Pierre weekly free press. (Pierre, S.D.) 1889-19??, 1905-09-28
]. ]. HILLS NOTABLE ADDRESS,
He Discusses Agriculture, National and World
Affairs at County Fair

because he was supposed to be smart"
as candidate for place whom you
would not for a moment trust to repre-
sent you In a business transaction? Have
you never sent to Office man whose rec
ORD was not what it should be? And have
you never given your representatives, in
stare or nation, to understand that they
would win your approval and continu-
ance OF the honors they covet by getting
me most numerous and the largest appro-
priaIlons Tor unnecessary undertakings in
your city or town or district If you
nave then remember that reform must
besln at the fountain head. the people.
AND as a state or city or nation has
winch is taken out of the pockets of in
aividuals through taxation. # you have
Wnked at or tacitly rewarded this prac-
tlce then you have encouraged and pro-
NOTED graft. No man and no nation ever
was or ever will be rich enough to with
stand the continuous attack of unrebuked
character can be pure enough to remain
unsull1ed by a federation of low stand
ard OF honesty
NOW we come to another particular in
tlemen who serve you and to ask every
politician for his credentials. Let us see
W wnat the they have done for you. You. by
ana saving. and the brave venture to
Wrest living from nature, have accu-
th certain resources Of which all
see about us to-day are typical. To what
extent, II any, have you been hindered by
sne var various measures that will be quoted:
as they have been quoted, in evidence of
interests?
Two Main Needs.
Your main needs are two: an adequate
market in which your products may be
to purchase those things that you need
which the farm does not supply To what
extent have these been furnished to you,
and in what condition do you stand with
reference to them?
AS far as your grain is concerned, you
must sell in the markets of the world.
of Southern Minnesota and the wheat Of
every other country on the face of the
earth will bring to the farmer the price
that is fixed in the worlds markets. sThe
great consuming nations, with Great Brit
ain at their head, must have bread. They
purchase it where they can, seeking all
the competition of all these sellers, India
and Russia and the Argentine and Aus
tralia as well as the United States, the
price is settled. Have you been helped
there? OF a truth it is impossible to help
you In any way but one, to which we will
come presently. The average politician,
who does not give you credit for the in
tellgence that you possess, will tell you
that you have been helped, have been
protected as he will call it, by placing
a tariff on wheat and other products Of
the farm. But you know better. You
know that tariff on imports of an article
which you do not wish to import, but
which you have for sale in vast quanti-
ties. IS as useless as steam heating
plant in August. In the year ended June
80, 1904, there We're imported into the
United States just 6,s52 bushels of wheat
in all. How did the protective tariff pro-
tect this? This last year there We're i'm
ported 3.1O2,5s5 bushels. Either figure is
totally Insignificant in a country whose
own wheat crop runs from 100000 to
100000, 600 bushels. But the tluctuation
itself shows, since the tariff remained UNI
altered, that the latter has nothing what
and your dairy products and your live
stock are beyond the reach of all such
assistance si The market in which your
fected by them at all. And consequent
ly, whatever. you may think or may say
to the gentlemen who tell you that a
you may reply with great confidence that,
as far as sales of your products are
concerned, it profits you no mcre than
an edct against immigration from the
moon.
There is one way, however, in which
you may be helped and that is by lessen
get for the yield of your farms is the
price where the consumer lives, less the
cost OF carrying the article from you to
him. That cost you have to bear. Any
thing that dimintshes it is money in your
pocket; and when any one advises you
that you are vitality interested III deoreas-
ing you the truth But how is this to be
brought about?
No one can arbitrarily send out a proc
performed at such and such a charge
The business of TRANSPORTATION is like ali
other business in this: it must be con-
1t can be lessened only by economies
growing out of increased volume. So he
does most for you in this respect who
ers and helps to swell the volume of prod
,ucts and Of purchases. This is the way
IN which the diminution of the cost of
Is greater than has occurred in the price
of almost any other commodity. The
average receipts per ton per one hundred
States were S1.99 in 1870, S1.17 in $780,
in Great ;,. Britain It IS s2,as and on the
The Great Northern railroad has been
reducing It's rates progressively for the
last tps Twenty-Five years The records Of
commission show that. IL its freight tar
IFS had not been altered in that time, if
i It had I'd CT charged rg throughout until to-day
would have received more than $685.
100000 more than it has received during
the twenty-five years, an average of over
road, and am as proud Of that as am
Of being here with YOU That is meas
ure of what has taken place as rapidly
and made prudent. And I need not tell
any OF you who read the papers and keep
IN touch with the events of the day that
this work is still going on, and that the
crops raised this year in the Northwest
will be sent to market on the lowest
freight rate ever made in tho whole his
tory of the Northwest
Railroad Rates.
How has this been accomplished? By
seeking to build UP the country, by study
Ing how to develop Its resources and It's
prosperity, by inducing settlers to come
and till the vacant land and by taking
care of those already here. BY careful
business management and by recognizing
the essential partnership between the man
on the soil and the railway which serves
him. And | want to ask you as you
study these figures to say whether these
results. so beneficial to yourselves, could
ever have been reached through policy
of antagonism and force. Some of the
politicians will tell you that railroad rates
must be fixed by order of the government.
and that this Is the reason why they
must be kept In public life. 1t is an easy
prophecy, because it is an obvious fact.
that railroad rates in this country would
decline more slowly under government
control than If fixed by those who have
intelligently managed the railways. No
public body would dare to make reduc-
lions SO swearing as those that have been
the people on Its lines are prosperous the
gether or prosper together and this con-
will oil aryc voY a In yk,N