Weekly Jeffersonian., 1907-01-24
THE WEEKLY JEFFERSONIAN.

uASu CudTS0S Oh Ln0 living, IL LOOK a
greater quantity of his labor and his
product to get the dollar than it ever
had taken before.
Let us take another decade that
from 1870 to 1890. Conditions had
adjusted themselves. Earnest, true
hearted, statesmanlike men had in
some measure come to the relief of
the farmer. That noble old Roman,
Richard Bland, of Missouri, had so
persistently fought against the "crime
of 1S73,' the shutting out of the silver
dollar from the legal coins of the
country, the reduction of the currency
to panic basis, finally succeeded in
compelling congress to reopen the
mints to the coinage of silver, and
thus began to increase the currency
by something like $4,000,O0O per
month. Immediately, the beneficial
results were apparent. The figures,
as given by the government in the
Statistical Abstract, are more elo-
quently convincing than any mere
rhetoric could be. From 1870 to 1880,
as l have already told you, the farm
ers were able to increase their wealth
only one billion dollars. Between 1880
and 1890 they did four times as well,
increasing their wealth to sixteen bill
lion dollars. From 1890 to 1900 there
is another increase, that being four
millions again, running the estate up
to twenty-and-a-half million. 1t should
have been twice that amount, but it
would have been the same story again
as that which we have heard with
reference to 1870 and 1880 had it not
been for the enormous increase in the
last decade of gold thus giving to the
currency a natural expansion, which
to some extent, counteracted the dia-
bolical plans of the money trust.
But let us now make a comparative
examination. In 1850, as l have al
ready told you, the agricultural wealth
of the country amounted to $4,000
100000. What did the entire wealth
of the country amount to? $7,000,-
100000 In 1860 the agricultural
wealth, as have already said, amount
ed to $4,000, 100000 The entire wealth
of the country amounted to $16,000,-
100000. Thus, you will observe the
farmers were keeping step in the
grand march of material prosperity
They had doubled their estate, in
creasing it 100 per cent in that decade,
and they had so per cent of all the
wealth in the United States.
In 1870, after the four years of war,
what was the relative condition of the
farmer and all the balance of the
Union? The farmer held property to
the amount of $11 00,000,000. The
entire national estate amounted to $780,
000,000,000. Thus, still, you see, the
farmer was keeping we'll up in spite of
the fact that the war, in destroying
so many wage earners and dislocating
the industrial system, had put him at
a great disadvantage.
In 1880, as We have already seen,
the agricultural classes possessed $12,-
OO0,O00,00O. How much was possessed
by all the others? $4,000, 100000
For the first time in the race the
farmer has dropped far behind.
In 1890, the agricultural classes
owned 600O,000,0O0 All the other
classes owned $62,OOO,OOO, OO,OOO. Away
behind, are the agricultural classes.
They are losing their enthusiastically
steadily. Who is getting it? Who
is reaping where they SOW? Who is
gaining where they lose? We shall
find that out by and by.
In 1900 the farmers owned $2O,5OO,-
100000. All the other classes owned
$76,0O0,000,00 The gap between the
agricultural class and the others is
becoming wider and wider, the yawn-
ing gulf more impossible year by year
Who is getting what the farmer is los