The Denison review. [volume] (Denison, Iowa) 1867-current, 1915-01-13

Is QulL0 dNOlIlcI IuluS u nave f1ucTl'
can ships in which to deliver these
cargOes.
Will we now add to the neglect of
an adequate merchant marine the fur
ther folly of permitting our railroads
to get into such weakened physical
condition that they will break down
under the strain of delivering the
products of the farmer and the manu-
facturer 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 ev-
cry farmer in Iowa and the corn belt
generally-for here is where the lions
share of the nations foodstuffs are
produced and here is where farmers
can not afford to be hampered by in
adequate transportation facilities ii
they are to make the most OF favor
able market opportunities.
There is not single manager of q
central or western railroad who will
not admit that the present supply OF
tirst-class freight locomotives and box
cars could not successfully meet the
requirements OF several bountiful crop
years-and yet they haven't the funds
with which to supply this equipment
and thus be prepared for the emer.
gency when it cOmes-as it undOubt.
edly will.
Farmers Will Profit.
In this connection it is OppOrtune TO
say that the American farmer is Ger
tain to reap larger profit from the
chaotic conditions which exist in
Europe than any other class Of trades.
men or citizens. So far as our man.
ufacturers are concerned, while new
markets are undoubtedly Reckoning
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 Oh our manufactured pro.
ducts 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
1t Is certain to require some years to
adjust ourselves.
1t is the American farmer, hOwev.
err, who has no complications ahead OF
him, and whose -four, pork, beef, NUT.
ton and other foodstuffs must be de.
pended upon to make up the shortage
which is already looming big in the
distance because the harvest fields OF
the most fertile sections of Europe
have been converted into a shambles
for the cOntending armies. Exports
Of breadstuffs from the United States
III November were valued at $4O.25O,
900, or almost four times as much as
in November, 1913, while our meat and
cattle exports amounted to nearly
$l4 100000, or a gain. OF over 20 per
cent over 1913, and this despite our
miserable 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 assurance, 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 time
when they should do their part to the
end that American labor may be
profitably employed in all the great
channels of industry, and that our
transportation system may be kept up
to q high point OF efficiency, so that it
may adequately discharge the heavy
shipping burdens which will undoubt.
in Il it,
tant future?
Railroads and Land Values.
No other single agency in the ma.
ton has had more to do with the ad.
vancement OF land values than have
the railroads, and as evidence Of this
fact the proximity of farm to the
market almost invariably fixes its sell.
ing value. In no other state has this
been more true than in Iowa-the
richest agricultural state in the union,
with per capita of farm wealth which
in amount and equity of distribution
is not equalled by any other common
wealth. AS between the man who
bought Iowa land twenty-five or thir.
ty years ago and the man who bought
Iowa railroad securities 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,OOO,O0O acres of farm land. Ac.
cording to the United States census
reports there was an increase of 10
per cent in the value of Iowa farm
lands from 1900 to 191O-a period of
ten years. During the four years
which have elapsed in the meantime
ii can safely be estimated that the in.
crease has been brought up to at least
100 per cent. Perhaps, taking the state
as whole. farm lands have enhanced
somewhere around $500 per acre dur.
ing the above periOd-but upon even
SO low basis as $4,000 per acre the
enhanced land values of Iowa have
added one billion, seven hundred and
fifty million dollars to the wealth of
Iowa farmers during the last fourteen
years. In view of these facts, is it
not to the interest of the farmers of
this state to insist upon square
deal" for the railroads?
As a matter of fact, were it not so
tremendously far reaching in its eff
feet, the controversy over a slight in