The Fairmont West Virginian. (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1904-1914, 1909-02-13
& SEVEN sBl LILO Il, 8. B
Hard For Human Mind to Grasp the
Value of Our, Farm Produete, d "A

.SEYENs blLLl01S DOLLARS
/, Hard For Human Mind to crap the
Value of Our Farm Produets.
The Secretary Of Agriculture Is au.
5thority3 for the statement that, the val.
tue Of the; farm products OF the United
States aggregates the incredible and
unparalleled sum OF s7,77s.ooo, 900. sa2
The average man reads this state
ment and says, "Well; what OF it,"
It is hard for the human mind to
grasp the meaning OF such sum. Our
ideas Of wealth have developed ire
mendously in the last 20 years, but
this amount is still far beyond our
comprehension. It Is only comparison
that we can be brought to an appre-
citation of Its stupendousness. Let US
see what can be done to make It q lit
Tie palmer. l.'ss2 !.
Gold Is the standard Of measurement
for money In nearly oil the countries
OF the earth, but there is not enough
gold above ground In the whole world
to pay for this years products OF the
American farms. Turn out the stocks
OF gold In all the mints. all the treas
urlss. all the banks. empty all the
stockings. bring out all the boards.
from every land under the sun, melt
down all the jewelry and turn 1t In
to coin or bars, give all to the Amer
lean farmers and there would be still
q balance due them. Impossible you
say. Well, here Is a fact that should
cinch the other: All the gold that has
been taken from the mines and the
beds Of rivers In all parts Of the world
since the discovery OF America by
Columbus. over 400 years. aggregates
but a little over $4,000, 100000, less
than double the value Of one years
farm products, this years farm pro-
ducts, In America. Esa ,'1
Talk about gold mines! Why, every
farm In the United States Is gold
mine. There are something over $780,
900 farms in this country, and this
years product gives them MI average
income Of about $1,000. How many
quartz gold mines will do as much!
The total production Of all the gold
mines Of the United States last year
WIS measly hundred million. The
farmers gave us nearly so times as
Inch. #..
But let lis resume the comparison.
The sum, remember, is s7,77S,O00,0oO.
That Is more than the total wealth
OF the United States In 1S50-real and
personal property, money, bonds.
stocks, everything all added together
didn't equal the value Of last years
crops.
That sum Is more than 1.-The entire
present wealth Of the countries OF
Belgium, Spain or the Netherlands.
1t is one fifth the total wealth OF
the great empire Of Russia.
It Is more than the value Of all the
real estate in the state Of New York.
including New York City, where land
is more valuable than any other place
on earth. g.
It equals the total annual revenue
Of all the nations Of the earth.
II Is nine times the total capitallza-
ton Of all the national banks In the
United States.
Getting nearer home. It is more than
six times the valuation OF all tho tax
able property in Missouri, real and
personal.
1t is Is times the valuation Of all the
taxable property In the City Of St.
Louis.
It ls MORE than the aggregate valua-
tioh Of all the taxable property, real
and personal. In the states Of Mis-
souri,. Illinois. Indiana. Ohio. Iowa
and Kansas.
Now, perhaps You begin to realize
that s7,77s.O00. 900 Is a whole lot Of
money. But these. facts. impressive as
they arc, rather stun than enliven the
Imagination. Suppose we take another
tack. .s
We are all familiar with dollars, sin
gle dollars or silver or paper. We have
them in our hands occasionally, for
tleeting moments. and we count them,
perhaps. as they fleet. Suppose we were
to sit down to count this SITS, 100000.
a dollar at time. how long do you
suppose 1t would take us? Well. II one
man tackled the job and worked y
hours every day. including Sundays
and holidays. counting a dollar Sec
ond, and never stopping for meals, 1t
would take him just 400 years. By that
time, no doubt. he would be tired. If,
TO take another point OF view, lie had
commenced to count in the year that
Columbus discovered us. he would be
counting yet. \.
Suppose. again. we had NIL this mon
ely in silver dollars and should lay
them down In single line, each dol
lar touching Its nelchhors on either
side, how long q line would 1t make?
Figure Il ont for yourself II you like
that sort OF thing. A silver dollar Is
an inch and half in diameter. md
so all these dollars would stretch out
to 11,fG9,0O0, 600 inches, which Is 1884,
ISL miles. 1t would wrap seven times