El Paso daily herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1881-1901, 1900-10-30
VALUES OF FAR MING LANDS.

Mr.. BRYAN shows how little of a
real thinker he is by asserting that
decreased in value This is readily
! shown to be an untruth. The abso-
lutte economic truth is that farm lands
all over the world have been rapidly
equaliZing in value. owing to the in
fiuence of railroads. steamships, and
other improvements in communication.
At the beginning of this century the
only farming lands in this country of
actual value were those of the narrow
strip of tidewater country, along the
Atlantic. which could be reached by
the little ships that carried their pro-
duce across the ocean. Land even so
near as the Shenandoah valley had
little real value. because il cost more
than the wheat and corn they would
raise was worth to haul them over the
mountains 70 the nearest shipping
port Coonskins were their most val
liable product.
The digging Of the Erie canal great
ly increased in value a wide stretch
OF lands in western New York. and
along the great lakes. II decreased
proportionally. for time, until they
could change their products. the value
of the tidewater lands. The develop
ment of the railroad worked an entire
revolution.
When il became possible for a bo-
nanza farmer in Dakota to raise a
bushel OF wheat at a cost of % cents.
and ship it to Liverpool for another
25 cents. farming values. not only on
the Atlantic coast. but in England
and all over Europe had TO shrink
enormously. while the price of what
had previously been valueless lands
in Dakota. Kansas. and elsewhere.
rose to quotable prices. In the same
way the Immensely valuable orange
and lemon-growing lands in Italy and
Spain deprecated and those in Flori-
da and California greatly appreciated,
when railroads and steamships broke
the monopoly the Italian and Spanish
growers had of the citrus markets of
the world.
We see all sorts of changes i'll the
value of farming lands in our own
country effected by the development
of cheap transportation. Great stretch
es of almost worthless lands in Geor
gia. Alabama. Tennessee. Kentucky.
Louisiana. Texas. and else
where. have become very valuable for
raising watermelons. peaches. grapes.
early apples. Strawberries and vege-
tables There are small peach or
chards in the Shenandoah valley that
yield more money product than whole
would formerly in corn. wheat
and cattle. One farmer at Mount Nor
ris. N J.. gets $4,000 year off thir- |
Of Bartlett pears has been known to |
realize $500 worth of fruit. Iowa. the |
ands of which. fifty years ago. were |
hardly worth the entering price of |
lbs an acre. now makes more actual
money off her butter and cheese than
California does from her gold.
When Mr.. Bryan wants 70 make a
lemogogic statement he deliberately
ihuts his eyes To all the facts. clear
Is sunlight. which are against it.
The assessors books of the United
states show that. despite the terrible
which our fathers have
lad to encounter from the cheap lands
mi pauper labor of the wheat-grow-
rs of Russia. Argentine and the Le-
ant: from the exceptional advantages
Il the wool growers of australia. South
africa and South America. which the
and steamships have brought
gainst them in the markets of the
world. the general value of farming
property has increased at very
Iealthy rate.