Montana news. [volume] (Lewistown, Mont.) 1904-191?, 1904-12-07

equally certain that others must get
less. If the farmer loses any live
stock or has any other misfortune,
which, of course, is sure to be the
case with many, then the pittance
that the railroads leave him is likely
to be wiped out altogether.
But this is not all. The trusts
and combines, the gamblers on the
Boards of Trade and Produce Ex-
changes and other parasitic robbers,
plunder him to their hearts content.
The combines fix the prices and
plunder him on everything he buys,
and the gamblers on Change" and
elsewhere fix the prices on every
thing he sells, and between them
they play ducks and brakes" with
his property at their sweet wills,
and he may be certain that their
sweet wills" are always to his det-
riment and to their own benefit.
In fact, statistics show that while
products of the farms of the United
States amount to less than four bill
lions of dollars, the cost to the con-
sumers was over ten billions of
dollars, so that the railroads and
middlemen gobbled up in a few
days over six billions of dollars for
transporting and selling the four
billions of dollars worth of farm
products that the farmers of the
country had spent months in pro-
ducing
Now, here is another paralyzing
fact for the American farmer to
mediate upon. The total capital
invested in manufactures in the
United States is less than ten bill
lions of dollars, while the amount
invested in farm property is more
than double that sum. or about
twenty and one-half billions of dol
lars.
The gross products of the manu-
factories we're over thirteen billion
dollars in the year 1900, while the
gross returns realized by the farmers
of the United States were valued at
only S., 764, 900, 600. Now, mark
this: After taking out all expenses
the net profits from the ten billions
of manufacturing capital were ST.
oIS, 900, 900, or more than half the
whole gross returns from all the
farms in the country with more than
twice the capital invested. AS to
the net returns from the twenty and
one-half billions invested in farm
property, if we take out reason
able sum for wages of the farmers
themselves, it is safe to say that not
one cent of profit is realized by the
farmers as a whole on this enormous
investment.
The more we analyze and COM
pare this matter the more astound-
ing it appears, The amount invested
ii farming is nearly equal to the
combined capitalization of all the
railroads and manufacturing indus
tries in the United States. But
while the capitalization of the rail-
roads and manufactures is more
than half wind and water, and rep
resents nothing whatever but their
power through monopoly to compel
the farmers and consumers to pay a
profit on this bogus capital, the
farming capital represents solld,
tangible property for every dollar
set down. So it happens that the
actual investment in farming is fully
double the actual investment in both
the railroads and manufa actories.
The amount set down as farm
property is an actual inventory taken
by the sworn officers of the United
States government who have no in
ducement whatever to falsify, while
the actual capital invested in the
railroads and manufactures Is kept
so secret that it is impossible to do
more than make an estimate of it.
1t is not denied, however, that
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