Year: 1879




GENERAL DEPRESSION IN THE AGRICULTURAL AND
MANUFACTURING INTERESTS OF VERMONT
HARD PAN REACHED AND HOPEFUL VIEW OF
THE FUTURE.


Sr. ALBANs Dec. 80, 1873.
Vermont is essentially agricultural State, and
inquiry into her present relative condition of pros
perity naturally commences among the farmers. The
crops of the past year have aggregated considerably
above the average In the early part of the growing
season there serious and protracted drought.
which affected unfavorably the upland districts and
inflicted less injury generally upon the
crop and growing cereals but in the valleys of the
numerous rivers and small streams this injury
slight and more than coupterbalanced by the unusual
length of the growing season and the rapidity
of growth The hay crop was considerably
above average, the corn crop never was bet
ter and all the English grains-wheat. barley. rye,
&c-yielded fine returns. The crop of oats and some
of the late sowcd grains light The potato crop.
owing to the drought and the Colorado beetles raw
ages was an almost total failure and the fruit yield
was below the average though better than in some
recent seasons.


BUTTER AND CHEESE.


The production of Vermonts great stapcs--butter
and cheese-has been large if not larger than
usual; but prices have ruled low. particularly
butter which has brought less the past year than any
season since the commencement of the The fall
i'll cheese since the previous year has been somewhat
less than in butter and as consequence farmers
have been producing more cheese and less butter the
greater part of tho manufacture being through the
medium of cheese factories conducted on the mutual
benefit plan.


The price Of hay has never ruled so low since the
opening up Of outside markets by the medium of
steam transportation. and many of the larger land
holders this fall declined to market their surplus.
preferrng store it and take their chances OF short





ut prices which, they allege. afford margin of
profit whatever Nearly all the farm products Of the
State down proportonaely. and although the fall
in the price Of labor has been considerable and the
staple commodities which farmers must have
touched ante beum figures. while butter and cheese
are not quite low as before the war leaving
parent balance in the farmers favor, yet the past
year has been OF almost unprecedented financial
distress among the farming population. This is prob
ably accounted for by the fact that large pro-
portion of the landholders purchased or cncumbered
their farms during the flush times and are now
suffering under the incubus of heavy mortgages. The
number of foreclosures of mortgages upon farming
property the past year has been unprecedented and
the proportion of mortgagors who have redeemed
very small; the consequence of which is that very
large number of farms have fallen, or will soon fall
into the hands of capitalists and money lenders.
Taking all these considerations together is readily
seen and the fact s that despite the large crops
and the reduction in the cost OF labor and living, the
past has been the most trying year for the agricu
tural interest of Vermont that has been experienced


MANUFACTURING INTERESTS.


This general statement is more true of the
other producing and manufacturing interests of the
State Certainly year in the last twenty -fve has
been SO hard for the manufacturing and producing
interests of Vermont has the year 1878 The great
marble business of Rutland county seems thing of
the past for the demand has fallcn on to almost
nothing, and the yards are packed with marble,
dressed and in the rough. for which there is SALE
The lumber interest has suffered nearly as much.
and manufacturers report unprecedentedly small
demand both ut home and abroad. Almost without
an exception Vermont manufactnrers report an un-
precedented stagnaton in business. No year in the
history of the State approaches the year 1878 in the
number of business failures, and with the masses it
has been a hard. wearing struggle to pull through,
the question of profits being almost left out OF con-
sideraton.


RAILROAD TRAFFIC.


The railroads report the hardest year within their
experience. They have been compelled by the i'm
Fortunate demands of shippers to cut down their
freight tariffs to the very lowest living figures and
still the local tonnage has been continually falling
behind to such degree that the aggregate OF the
year will be the smallest since railroads first in
troduced in Vermont in proportion to population
"How do you account for this state OF things p
asked the HERALD correspondent OF prominent rail-
road official


Il am at a loss TO do so to my satisfaction
was the reply. There to be nothing that peo-
pie want transported"


Passenger traffic has fallen off proportionately and
many the roads have beca Compelled TO reduce the
number of trains run. Pleasure travel during the
past season very light, and but for the great num-
OF excursions at cheaper rates than ever be-
fore aud which aggregateda considerable amount of
revenue, the summers business would hardly have
shown q pcrceptible improvement over the other
months of the year. Although the cost of labor and
supplies has been largely reduced, the railroads
find il impossible to cut down expenses proportion
atey to this large shrnkage in both rates and ton
mage and the close of the year business will show
year OF unprecedented hardship for the Vermont
roads.


MERCHANDISE.


On the other hand the merchants who have been
feeling severely tho depression of the past eighteen
months, generally rcpor. an improving tendency in
the last three four, with indications of slow but
steady increase in demand and general disposition
on part of purchasers to buy close and carefully
but TO pay cash. Several of the leading merchants OF
Vermont report better sales OF use: u holiday goods
this month than in any previous season since the
hard times commenced. And among the people gen.
orally there to be steadily growing feeling OF
confidence and bopefnlness whicn has strengthened
rapidly with the near approach of resumptfon. The
last been touched: property of all kinds has been
stable aud enduring foundaiion people have become
upon new and economic jncthods the credit system,
in so far as is objectionable and dangerous has
ccivcl its death blow in all parts of the State, and
people seem to have become convinced that they
must live and do business within their hence
forth With this. and the rc-cstabished soundness
of the national currency system. which Vermont as
% state has continually and earnestly advocated,
hoped and labored tor, il may be trulfully said
that severely she has suffered In all her producing
and manufacturing interests the pas: year, Vermont
is to-day pcrmeatcd with feeling of cheerful aud
hopeful confidence in the future aud will enter upon
the new year with all her material Interests really
based upon a stronger, sounder aud better founda
tiou than ever before.