The Montgomery advertiser., 1904-09-12

 These. forty odd years have been the most prosperous years this nation has Fever seen: more prosperous years than any other nation has ever seen. Be- yond question this prosperity could not have come if the American people mad not possessed the necessary thrift. en- l ergy and business intelligence to turn their vast material resources to ac- count But it is no less true that it is our economic policy as regards the tar if and finance which has enabled us as a nation to make such good use of the individual capacities of our citizens. and the natural resources Of our coun- try.
 Every class of our people Is oe1.- fited by the protective tarin. During the last few years the merchant has seen the export trade of this country grow faster than ever in our previous history. The manufacturer could not keep his factory running If t were not for the protective tariff.
 Cortefyou's Campaign Figures. The wage worker would do we'll to remember that if protection is rob bery,"l and Is to be punished accord ingly. he will be the first to pay the penalty; for either he win be turned adrift entirely. or his wages will be cut down to the starvation point. As con- elasively sat,n shown by the 1ui- % ,etlns har t,. of the purssu Of I, ta La. average wage received by the wage worker has grown faster than the cost of living. an dthis in spite of the con- tinual shortening of working hours. The accumulated savings of the workingmen of the country, as shown by the deposits in the savings bank. have increased by leaps and bounds. At no time in the history of this or any other country has there been an alike to workingman and employer. as during the seven years that have just passed.
 The farmer has benefited quite as much as the manufacurer. the mer- chant and the wage worker. The most welcome and impressive fact es- tablished by the last census is the wide and even distribution of wealth among all classes. of our countrymen. The chief agencies in producing this distri- button are shown by the census to be the development of manufacturers. and the application of new inventions to universal use.
 Agriculture Base of All.
 The result has been an increasing of Agriculture and manufactures. Agriculture Is now. as it always has been. the basis of cfeili- zation. The six million farms of the United States, operated by men who. as class, are steadfast, single-min ed. and industrious. form the basis of all the other achievements of the American people and are more fruitful than all their resources. The men on those six million farms receive from the protective tariff what they most need. and that is the best of all possi- ble markets.
 All other classes depend upon the farmer. but the farmer in turn depends upon the market they furnish him for his produce. The annual output of our agricultural products Is nearly four billions of dollars. Their increase in value has been prodigous, although az riculture has languished in most other countries; and the main factor in this increase Is the corresponding increase of our manufacturing industries. American farmers have prospered be- cause the growth of their market has kept pace with the growth of their farms.
 Export Trade of Farmers.
 The additional market continually furnished for agricultural products by domestic manufacturers has been far in excess of the outlet to other lands An export trade in farm products is necessary to dispose of our surplus; and the export trade of our farmers, both in animal products and in plant products. has very largely increased Without the enlarged home market to keep this surplus down, we should have to reduce production or else feed the world at less than the cost of pro- duction. In the forty years ending in 1900 the total value of farm property increased twelve and a half billions of dollars; the farmer gaining even more during this period than the fnanufac- turer.
 Long ago overproduction would have checked the marvellous development of our national agriculture, but for the steadily increasing demand of Ameri- can manufacturers for farm products required Is raw materials for steadily expanding industries. The farmer has become dependent upon the manufac- turer to utilize that portion of his pro- duce which does not go directly to food supply. In 1900 fifty-two per cent, or little over half. of the total value of the farm products of the nation was consumed fin manufacturing industries as the raw materials of the factories.
 Manufacturer and Farmer.
 Evidently the manufacturer is the farmers best and most direct custo- mer Moreover, the American manu- facturer purchases his farm supplies almost exclusively in his own coun- try. Nine-tenths of all the raw materi- als of every kind and description con- stunned in American manufactories are of American production. The manufac- turing establishments tend steadily to migrate into the heart of the great agricultural districts.
 The center of the manufacturing in-