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13be Conservative.
AGItlCULTUllH AND KAILWAYS.
IIV HOIIKItT T. 1'OUTKH , Sin'KIUNTKN'Dr.NT
KM'.VHNTII U. 8. CKNHUH.
A few weeks ngo Tlio Sun printed
some instructive and interesting facts in
relation to the prosperity of the agricul
tural interests of the United States.
These data were gathered by a syndi
cate of agricultural weekly newspapers ,
and probably give a fairly accurate idea
of what three years of good crops have
done for the American fanner. Lust
week the advance report of the Statis
tical Department of the Interstate Com
merce Commission for lS)7 ! ) was given
out at Washington , and the figures for
this industry , second only in importance
to that of agriculture , show such a con
trast to those relating to agriculture that
a comparison may perhaps be profitably
drawn. The published facts relating to
agriculture point out that , including the
present year , the outlook for our agri
culturists is extremely hopeful. Last
week , when in "Washington , I called
upon the Secretary of Agriculture ,
James Wilson , to talk with him on
matters relating to our trade with Cuba.
In the course of the conversation the
Secretary told me the farmers of the
United States , and especially of the
great Northwest , had not been as pros
perous in years as at the present time.
Good crops and good prices had united
to help them , and the increased demand
for cattle and foodstuffs to make good
the losses of war would , in his opinion ,
still further stimulate the great interest
which lies at the basis of our national
prosperity. All this is indeed encourag
ing and gratifying to contemplate. If
it is true , as stated by the authority
above quoted , that one thousand millions
of dollars will hardly measure the in
crease in the American farmers' re
ceipts for last year's produce over the
values that prevailed as late as 1895 ,
those engaged in agriculture ought in
deed to be thankful for their good for
tune. Of late years , and until the tide
turned in the autumn of 1890 , wo have
heard many complaints from and on be
half of the American farmer , though , as
a rule , the loudest and most unreason
able came from those who toiled with
the mouth , and not with the hands.
Yet , in spite of low prices , there was
little real cause for complaint. In 1890
it was shown by official statistics thai
half the farms of the United States cul
tivated by the owners were free of debt
How had the billions herein represented
been paid and the value of the property
created ? By the sweat of the brow anc
the toil of brawny arms ? Not altogether
because in other lands the agriculturists
and peasants toil just as hard as farmers
do here , but with rewards far less. Ou
of the richness , therefore , of the soil o :
our vast domain , aided by the labor anc
industry and thrift of the Americai
farmer have come these comfortable
homes , free of debt , and forever the pro
icrty of the pioneers and their posterity
; hat pushed westward in the early days.
It has not been , we must ever remem-
) er , inherited wealth , accumulating for
centuries , as wo find to be the case in
'oreign countries. It has been wealth
argoly created out of our prolific land ,
by the sweat and toil of men who are
still living and breathing , and many of
iliom millions of them are today on-
eying the fruits of their labor in farms
ind homes free from debt. Hand in
land with the industry of agriculture
comes the industry of transportation.
The value of farm property and products
in J8)0 ! ) was $15,982,2 ( > 7(589. ( The value
of our railroads was in the neighborhood
of $12,000,000,000 say $1(5,000,000,000 ( in
round numbers for agriculture , and we
have $28,000,000,000 , or close onto half
our national assets.
Unless all official statistics go for naught ,
and these apparently carefully-prepared
figures are value-
AMERICAN FARMERS j fcho Amcricau
PROSPEROUS. farmcr enioys
the foundations of a permanent pros
perity that any other industry enjoys.
Like all others , the agricultural indus
try is subject to temporary fluctuation.
It is affected by good years and by bad
years. It has its run of luck and its
period of depression. Upon a basis
which , when viewed with sufficient per
spectivepresents so many signs of devel
opment and progress , we have to add
the signal prosperity of the last three
years.
The tide has turned , and the Ameri
can farmer is not only on the top wave
of prosperity , but if he will only keep a
steady head and hold his surplus for any
future years of famine and depression ,
he will soon be on the dry land of per
manent prosperity. Let us reflect a
moment. We are told that , without
counting the present year , the farmei
has in two years paid more than one
hundred million dollars of mortgages
We furthermore learn that millions on
chattel mortgages have been wiped oul
and the paying up of other forms of in
debtedness has become almost a mania
in the West. This has been attendee
with such an increase in bank deposits
that throughout nmch of the trans-Mis
soiiri country interest rates on farm loans
are down to from five to eight per
cent , contrasted with from six to tei
per cent or more as late as two years
ago. And , lastly , the information comes
from Kansas that the bankers of tha
state are anxious to take the farm mart
gages held in the East as fast as the
trusts and the money powers will le
them go. These gains in the West are
largely responsible for the vast increase
in national bank resources of more thai
$1,000,000,000 since the low point of
1893 , and more than $400,000,000 during
the lost twelve months. The two whea
crops of 1896 and 1897 have returnee
formers nearly twice as much as the
crops of 1894 and 1895 a gain of more
lian $400,000,000. Com shows a de
cline of some $150,000,000 but these two
taples alone make a net gain of nearly
$250,000,000.
These brilliant signs and omens of
n'ospurity in the agricultural hori/.on
ire naturally matters for rejoicing in
ess-favored industries. Take , for ox-
imple , the industry of transportation ,
which in no way has shared this pros-
> ority yet wo find no bitter complaints
i'om the railways because the receipts
of the American farmer were a cool bil-
ion more in 1897 than in J895 , while the
gross earnings of the railways show a
: 'urthor shrinkage of several millions.
While the crop tonnage has been unusually -
ually largo the tonnage of freight in J897
shows a decrease over the preceding
year. The hopeful farmer has cleared
up more than one hundred millions of
debt , but our railways again in J897
face nearly $ :5,800,000,000 : of shares pay
ing no dividends more than seventy
per cent of the capital stock and a
funded debt of $8(57,000,000 ( which paid
no interest. These are hard facts for
our railroads to face , and they seem par
ticularly severe , because the agricultural
industry which the railroads servo the
most has enjoyed a period of unsur
passed prosperity.
Three years ago , when the tide turned ,
those accustomed to study railroad bud
gets had a right to
RAILWAY EARN-
fc
INGS DECLINE.
promishlg. Wo
laiew that rates wore too low for profit ,
but with hopefulness peculiar to the
American business man , our railway
managers thought that in the epidemic
of prosperity passing over the country
some would fall to their share. In this
they have been disappointed , for the
figures just given out by the statistician
of the Intei-state Commerce Commission
are far more discouraging than those for
the years when depression was almost
universal in all industries. Why , for
example , should the amount of labor
employed on railways be less in 1897
than in 189(5 ( ? Why should the number
of passengers carried be millions less ?
Why should there bo a shrinkage in ton
nage ? Nearly sixty-two per cent of the
entire operating expenses of our rail
ways , be it remembered , goes for labor.
Thus the lack of prosperity in our rail
ways seriously affects the wage-earner.
Those who had hoped to see a decided
increase in gross earnings must note in
stead a decrease over 189(5 ( of nearly $80-
000,000. Those who expected a profit
must again note a deficit. There are
some increases in these budgets. Taxes ,
as usual , have increased. States and
municipalities , and , since the war , the
United States government , tax this
great industry with increasing severity ,
and the total amount paid by the rail
ways for taxes in 1897 exceeds forty-
three millions of dollars. The net in
come available for dividends was only
$81,257,500 , so the taxes paid were more
