I
I SUPPLEMENT TO THE
I M'COOK TRIBUNE.
. .
B ' ' "
p ! ll .1 I Hi MWIMI
B Friday , Juno .
I JUST "TAMA JIM. "
I THAT'S WHAT. THE FARMERS
CALL SECRETARY WILSON.
H n Interesting Man with a History
H Filled with Interesting Experiences
H -IIc'h a Practical anil a Scientific
Farmer Honors Thrust Upon Him.
H Friend of the Farmer.
I The present bend of the Agricultural
I Department is an interesting man and
I has a history tilled with interesting expe-
I riences. Tall , slender , gray , rugged in
I appearance , with a Scotch accent which
I has clung to him since his arrival.in this
I country in childhood , he is a typical rep-
rcsentative of what bturdy integrity and
I unhending will can accomplish. There
are so many interesting things to be said
I of "Tama .lim , " who gets this title be-
I cnuse his home in Iowa was in Tama
I 'County , and it became necessary to in
I home way identify him as against an-
I othtT James Wilson \ fs \ own State , that
I it is difticult to kno' jst where to begin
and where to end i citing of him. The
I Washington Star , however , in a lengthy
I article published a few days ago , selects
n number of unique features in his history
I -and some equally interesting chats with
I Mr. Wilson.
I As a member of Congress this Iowa
I farmer performed an act of abnegation ,
I of renunciation , every whit as knightly
I .and heroic as the inspired , inspiring self-
ishncss and nerve of the grimy man in
I • dungarees who "held her nose agin the
I "bank " till the last galoot" got ashore. It
I was the action of "Tama "lim" that re-
I stored to Grant the military title that
I he surrendered when he became the civil
I chief of the nation he had redeemed with
I the sword. It happened during the Forty-
" " eighth " Congress , Tuen GranSKy dying
at M t. McGregor. It was a Democratic
House. Carlisle was the Speaker. A
bill was introduced restoring to Grant
the rank of general. To throttle consid
eration of the bill its antagonists resorted
\ to filibustering tactics.
l "Tama Jim , " for several previous terms
a representative from Iowa , now held his
seat provisionally. It was contested by
Ben. Frederick , his Democratic opponent.
A contested election case has the right of
way in Congress. The pretext was seiz
ed by the opponents of the urgent-measure
to give back to the expiring leader his
military rank. The supporters of the
Grant bill , eagerly as they desired to get
it through in time , were not wiiling to
sacrifice their colleague from Iowa in or
der to gain their end , and thus they were
in turn compelled to resort to filibustering
; to prevent the consideration of the elec
tion case , which was exactly what the
anti-Grant party wished them to do. The
Grant bill was blocked , with its benefi
ciary close to death.
Then "Tama Jim" rose to the height
| of Arthur in his hall. Did he understand
H. that the mere question as to whether he
K was to be permitted to retain his seat in
f _ Congress stood in the way.of . a nation's
exhibition of common gratitude to its pre
server ? Could it be possible that a mere
contested election case was to be the
boulder on which consideration of so pal
pable an act of justice was to split ? "If
this is the case , " he concluded , calmly ,
amid intense * silence , "as it unquestiona
bly appear be , the obstacle is easily
removed. \ Speaker , I hereby resign
my claim to\ . seat in this House to my
contestant , Mr. Frederick. "
The House rang. Every man in the
body joined in the hoarse plaudit that
followed the speech. The anti-Qrant men
were stupefied , and the Grant bill passed
.the House amid a hurricane of cheers. It
was rushed over to the Senate and imme
diately passed by that body ; and within
an hour after James Wilson , now the Sec
retary of Agriculture , had made way for
its consideration by surrendering his seat
in the House of Representatives the bill
• was signed by the President and became
a law. "Tama Jim" went back to his
Iowa farm.
Among his old associates in Congress
Secretary Wilson is still affectionately
known as "Tama Jim. " The nickname
was conferred upon him because during
Iks service as a Congressman there was
in the House another representative from
Iowa named James F. Wilson , afterward ,
and for many years , a Senator. He died
several years ago. To distinguish the
two men , "Sunset" Cox fastened upon
Secretary Wilson the nickname of "Tama
Jim , " from Tama County , in which is sit
uated Mr. Wilson's Iowa farm.
Mr. Wilson , at the very beginning of
his career as a member of the lower
house of Congress , was the spokesman
1 of the agriculturists of this country in
I urging the erection of the bureau of agriculture -
§ riculture , as it was then called , into a
| separate department , with a cabinet offi-
I l cer at its head. His word may be taken
5f 5 for it that at that time he never dreamed
l that he would himself one day be called
upon to assume the management of the department -
• ( partment he so zealously strove to estab-
* . Iish. The farmers of the United States 1
are still burdening President McKinley's 1
mail with felicitations upon his selection 1
of a Secretary of Agriculture.
The Man aa He Is.
4T came here to work for the man with i
his coat off , " said Mr. Wilson. "The man i
with his coat off" is a favorite figure of
" his ; not unnaturally , for he has been a i
IPX"
man with his coat off himself all his lifo.
Ills big , muscular , horny hands show it ;
his slow , heavy gait , as of a man measur
ing the distance between furrows , pro
claims it ; so do ills tall , rugged , but some
what stooped figure , his lined , wind-swept
countenance , his steel blue eyes , their
singular brightness eloquent of life in the
open fields , the lids habitually drawn to
gether by a lifelong evasion of the glar
ing brilliance of the harvest sun. The
honors ho has gained have been thrnst
upon him ; literally by physical force he
was dragged from the farm to the forum.
Now , summoned from the directorship of
an Iowa agricultural college to the head
of the national agricultural institution ,
he still professes to be nothing more than
a mnn in his shirt sleeves , working for
the advancement of men similarly divest
ed.
ed.In
In his labor-acquired physique , his
speech , his manner , his movements , ev
ery ono of Mr. Wilson's seventy-three
inches unmistakably proclaims him a
farmer ; ho is a fine-looking , generous ,
sturdy-looking figure of a man who knows
what the dome of heaven looks like at
sunrise. When the torch of civil war
gave forth its first red illumination , young
Farmer Wilson was all for seizing a mus
ket and rushing to the front. But the
family to which he belonged was large ,
poor , and needed its men , who were strap
ped to the plough ; moreover , his brother
Peter , an older man , wanted to go , and
had the law of primogeniture , observed
by the Scotch , on his side. The two men
drew lots , and Peter weut to the war ,
and died in it. The younger man re
turned to his plodding of the fieltfs. to be
seized upon as a parliamentarian by his
neighbors a few years later.
"Among the men with their coats off , "
said Mr. Wilson the other day , "are the
dairymen of this country. They are just
setting about to tackle one of the biggest
jobs they have ever undertaken , and , if I
have any kind of gift of prophecy , they're
going to win. The problem is this : Eng
land is buying $ G5,000.000 worth of .for
eign butter a year. The United States
supplies perhaps 1 per cent of it , or a little
over $600,000 worth , whiie-little Denmark-
supplies nearly $30,000,000 worth , buying
American cow feed for the purpose of
holding this immense business. We make
the best butter in the world. Then why
can't we sell at least as much of it to the
British people as a little country like
Denmark ? That's one of the things I am
going to find out , if it takes all of the spe
cial agents in this department to get me
the facts ; and it will be one of the sur
prises of my life if at the end of three or
four years we are not furnishing Great
Britain with at least one-half the butter
she imports. "
Secretary Wilson puts in from nine to
ten hours a day at his department. He be
longs to the careful , plodding type of
workmen. He likes to make the drafts in
his own handwriting of the more impor
tant letters and documents to which he
appends his signature. Disaster befalls
him when , as often happens , his old farm
er friends from Iowa walk in upon him
at his office , for a single visitation of this
sort eats a considerable hole in bis work
ing day ; and "it does not console the Sec
retary to be awat that it is his own fault.
Hp- . * te.s3 . \M sites k , on a.w -
e'r sofa alongsideJT couple of these pros
perous lookihg elderly agriculturists , 'and
there ensues a canvassing of farming
matters , treated either theoretically , tech
nically or practically.
Being a scientific farmer , as well as a
practical one , Mr. Wilson says that he
feels as much compelled to keep up with
the latest writings of scientific farming
as the ambitious physician is obliged to
follow the current developments in his
profession. Hundreds of pamphlets and
publications of all sorts relative to mat
ters of the farm reach him every week ,
and he looks through them all. He has
one pet hobby , which , however , is an emi
nently practical and praiseworthy one ,
viz. , the fostering of the sugar beet indus
try in the United States. "Why should
the United States pay out $100,000,000a
year for its sugar , when we can easily
raise it at home ? " is an inquiry he puts to
his friends constantly , and before long he
intends to make a personal inspection of
the most important fields in the country
where the sugar beet industry is growing.
"Probably next year , " said Mr. Wilson ,
"I shall make a tour of the farming dis
tricts throughout the South and South
west. I am peculiarly a farmer of the
temperate region in the Northwest , and
must own to a considerable lack of information
mation as to the requirements of the men
with their coats off in the sub-tropical re
gions of.the country. But I am going to
find out as much about them as I can , and
shall probably proceed as far as Califor
nia in the effort. "
RECALLS CLEVELAND'S RECORD
Ex-President Is Reminded of His Own
Party's Delay in Tariff Legislation.
Somebody with a good memory has tak
en occasion to remind ex-President Cleve
land and the public who read his scold at
the Republican party because of its
promptness in carrying out its pledges
with reference to tariff legislation , of the
terrible experience of the people of the
United States during the eighteen months
in which his own party delayed its tariff
legislation. This reminder was brought
forth by Mr. Cleveland's New York
speech , in which he criticised the Republi
can leaders for tneir "hot haste" in tak
ing up tariff legislation. The eighteen
months which elapsed between Mr. Cleve
land's inauguration in 1893 and the enact
ment of his free trade tariff law included
more than 20,000 failures , with liabilities
aggregating more than 500 million dollars ;
the closing down of over 800 banks ; the
appointment of receivers for about forty
railroads , whose indebtedness amounted
to a billion and a half dollars , and strikes
and lockouts costing the woskingmen en
gaged 45 million dollars in wages lost.
The total record of the eighteen months
includes strikes in New York and Michi
gan in March , 1893 ; strikes in Chicago
in April : strikes and bank failures in Illi
nois and Ohio in May ; runs on savings
banks in Western States in June ; suspen
sion of work in mines and numerous bank
failures throughout the West in July ; fail
ures in New York and Chicago and small
er cities , followed by riots in New York ,
Kansas and elsewhere , in August ; strike
on the "Big Four" and consequent riots
in September ; railroad strike in Alabama
and necessity of troops to suppress it in
October ; strikes on the Lehigh Valley
road and in Connecticut factories in No
vember ; riots in Pennsylvania mining re
gion in December : strikes in New Jersey ,
Pennsylvania and elsewhere , followed by
riots , in January : strikes in New York ,
Ohio. Massachusetts and accompanied by
riots ia February ; strikes in New Jer-
'
r m r m mmm - m -
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE.
officer of the new administration attracts more attention than the Secretary of Agriciitora and as a consequence
NO no department home is more inquired about than the handsome building in which "Tama Jim" Wilson toils
from early morning until long after the close of ordinary business hours , in behalf of the farmer. A half century
ago a merely nominal sum of $100,000 was at the instance of the Commissioner of Patents , Hon. H. L. Ellsworth , devoted
by Congress for the purposes of agriculture. For two years prior to that this patriotic gentleman had been distributing
seeds and plants gratuitously , and for the nine years of his entire term of office he continued this good work. His
successors in the Patent Office continued the practice , but it was not until 1802 that the Bureau of Agriculture was
formally organized. It was not , however , until the beginning of President Harrison's term of office that the head of the
Bureau of Agriculture was made a cabinet officer , its chief having prior to that time been termed the Commissioner of
Agriculture. "When President Harrison elevated the position to the dignity of a cabinet office its head beeame'the "Secre
tary of Agriculture , " the position first filled by "Uncle Jerry" " Rusk of Wisconsin , next by Hon. J. Sterling Morton of
Nebraska and now by "Tama Jim" Wilson of Iowa. The home of the Department of Agriculture is a handsome brick
building located upon the mall which runs westwardly from the Capitol , and is about midway between the Smithsonian
Institution and the Washington Monument. It is surrounded by spacious conservatories and wide blooming gardens , and
every plant and tree in the grounds is indigenous to our native soil , from the luxuriant specimens from the Southern States
to the dwarfed and hardy foliage of our northern borders. Good sized gardens occupy the rear of the building , in
which are carried on tests of varieties of fruits and plants , .experiments in methods of grafting and budding nud studies
in the diseases of plants. Seeds of new and superior varieties are tested and various and extensi\e experiments carried
ou.
ou.The department maintains at least one correspondent in every county in the United States , through whom statistics
of quality and quantity of crops are forwarded to Washington , to be there distributed by means of monthly and yearly
reports. Specialists are also employed to prepare from these reports instructive articles on suitable topics. The department
has-been of great benefit to the farming and fruit growing industries of the country in the determination of diseases of
plants and trees and in testing remedies for them and distributing information to the country generally. Destructive
insects which have threatened to exterminate certain fruit industries have been investigated by the department and means
found for their own destruction and check , proving of incalculable benefit to the farmers. As civilization advances and
exchanges are made with foreign countries of commodities and fruits , various insects and foes appear which were in years
gone unthought of , and the department is constantly watching and experimenting to be able to meet and counteract the
work of these destructive foes when they appear. The Agricultural Department is in communication with the leading
foreign agricultural societies , and the result has been not only exchange of reports but of almost every known specimen
of seed , shrub , vegetable and fruit. The shade trees of our entire country are represented in the grounds , over l.r 00
native varieties having been planted. The display of flowers in the grounds is also wonderful and will soon equal any like
display in the world.
sey , West Virginia , , Pennsylvania and
Colorado , accompanied by riots anu &
w&eirappreYsed $ , dsJofttfops , ] & * * *
bloodshed and use ofStfttops lb f enn _ ! * f
vania in May ; strikes and riots in Mary
land , Montana , Ohio , Alabama , Wiscon
sin , Pennsylvania " and Michigan , which
were only suppressed by the use of troops ,
in June ; strikes in Chicago , Indianapolis
and elsewhere , followed by use of troops ,
in July ; strikes in New York , Massachu
setts and other * Eastern States pnor to
final enactment of tariff law on Aug.a ,
1894.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Why Business Moves Slowly.
The bad effect of the election of Grover
Cleveland and the free trade Congress
month after the election
single
was felt in a
stopped ordering
tion because the merchants
home manufacturers m
dering from the
the expectation of getting cheap goods
from abroad under a low tariff. The good
effect of the election of McKinley and
cannot be felt as
the protection Congress
promptly as was the bad effect of the election
those same
because
tion of Cleveland ,
goods abroad
merchants are still buying
quantities , and will proba-
Sy Save a year's supply in hand before
into effect. This account
the new law gets
count for the delay in activity among
manufacturers and for the delay n
our business revival which will surely
business by
follow the resumption of
them.
Senate.
The Farmer and the
be well taken
to
likely
The farmer is
body , the United
dignified
of by that
StatesSenate. The tariff bl 1. reported
Committee of that body ,
Finance
from the
has added a duty of 1 % cents per-pound
of be
rate on wool
hides , increased the
on
be
third class , and cut out the clause in
Hawaiian
House bill which exempted
that
thus reducing
from duties ,
sugar The , dntjr
competition with beet sugar
whch
articles
put on hides , tea and other
"will improve
li t
the free
were formerly on
advantageous
the opportunities
prove Senate
the
winch
reciprocity treaties for
will provide , and which believed will the v bene
fit the farmer. It is
rates on wools of the first and second class
the Seuate or conference -
will be restored by
ence committee.
A Chilly Year for Silver.
This has been a chilly year for the silver
of the nations
ver cause. The population
which have rejected the silver standard in
the past vear is more than thrpe times as
great as ' that of all those takins this step
durins the ten years previous. From lbbo
to 1S95 the nations which adopted the
geM standard were Egypt , Ronmania ,
Austria-Hungary and Santo . ' , Domingo ,
having an aggregate population at that
time of fifty million people. The nations
which have abandoned the silver standard
in the past year are Bolivia , Costa Rica ,
Chili , Peru , Japan and Russia , with an
aggregate population of ISO million , to
say nothing of China with her 400 million ,
which has gone a 18ng distance toward the
adoption of the gold standard.
Cleveland's Little Joke.
Nobody ever before suspected Mr.
Cleveland of being a humorist. Upon no
other theory , however , is it possible to ex
plain his assertion made in his New York
speech the other night , that his party
"defends the humble toiler against oppres
sive exactions in his home and invites him
to the utmost enjoyment of the fruits of
industry , economy and thrift. " The ex
perience cf the "humble toiler" since Mr.
Cleveland came to office four years ago
will hardly enable him to agree with that
gentleman in this statement.
r >
POOLING LAW NEEDED
Or& rt -LEQISLfcTI ft ; f
Absolnte Necessity for a Pooling Law
if the Roads Are to Prosper and
Continne to Give Work to Their
Eight Hundred Thousand Employes.
Railroad President's Views.
Mr. E. B. Thomas , in response to an in
quiry from the Washington Post regard
ing his views as to the relation of the
railroads of theacountry to the prosperity
of the people , and particularly as to his
views upon the pooling bill now before
Congress , says :
There exists in the public mind an ap
prehension that the railways are opposed
to the public interest , and that any legis
lation which restrains railways is of ne
cessity for the good of the people at large.
This mistaken idea has had much to * * do
with shaping the State legislation that
has in many instances so severely crip
pled railway enterprise , and , in a large
measure , this impression was prevalent
when , ten years ago , Congress took its
first step in dealing with the railway
problem. Looking back for twenty years
it is difficult to recall a single legislative
measure , national or State , proposed , ad
vocated or enacted for the benefit of the
railways , whereas during that period hun
dreds and even thousands of propositions
have been brought forward , many of them
unhappily enacted into laws , which seri
ously injure railway property and cause
great loss to those who have invested
their money in this form of security.
Larsest Employers of Labor.
'Railways are not only the largest em
ployers of labor direct , but they are enor
mous purchasers of supplies. If the rail
way system of the United States were
even fairly prosperous the amount of
money it would annually distribute over
this broad land would exceed $1,200,000 , -
000. Comparing our railways with our
national government , which is regarded
as a pretty big business , we find that the
Government disburses on an average
about $400,000,000 , or one-third as much
as our railways. Take the Erie Railroad
system as an example : With a gross in
come of about § 30,000,000 per annum , it
distributes in wages among about 30,000
employes , over $10,000,000 , and for ma
terial nearly six millions , the greater part
of which goes to the labor producing the
manufactured articles.
The total number of railroad employes
in the United States is about 800,000 and
the total expenditure is over $725,000,000.
Taking as an average five individuals tea
a family , we see that there are some 4 , -
OOO.OOO of people directly dependent for
their existence upon the railroad indus
try , and I feel safe , therefore , in saying
that in the conducting of transportation
the railways distribute more actual money
to a greater number of individuals
through more numerous channels and over
a wider area of country than any other
industry.
Vast Sums Annually Expended.
Great and far-reaching as are these dis
bursements , the $250,000,000 per annum
expended in late years , in what may be
termed keeping this property in good repair -
pair , give employment to hundreds of
thousands of track laborers , skilled la
borers in our rail mills , locomotive , car
and machine shops , and so on through an
immense range of trades and occupations.
Even during these bad years , and with
uncertain rates , the railways are putting
$70,000,000 per annum into their road
beds , $33,000,000 into new rails and ties ,
and over $15,000,000 into new bridges.
"
- J-
The fences to keep off cattk and the sign
posts to warn people at railway crossings
advertising. The United States Postoffice
Department is considered an important
business , and yet the aggregate expenses
of that department in 1895 were $90 , -
544,322 , while for repairs and renewals of
locomotives , passenger and freight cars
our railways expended in the same year
$93,707,989. A moment's thought will
make it clear that nearly all of this vast
sum is annually spent for mechanical la
bor of all kinds , for nearly every branch
of industry enters into locomotive and car
building. In times normally good yon
may safely figure on upward of $100,000 , -
000 per annum for this purpose as a regu
lar part of keeping the rolling stock of
railways up to date and in good repair , to
say nothing of an additional ten million
for other mechanical work incidental to
keeping the plants of transportation in
good running order. I only refer to these
facts for the purpose of showing how in
timately the successful conduct of these
great properties is interwoven with other
industries of the country , and how im
possible it is to injure our railway prop
erties without at the same time seriously
injuring almost all other occupations and
curtailing the prosperity of the entire na
tion. It has been aptly stated that unless
the people are prosperous the railroads
cannot flourish. Is not the converse equal
ly true ; can the people prosper when so
large an industry languishes , when its
800,000 employes are working only part
time and its forces are reduced to the
lowest possible limit repairs and replace
ments postponed to better times ?
Disturbance of Commerce.
Not only do the continued attacks on
railways thus fall heavily upon the indus
tries of the country at large , but they
bring about a disturbance of commerce ,
and cause men who would otherwise put
their money into co-operative industries
to withhold it , and thus cripple existing
and prevent new enterprises of all sorts.
Instead of benefiting the public , much of
the so-called railway legislation has 'been
a decided detriment. It creates uncertain
ty where certainty should exist. It breeds
many of the ills ( such as discrimination
in rates ) which it seeks to remedy , and
has done much toward bringing bankrupt
cy and ruin to nearly half the railway
mileage of the country.
"Protection to American industries" has
ever been a cardinal principle in this coun
try. They have nlmost invariably receiv
ed fair treatment at the hands of the na
tional Legislature. Why should an in
dustry employing more labor and a great
er proportion of American-born labor in
which the capital invested is greater ,
which expends for supplies in this country
alone sums far in excess of any other in
dustry , be debarred from fair and legiti
mate treatment and become the prey of
unscrupulous demagogues and dishonest
politicians , and the target for newspaper
abuse ? In a new country , under new
conditions , and with a rapidity that has
astonished the older world , we have built
up a railway system equal in mileage to
all the railways of the rest of the world
combined.
The men responsible for the work have i
used their best judgment , given their best :
thought , and many of them the best year3 i
of their lives , in honest endeavor to make !
the most of the enterprise in which they
have embarked. Are not the purposes 1
of this industry as necessary and legiti •
mate , are not its owners entitled to as fair
a return upon their investment as other
industries ? Are not its officers and em •
ployes as honest , efficient and patriotic
as those in other avocations ? Why not
1 give them a fair chance ? Out of the , com-
i
_ < ,
t
plex problem presented there has been $
solved the qucition of moving a ton of
freight a greater distance for a less sum
of money than any other country. Our
passenger service , In speed , comfort , regu
larity and safety hns been the admiration
of the world. Let Legislatures , the press ,
and the public give fair support to this
great industry , helping to conserve instead
of to destroy , and the railroads of Amer
ica will make such progress as will wring
admiration and praise from even their un
friendly eritics.
To Prevent General Demoralization.
Though the present outlook Is far from
encouraging , and the recent decision of
the Supreme Court declares that all at
tempts at uniform action are Illegal , wo
seek for no legislation thut will increase .
rates or add to the burden of the general
public. The proposed pooling bill recently
introduced in the United States Senate
by Senator Foruker of Ohio means at
the best a sort of breakwater to prevent
general demoralization. It Is the best
means thus far devised to legnlize free- 4
dom of agreement between competing
lines so that all shippers may secure just ,
reasonable and uniform rates. In the na
tional Legislature of ten years ago the ne
cessity for uniform action regarding rail
ways was recognized , and this measure in
only tajjing up the question where Con
gress laid , it down and carrying the legis
lation a step further. To hold these prop
erties together and to give the people the
full benefit ( as I have shown ) of a dis
bursement reaching nearly twelve hundred - .
dred million a year , we must get nearer
a uniform management. The work of the
railways must , in short , be carried ou
with unifbwnity and method. This can
best be done by the several railway sys
tems working as they do. Under the law ,
as proposed , when the rates are finally
agreed upon by the competing roads , and
passed by the Interstate Commerce Com
mission as reasonable and just , power
should be given to the roads to enforce
them. This is a reasonable and fair demand - > <
mand , and one that Congress should at
once grant.
The proposition which has been suggest
ed by some theorists for enlnrgiug the
Interstate Commerce Commission and
permitting it to initiate rates would be a
fatal mistake , and a system based upon
such an idea vicious in the extreme. The
railways not only have the ability , but
the facility to make rates. It is expert \
work , requiring judgment and a thorough
knowledge of all local conditions. To '
have , the rate-making power removed to
Washington and absolutely fixed by a
rnnimission , no matter how able or how
honest , would work incalculable injury. <
It would be far better for the Government
to purchabe the railways and assume the
whole responsibility than for the Govern
ment practically to undertake the regula
tion and management of the property of
private individuals. This is undoubtedly
the most mischievous proposition thus far
evoked by demagogues and anarchists for
the wiping out of the capital invested in
railway enterprises. It would simply be
unendurable , and lead to rate complica
tions heretofore unheard of. even in our
present imperfect system. The possibili
ties of corruption would be tremendous ; *
the puling and hauling nt Washington
for fjf Jjrates i pecjai. ommti , ; M
In'Su ' flTrefefrW to , the ' pubTfefllF
shipper , the railway employe and the rail
ways have all been fairly considered. If
it becomes a law the results must be ben
eficial to the whole country , because our
railways penetrate all parts of the repub
lic. Congress should , therefore , approach
jt In a spirit of fairness and justice , and
not with temper and political prejudice.
It is an honest effort to adjust satisfac
torily difficulties that have grown up by
reason of the magnitude of our transportation - <
tation industry nud the newness of our
common country.
THE FARMERS AND PROSPERITY
Borne Sensible Suggestions. Even it
They Uo Come from the Kant.
The common cry from the various Dem
ocrats floating around in cold and muddy
water since the flood of November , that
may bo placed in language easily compre
hended , is as follows :
"Look here , you fellows have promised
the country good times , general prosper
ity , all that sort of thing , plenty of good
money , if McKinley should be elected ;
now , where is the money to come from
and how do you expect to get your good
times ? There are just about five million
farmers watching you , and if you cannot
do something for them , you are gone.
Can't you see it already ? "
In this connection it is customary to ask
the questions , "What is it precisely the
farmers desire and expect ? What would
satisfy them ? You warn us that they are
revolutionists except on conditions de
fine the conditions. "
And the answer is that the farmers
have not been making anything and they
want more money , and mean to have it
from one party if not from another. If
the Republicans do not give them aid , the
farmers will turn the whole Government
over to the Populist Democratic party ,
and that is just what is in the wind now !
As for the farmers of America , they
will have to remember that they have not
the monopoly of grain and meat produc
tion that the vast wheat fields of Argen
tina , India , southern Russia. Hungary
and the Dakotas , are plowed and sown
and reaped by machinery , so that wheat
is grown at less expense than in any
former age. because there is less labor
needed to till the ground. More than that ,
the world has by cheap power from cheap
coal , and by cheap steel , been made com
paratively small. The lines of steel rails
across continents spanning great rivers
on steel bridges the lines of steel steam
ers across the oceans ten thousand tons
of freight driven five hundred miles a
day. finds the workingmen of the cities
in white bread. Farm products are cheap
ened by giving the populous nations that
carry on manufacturing industries cheap
food along with frugal power and fast
transportation. Well , is this to be regard
ed as a calamity ? This very cheap power
and rapid movement enlarges the area
that the men who work in shop3 can live
in gives wife and children good air and
a chance for shade and grass and milk di
rect from the cows in the summer time.
Butter comes from Australia by the thousand -
sand tons and breaks the butter markets , -
so that golden butter goes with white
bread.
How are the farmers to be compensat-
ed ? There is one sure way. It is the establishment
tablishment of home markets through the
diversity of industries. We cannot better
the condition of farmers by multiplying
farmers. New York Press.
1 1 1 1 1
Greece and Corbett seem to be in tb *
same class. Boston Globe.
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