on the investment. Aft
er taking out the cost of blowing, sow
Ing, harvesting and threshng the net
income from that five acre tract will
not exceed four per cent. on the
money invested. l do not mean to
judge others by my own experience,
but l mention the facts in the case to
show how the Republican papers exag-
gerate the farmers prosperity, and
credit the Republican administration
with good crops, making no allowance
for the crop failures which occur from
time to time.
Decline of Farm Products.
But while on the oat question let me
call attention to the statistics given in
the Investment Guide already referred
to. According to Henry Clews & Co.
the average prices received by farm
ers for oats. during the seven years
beginning with 1898 and ending with
1899 were IS as follows: 1893, 29.4;
1894, 1924; 1895, 1876: 1896, 1877; 1897,
21.2; 1898, 25.5; 1890, 249. Accord
Ing to these figures oats averaged 25
cents bushel during the four years
Of Mr.. Clevelands administration, and
only "a cents per bushel during the
three years of Mr.. McKinley's admin
istratiOn-the present year is not yet
complete, but oats are at the present
time below the average.
According to the same authority the
average prices received by the farm
ers for corn, were as follows: 1898,
1868; 1894, 45.7; 1895, 1854; 1896, 21.5;
1897, 1858: 1898, 2S.7 1899, 30.3, max
Ing an average of about 305 during
the four years of Mr.. Cleveland's adj |
ministra ton, and 2S1 during the three
years of Mr.. McKinley's administra-
tion--the fourth year is not yet COM
plete, but corn is at this time above |
the average.
Wheat, according to the same au-
thority brought TO the farmers the fol-
lowing prices: 1893 53.S: 1894 49.1;
1895, 500; 1896, 1916: 1897, sos; 1898,
5S.2; 1899, 5S4, showing a higher av-
erage during the last three years than
during the four preceding-the fourth
year is not complete, but wheat is
now above the average.
According to the same authority cot
ton planters received the following
prices: 1893, 600; 1894, 46; 1895, 7.59;
1896, sc; 1897, so; $685. 40; 1899,
rs, showing higher average during
the four years of Mr.. Cleveland's adj
ministration than during the three
years of Mr.. McKinley's administra
tion-the fourth year is not yet COM
nlptp bllt cotton ic NOW q hova tbo Nv
erage price.
Taking these four staples of agricul-
ture 1t will be seen that three out of
four have not on the average brought
as much return to the farmer, under
the present administration, as under
the previous administration, and the
fourth product, wheat, is more infIu-
enced than any other farm product
by foreign conditions.
Advance In Merchandise.
When, however, the farmer attempts
to use his income in the purchase of
the necessaries of life he finds that the
trusts have raised prices. He must
pay more for lumber, nails, wire, har-
ness, hardware, stoves and agricultur-
al implements. More, also for oil
sugar, clothing, furniture, ETC., and in
addition to these drains upon his in
come he must meet an increase in fed
eral taxation
Let the parent calculate how long
IT will take farmer to become indie
pendent under present conditions; let
him contrast the lot of the farmer with
the lot of the man who profits by gov
ernmental favoritism and grows rich
by the exploitation of his countrymen
through the instrumentality of monop-
oily, and then let him answer the
question, rs the young man, Absalom.
safeT Has the farmers son. or the
farmer himself any reason for giving
support to the Republican party?
Next to the farmer in point of num-
bers and Importance come the wage
earners. What is the trust doing to
Increase the wages, shorten the hours.
improve the condition, or protect the
rights of the laboring man? Is his
present prospect an inviting one? Is
ne receiving fair share of the pro- ,
leeds of his toll? And, if not, why
lot? Republicans assert that the
man has Full dinner pail" +
ask, in the first place, whether /