Courier Democrat., 1904-08-18
FARMERS PROSPERITY.

] IHnWe0S D0U0T6nvIJ.I
Secretary Wilson Makes Ex-
aggerated Statements.
THE POUKETBOOKs ARE NOT FULL
Protection Gets In Its Deadly Work,
and Extravagnnt Claims Have In
jured the Cause Of the Agricultur-.
ists Of the Country-Wilson should
Stop the Leaks.
The agriculture department is sup
posed to be run especially for the bene
tit Of the farmers, and there Is no
doubt that 1t has been Of great service
to American agriculture. Indeed it
should be, for the appropriations for
the department are rapidly increasing.
For the fiscal year 1896 $3,3O3.7 was
voted by congress, and this was in
creased to $5,97s,160 for 1904. Have
the advantages to the farmers in
creased in like proportion to augment
ed appropriations or is it grown like
the other departments into machine
for spending money on political favor
ties? There are some rather annoying
scandals to be explained, such as the
sseed frauds and the 'carriage and
crop report Scandals" which partly ex-
plain where the money goes.
Secretary Wilson should look after
matters q little closer and stop the
leaks before he gives out interviews
and makes campaign speeches boasting
Of what he has done. Last spring Sec
retary Wilson In an interview which
was widely published in many news
papers made Wild claims of the univer-
sol prosperity Of the farmers. He said,
"They are only interested In the trusts
to know that the securities issued by
the trusts are safe investments" Mr..
Wilson was still further quoted as say
ing ''that the farmers pocketbook is
full; that he is capitalist, only hunt
ing for investments, flooding the west
ern banks with more money than they
can handle and sending millions to the
east for investment"
The farmers Of the country will be
delighted to hear Of their tremendous
prosperity, but most Of them will prob
ably have to admit that Secretary Will
sons knowledge Of the condition of the
farmers is very limited. He may know
of few gentlemen farmers" who
farm for the pleasure Of it. who are in
terested in knowing that trust securi-
ties are safe investments. but that the
average farmer Is more interested in
the high trust prices he is paying
would be more near the truth.
AS an Indication that the farmers
prosperity is overstated one Of the
large life insurance companies reports
that it increased its loans on farms in
Iowa in 1902 over $4,00O.O00-that is.
the new loans made by this one COM
pany exceeded those paid by that
amount. The last Iowa school census
shows that 10000 farmers have left
Iowa mostly to take up lands in the
Canadian northwest. Would they have
/
flag. under which they were born to
make new homes 150O miles nearer
the north pole If prosperous?
| Does that look like the transcending
prosperity of the farmers Of the ban
| ner agriculture state of the Union that
Secretary Wilson talks so glibly about?
| There is no doubt that series of ia
| vorable circumstances, among them
the Chino-Japanese war, the war in
South Africa, the war with Spain and
! the present war in the east. has in
creased the demand for the surplus
products Of the farms. This increased
demand could have made the farmers
very prosperous. but trust high prices
were gnawing at their vitals and de-
prived them of the profits they were
entitled to. That process is still going
on, and the farmer that Secretary VIII
son talks about must be rara avis.
and even he in his hunt for invest
ments has met vast losses by the de
probation Of nearly all classes of Sc
curities. The beef trust alone has
flched millions Of dollars from the
pockets Of the farmers by forcing
down the price Of cattle and hogs and
raising the price Of beef and pork to
the consumers.
If Secretary Wilson, instead Of max.
ing exaggerated statements Of the pros
perity of the farmers, would urge Pres
ident Roosevelt and his cabinet to take
real action against the beef trust mag
mates instead of temporary injunctions
which have had no effect, he would
come nearer earning bis salary. Con-
gress appropriated 100000 to prose.
cute trusts. but the department OF
justice has only expended $25.0oo in
hunting them and SO far has not
bagged a single industrial trust. The
protective tariff still fosters the trusts
and allows them to sell their products
cheaper abroad than here, and the Re.
publican platform and President Roose.
velt in his speech of acceptance ap-
prove the protection policy and have
declared their intention to hold fast
II <o e.