Fergus County argus. [volume] (Lewistown, Mont.) 1886-1946, 1903-09-16
THE FARMERS INDEPENDENCE
Men Of the Country No LANCER Grow.
ell at the Feet Of Wall Street.

L fN&tt w w Nr' wv aNtA eN0NH
ell at the Feet Of Wall Street.
In a finely written article, entitled,
The Little Bears" Paul Latzke, in
the Saturday evening Post, Of recent
date, vividly tells OF the changed con.
ditions Of the farmer and country man
from two or three years ago.. Wall
street was then the absolute master
OF the finances Of the country and
when serious financial disturbances
occurred OIL Wall street II affected the
entire country. Now. however, the
country is independent OF Wall street
and not a tremor passes over the cen.
trail and western states when failures
amounting to millions are announced
In the great monetary center. Fol.
lowing is a graphic description OF the
manner in which the farmer has won
his independence:
The farmer now proceeds on prin-
ciples as fixed as the chemists. He
knows his ground and the fertilizer
best adapted to II. He knows his
markets and is In constant touch with
them through the general spread OF
the telephone and the services OF the
rural mail carrier. He knows when
and where II is best to turn his corn
into hogs and cattle instead Of ship
ping 1t asd wasting the profit In long
hauls. He knows what his father new
er knew: to cherish his implements
Ito keep his rakes. reapers and bind.
ers under shelter, out of the rain and
sun and dust. And the result:
Though the farming area has not
increased proportionately. the farm
products OF the country have doubled.
In 1890 the farmers OF the country
produced crops valued at 81, 400. 000..
900. In 1900 crops were valued AT
"a, 739, 900, 900, an increase OF $2,279,.
900, an increase OF 1896, 900, 000.
In 1890 the total value OF machinery
and implements owned by farmers
was $494. 900. 900: in 1900 II was $751;.
DOC, 900. an increase OF $4,000 900
In 1890 the country owned live stock
worth s 1909, 000. 900. as against 49,.
07S, 000. 900 for 1900. an increase Of
SOS, 0OO, 900. All these enormous in
creases have been capitalized. They
have gone to add to the tangible wealth
OF the country. The farmers income
has been further increased by a re-
duction of freight rates amounting in
some instances to more than fifty per
cent; and this reduction has come not
at the expense of the transportation
agencies but through the adoption Of
scientific methods Of handling. SO
that the actual cost of transporting
II a kuuhaI IF u,haat mr. nnrp IN thn -na
board has been cut In half. The last
ten years have seen the beginning OF
this turn in the farmers affairs. II
is within that period that he has har.
vested to the full the advantages that
came to him out Of the government
experiments. But the real profit has
come within the past five years, so
suddenly that the people Of the east
are not yet fully awake to the chang
ed conditions. AS a consequence OF
this great prosperity the volume Of
bank deposits In the producing sec.
tion of the country has increased so
enormously that the west and south
are now in a condition where they
can finance many OF their w pro-
jects without going to Wal street. or
anywhere else. to borrow.
A striking illustration OF this Is the
enormous growth OF the Independent
telephone companies throughout the
middle west and south. II Is conserv.
atively estimated that fully 5000. 900.
900 has been invested In these com.
panies, all of 1t found by local CAPT.
talists. Wall street to this day does
not know there is such a thing as an
independent telephone industry.
Banks, conservative and well man
aged. have sprung up everywhere
Within the past three years the mum
Der of national banks alone has In
creased over thirty-fve per cent. and
the bulk of this increase was In thu
southern. middle and western states
In March. 1900, we had 3.617 nationa
banks. On August ] there were 5,O44
an increase OF 1,427-a growth with
out precedent. or this number 35l
we're organized In the western states
395 In the southern states, SOB In the
middle states and Ga on the Pacific
coast. What this means in the way
OF undermining the hold Wall street
formerly had on the country may cas-
lily be appreciated. Among other
things the organization OF these new
banks has increased the money In cir
J culation by $161 ,000, 900, all OF it avail
ahla IN the local farmers.