Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1900-05-24
IOWA LABOR is WELL EMPLOYED
Factories Are All Running Full Time,
Crops Are Large aud Money is
Abundant-s Savings
Per Capitaa

state. Money is abundant, debts are
being paid off, interest is lower, labor
is well employed, wages are better, and
no man need look for a job unless he
wants to take vacation.
In the last five years." continued
Mr.. Dolliyer, There has been an in
crease of $4,000 bank depositors in our
| state alone, and the total amount of
the bank deposits has increased by
$35,000,000. That the money has been
distributed more among the farmers
and wage earners than among the bus
mess men is shown by the fact that
both in the savings banks and the
smaller state banks the bank deposits
have doubled, while in the national
banks the increase has been about rs
| per cent.
Savings Per Capita s34.
4 every man or woman in Iowa who
has a savings bank account has an av-
| erage of $3.50 to his or her credit. TAX
ing the whole population of the state
at 2,230,000, there is S34 for each one of
us on deposit in our banks, so you see
we have So more cash in our banks
than the per capita of government cir
culation for the whole country.
"What has brought about this pros
| perity? Why, the busy factories have
created better demand for the farm
produce. You know that it is the
home market that is best for the
American producer, and when the peo-
pie are steadily at work they have
money to spend with which to buy
what the farmers grow. The more
factories we can get out west the bet
ter it will be for our farmers.
''Since the last democratic admins
tration has become matter of his
/ tory the value of the live stock on
Iowa's farms has increased by 45,000,-
0O0-that is to say, in five years-be-
ing now worth, according to the re-
/ partment of agriculture's figures,
/ 16S,O0O,O00, as compared with the to-
tai valuation of 1923 100000 at the be-
| ginning of 1895.
i Hutton Factories Are Many.
Talking about factories, you re-
member how the free traders ridiculed
the idea Of making pearl buttons in
the United States. A duty was first
put on pearl buttons by the Mckinley
I tariff of 1890. OF course the Wilson
bill cut this down and checked the
growth of the business, but the Ding
ley tariff of 1897 again made another
effort to build up another American
i industry. What was the result? There
are now upward of forty pearl button
factories in Iowa.
''Shells from which they are made
are procured from the river beds.
There are nearly 1,5O0 people employed
in the factories alone, besides the
! hundreds of fishermen employed in
getting the mussel shells and the peo-
pie employed in making the machin-
cry for the factories.
Indirectly the merchants, dray-
4 men. transportation companies as well
as the farmers are benefited by this
one little industry, which has been as
successful in its way as the greater
4 American tin plate industry, which
was also engineered by the Mckinley
tariff of 1891.
4 Great Railway Prosperity.
! another instance, and may say a
4 cause of the prosperity in Iowa. con.
tinued Mr.. Dolliver, sis to be found in
i the railroads. A large number o1
railroad men live in our state, and
when you consider that the railroads
i in the country are now employing
over 100000 more men than they did
in 1895, and are paying out fully $780,
i 100000 year more in wages, you will
Isee what an important railroad pros
perity is to the country.
"The roads made good money last
4 year, but this has not been at the eX-
Il pense of the farmers, because freight
rates are lower now than they were
1 five years ago. / am within the mark
when ] say there were over 2OO,O0o,ooO
tons more freight carried by rail last
year than in 1895.
4 ''Stockin western railroads is grad
ually being acquired by the employees
of the company. Take the case of the
Illinois Central, which runs thru Iowa.
There are now about 1000 of it's en-
ployes who hold considerably over
5000 shares OF stock in that company.
Employees Buy Road Stock.
San employe is offered the privilege
of subscribing for one share at time;
this he can pay for by installments in
sums of SIS or $40 or SIS, and when
one share ispaid for the owner has his
name registered on the books of the
company, when, if he wishes, he can
begin to buy another share on the in
stallment plan. While paying for his
stock the employe receives interest at
the rate of per cent per annum, pro-
viding he does not allow twelve con-
secutiye months to elapse without max
ing any payments at adj. :,
4 I'm case the employe leaves the SER
vice of the company he must either
pay in full for the share to which he
has been subscribing or withdraw his
money with the interest that is due
thereon.
i This is an excellent system. 1t
gives the men direct, personal inter-
est in the affairs of the company for
which they are working, and makes
an investment at fair rate of inter
est for their savings. Besides this,
they become partners in one of the
gigantic corporations or trust compa-
MES aud may be classed among those
who are decried by the democrats as
being capitalists, monopolists and ex-
tortionists.
Business Good for Everyone.
J : but the men out our way don't