The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1900-11-09
WHERE THE DAIRYMEN BENE-
FITS.

FITS.
One of the songs which the Bryan
ties have been persistently singing
throughout the campaign has been
that the farmer has not benefited
at all from the existing prosperity.
The one item of farm products how
ever that a Bryanite will cite, is
wheat, which is about 80 per cent
higher than it was good portion of
the time under the step toward free
trade, from '93 to 81. But they al
ways neglect to mention butter, which
is now such an important item with
every progressive farmer. For over a
year now, butter has commanded an
unusually high price, ranging from 20
to SO per cent higher than it did four
years ago. The Bryanites claim the
trusts have caused other prices to go
up. Will they kindly explain what
trust has been putting up the price of
butter. As an illustration of the
benefits the farmer has received from
the one item of butter, we quote the
following from an address Congress
man Tawney made few days ago at
Owatonna:
Take the item of butter and the
benefits to the farmer of protective
tariff and the consequent restoration
of prosperity will be found to be still
more conspicuous
When at Blooming Prairie last week
l learned from Mr.. johnson, the but
termaker at that creamery, that the
average daily production of the
Blooming Prairie creamery was l, 900
pounds that the increase in the price
of butter in September, 1900, over the
price the patrons received in 1896 I'm
der the Cleveland administration, was
five cents a pound the daily increase
in the value of the product of this
creamery was, therefore fifty dollars,
making the increase in the price of
the total annual product, $1S, $50. But
Mr.. BRYAN told You that the increase
in the cost of producing butter because
of the increase in the price of tubs,
salt and other materials entering into
the manufacture of butter was so
great as to more than offset the in
crease in the present price. The but
termaker informed me that the in.
crease does not exceed $3.50, so that
the net increase in the value of the
annual product of this creamery was
at least SIS, 900. There are 175 patrons
divide the net increase in value of
the annual product among these pa
irons and each patron derives benefit.
resulting from the policy of protec
tiOn and the restoration of prosperity
of $102 0S
Take another example. At Alma
City l called on Mr.. Fox, the butter
maker of the creamery at that place.
From him I learned that ON Septem-
Der "a, 1896, the patrons of that cream
cry were selling their butter at 10
cents pound On September Is, 1900,
they were selling it at % cents a
pound. The average daily output is
900 pounds increase in value of daily
output is $42 increase in value of
annual product is $14, $50; estimated
increased. cost of producing butter now
over that of 1895 at this creamery,
$3.50, call it $3.50 Number of patrons
100 you have, then. as net result
and benefit accruing to each patron of
this Alma City creamery, as the result
in the change from the policy of free
trade to the policy of protection, $40
per annum. There are 81 creameries
in the county of Waseca. We will
suppose the average daily output of
these 81 creameries to be 500 pounds
The net increase then which the
farmers of Waseca county receive for
the butter manufactured and sold by
these 81 creameries under the policy
of protection and prosperous times,
amounts in the aggregate to $267, 275
for the one county alone. There are
than 1876 creameries Assuming that
the average daily output of each is
only 500 pounds one half the daily
output of the Blooming Prairie cream
cry and many others, the patrons,
therefore, of these 1875 creameries in
this congressional district are today
receiving annually for the sale of their
butter, 81, 500, 875 more than they re-
ceived for the same product in 1895.
Admitting that Mr.. Tawney may
have gotten the average of each cream
cry rather high, when it comes to take
in the entire state, yet that does not
in the least break the force of his ar
gument as to the benefits which the
progressive dairy farmer is deserving
from the great advance his butter
product is receiving in these prosper
GUS times, because Of the greater de-
mand for it on account of the more
widespread employment and better
remuneration of labor And today it
axes less pounds Of the dairyman'
product to buy the necessities he de-
sires and must have, than it did four
years ago.