Weekly Jeffersonian., 1907-01-24


laborers in agricultural pursuit are
worthy of their hire? Surely. Will
you concede them the same rate of
pay that is given to the 100000 mill
operatives who work during stated
hours of the day within the shelter of
walls and roof? Surely you will.
Then, what startling fact will confront
you? This: that you will not have
enough from the gross proceeds of the
agricultural products to pay the
wages by $372,000,o00. There will not
be one penny for taxes, not one penny
for repairs, not one penny for interest
upon capital invested, and not enough
to pay the same wages paid in the
manufacturing industries. But on the
other hand, you will be lacking $372,-
100000 of enough to pay good wages
Examine the account as given by
Uncle Sam for the year 1S90 Capt.
tai invested in agricultural industries
$16,000000, 1000, number of hands en-
ployed 8,500,000, and gross product
sold for $2,46O,00 900. And again the
awful fact stares you in the face, al
most paralyzing your intelligence,
that the entire gross product did not
sell for enough to pay to agricultural
Iaborers the same wage that was paid
to manufacturing laborers, but fell
short of that by $498,000,000. Not a
penny for taxes, not a penny for re-
pairs, not pennyfor interest upon CAPT.
tai. Truly an awful situation, crying
aloud to a just God for remedy and re-
form.
But let us come on down the line.
Let us see what Uncle Sam tells us
in his Statistical Abstract was the
condition of things in 1900, the date
of the last general census. In that
year the amount of capital invested in
agricultural industries was $20,500-
100000, the number of hands employed
10,500,000. In that year, owing to the
enormous expansion of the currency
in the increase of the output of the
gold mines of the world, and the dis
covery of cheaper process by which
low grade ores could be worked at a
profit, the farmer got much better
price for his product. The entire gross
product amounted to 1894 100000
That year there was enough to pay
wages; there was something left over
after paying wages. How much?
1882 900 000-abOut per cent on the
10,50000 1000 that were invested.
From this per cent you must deduct
something for taxes, you must deduct
something for necessary repairs, and
by the time you have done this, the
utmost profit which you can say has
been earned by the labor of 10,500000
workers, representing an investment
of $20,500, 100000, is beggarIy one or
two per cent. And this is the very
first dividend that we have been able
to declare in twenty years, and you
will see at a glance, that it does not
begin to fill up the deficit of preced-
ing years. Now it is perfectly clear
from the actual official report that the
farmer has been losing regularly and
losing rapidly. Somebody has been
getting what he has been making. Let
us take a search warrant and try to
find that somebody. Let us look for
him through the cold, dry, official
tables published by Uncle Sam him
self On page 10 of the Statistical
Abstract, think we find one of these
big somebodies who has been making
off with some of the product of the
toll Of the agricultural classes. He is
known in the Statistical Abstract as
heNational Banking system. find that
Uncle Sam says that in the year 1882
the national banker was making every
year a net profit of $54000,0 900. NY
own private opinion is that Uncle Sam
has put the case very mildly when he
says the national banker was only