Decorah public opinion. (Decorah, Winneshiek County [Iowa]) 1895-1928, 1915-02-03
FARMER VITALITY CON-
CERNED IN RAILROADS
WHAT THE EUROPEAN WAR MEANS TO
THE AMERICAN FARMER.

ton and to repair as speedily as pos
sible our neglected shipping facili-
ties upon the high seas-and that
the handicap nas already cost the
American people millions of dollars
during the last few months is so
patent that it requires no extended
comment 1t is one thing to have
markets in all parts of the world
which have heretofore been supplied
by the great warning nations beg
ging for American goods and food
stuffs-but it is quite another thing
to have American ships in which to
deliver these cargoes.
Will we now add to the neglect Of
an adequate merchant marine the
further folly of permitting our rail-
roads to get into such a weakened
physical condition that they will
break down under the strain of de-
livering the products of the farmer
and the manufacturer at our ocean
ports and thus largely waste the
great opportunity for profit which
the foreign war will unquestionably
bring to us? This is a phase of the
present situation which commands
the serious thought of every farmer
in Iowa and the Corn Belt generally
for here is where the lions share
Of the nations foodstuffs are pro-
duced and here is where farmers
cannot afford to be hampered by in
adeluate transportation facilities if
they are to make the most of favor
able market opportunities.
There is not a single manager of a
Central or Western railroad who
will not admit that the present sup
ply of first-class freight locomotives
and box ears could not successfully
meet the requirements of several
bountiful crop years-and yet they
haven't the funds with which to sup
ply this equipment and thus be pre-
pared for the emergency when it
comes-as it undoubtedly will.
Farmers Win Profit.
In this connection, it is opportune
to say that the American farmer is
certain to reap a larger profit from
the chaotic conditions which exist in
Europe than any other class of
tradesmen or citizen. So far as our
manufacturers are concerned, while
new markets are undoubtedly beck
oning to the United States, yet, on
the other hand, for several years to
come, the splendid trade which we
enjoyed in Germany, England,
France, Austria and Russia on orr
manufactured products is certain to
remain demoralized-and thus we
will be fortunate if We do not lose
more than we can hope to gain in
new fields, with whose needs We are
not yet familiar. and to which it is
certain to require some years to ad-
Just ourselves.
1t is the American farmer, how
ever, who has no complications
ahead of him, and whose flour, pork,
beef, mutton and other foodstuffs
must be depended upon to make up
the shortage which Is already loom
ing big in the distance because the
harvest fields of the most fertile sea-
tons of Europe have been converted
into shambles for the contending
armies. Exports of breadstuffs from
the United State in November were
valued at $40,25O, 200, or almost
four times as much as in November
of 1913, while meat and cattle ex-
ports amounted to nearly $l4,00U,-
900, or a gain Of over 20 per cent
over 1913, and this despite our mis-
cradle shipping facilities on the high
seas.
In the light of these facts, was
there ever time when the farmers
OF Iowa and other Corn Belt states
can view the future with as much AS
surance, or when they can so we'll
AFFORD to treat fairly every other
great industry in the nation as now ?
Putting it in the terms of sound
business policy, was there ever a time
when they should do their part to
the end that American labor may be
probably employed in all the great
channels of industry, and that our
transportation system may be kept
up to high point of efficiency, so
that it may adequately discharge
the heavy shipping burdens which
will undoubtedly descend upon it in
the not distant future?
Railroads AMI Land Values.
No other single agency in the ma
ton has had more to do with the
advancement of l4nd values than
have the railroads, and as evidence
of this fact the proximity of farm
to the market almost invariably fixes
its selling value. In no other state
has this been more true than in Iowa
the richest agricultural state i'm
the Union, with a per capita of farm
wealth which in amount and equity
of distribution is not equaled by any
other commonwealth. AS between
the man who bought Iowa land twen-
ty-five or thirty years ago and the
man who bought Iowa railroad Sc
curities at that time, who has had
the best of it? And yet, did not the
men who furnished the money with
which Iowa railroads were built,
contribute tremendously toward the
great enhancement in land values
which has taken place in this state
Would this enhancement, which
amounts to hundreds of millions of
dollars, have been possible without
the railroads?
In round numbers, Iowa has about
35, 100000 acres of farm land. Ac-
cording to the U. s. census reports
there was an increase of 110%o in
the value of Iowa farm lands from
1900 to 1914 period of ten years.