. J _ , . . tffi ,
Cbe Conservative. 3 %
inony is that there is practically none.
Consolidation , of course , has a tendency
to reduce the number of highly-paid
officers , but nearly all those who reply
to the question do uot think that it af
fects the employees in general. An in
teresting suggestion by Mr. Harding is
that the "tendency on young employees
or officers is to pusli them forward ;
older officers being caused to give way
for young , energetic men. "
As to the best department for young
men to enter , there is a difference of
opinion. Messrs. Miller , Truesdale , O.
D. Ashley and Harding , for instance ,
prefer the traffic department , while
Messrs. Jeffery , Barr , Underwood , W.
G. Van Vleck and others recommend
the operating or mechanical sides. The
majority , however , say , in one way or
another , what seems to us to be un
doubtedly the truth , that it depends
largely on the young man himself , and
the bent of his abilities and inclinations.
In regard to the best kind of training ,
"a good common school education ,
coupled with the right kind of homo
training and influence , " which are Mr.
Truesdale's ends , express the opinion of
the majority. Some few speak of a col
lege education or of a course in a tech
nical school , while many point out that
the real training only begins when the
young man enters railway service ,
which is itself the best and surest school.
Altogether , the "symposium , " as it is
called , is interesting. It does not de
velop anything especially new ; but the
unanimity of opinion as to the excellent
opportunities which the service offers ,
and , above all , the wholesome insis
tence in the need of a sound , even if
elementary education , coupled with the
good principles which result from the
right home influences , have a note ol
distinct encouragement and good cheer
Railway Age.
GENERAL PROSPERITY DEPENDENT
UPON AGRICULTURAL
PROSPERITY.
It is admitted by all economists that
general prosperity depends absolutely
upon agricultural prosperity. The lar
gest market for the products of agricul
ture and for the products of the manu
factories is admittedly the home mar
ket. It is , however , true that the ex
port trade is the regulator , the balance
wheel , for domestic trade. Therefore
it follows that the interest of the manu
facturer , as well as of the farmer , is
found in the most rapid possible increase
of the export of farm products. By such
exportations farmers and those engagec
in subsidiary arts , who constitute nearly
one-half of the population of the United
States , and who mainly create the de
mands of the home market for manu
factured goods , will have an increasing
power to buy those goods. On the
other hand , the imported products o
agriculture are limited in number. They
ire mainly sugar , wool , hemp , coffee ,
ropical fruits , and nuts.
Any commercial system which will
ucrease with celerity and extend with
certainty the export of farm products
'roin this country will bo of the xitruost
advantage to agriculture and all those
nterested in its profitable expansion.
And that political economy which best
advances the interests of the ngricultur-
st furnishes the best impetus to the
manufacturers of the United States , be
cause when the prosperity of the Amer
ican farmers is established by virtue of
constantly increasing sales of his pro
ducts in foreign markets normal and
.egitimato protection will have been secured -
cured to the American manufacturer ,
for his best customers are farmers and
those engaged in occupations which de
pend directly for profit upon the pros
perity of farmers.
The Ilust Market for American Product * * .
The best foreign markets for Ameri
can products and commodities are
among those nations whose power to buy
things and pay for them has been aug
mented by the use of labor-saving in
ventions. The principal market , there
fore , for American exports is found in
the United Kingdom of Great Britain
and her colonies , which took during the
fiscal year (1896) ( ) $511,751,040 worth
of exports from the United States.
That is to say , English-speaking people
bought 58 per cent of all commodities
and products exported from the Unitec
States during the fiscal year 1896. Ger
many , France , Holland and Belgium
purchased during the same period oi
time § 210,953,054 worth of exports from
the United States. That is , the United
Kingdom of Great Britain and the na
tions enumerated purchased 81.9 per
cent of the entire export output of the
United States during the fiscal year
1896.
Other nations , including the remain
der of Europe , Asia , Africa , and South
America , took the balance of American
exports , which amounted to $160,902 ,
844 in value and to 18.1 per cent of the
entire shipments of this country.
Questions for the American Farmer.
The question for American farmers
and all other citizens engaged in gainful
occupations to consider is , how can the
United States supply the markets of the
world with staple food products ane
necessary articles of manufacture ? 1
the labor cost of a product is governed
by the rate of daily wages , how can a
dollar's worth of farm products , or o
commodities from manufactories in the
United States , be sold in foreign parts
Is not that nation , which like the
United States , possesses the greates
power and facilities for producing and
manufacturing those exchnngeabl
things which the world demands des
tined to monopolize the markets of the
globe ? Do not the most favorable nat
iral conditions for varied and success-
ul agriculture abound in the United
States ? In what country is there loss
nirdou of national taxation ? What
What other people pay so little for the
namtenanco of a standing army ? Who
can compote with the American farmer
or the American manufacturer in de
veloping the best results of human toil
vith a minimum , of human effort ?
Ell'ect of Labor-Saving Inventions
Wages.
In the United States labor-saving in
ventions are applied in almost every
avenue of production. Nowhere else on
the globe has agriculture so many im
proved , useful , and ingenious devices ,
implements , and machines at its com
mand. Therefore the exports of Amer
ican farm products must increase ; and
the sales from those exports , after yield
ing adequate profits to maintain the
farm , will also yield a higher rate of
wages to those who do the mechanical
and manual work than the wages paid
in those nations which are our principal
customers. Necessarily the wages paid
in the United States for instance , in
the production of wheat and cotton , the
great articles of export are from 50 to
500 per cent higher than they are in
those countries with which we compete
in selling our cotton and wheat ; while
in manufactures from the metals the
wages paid those who make articles of
iron and steel for export are from 25 to
100 per cent higher than the wages paid
workers in the same industries by the
nations with which wo compete.
f
Million * Depend Upon Foreign Markets.
Under the foregoing conditions , about
1,700,000 laborers on American farms
are almost constantly employed in devel
oping agricultural products for expor
tation.
At the same time , with a rapidly in
creasing export of manufactured articles
from the United States , the number of
laborers engaged in mechanical occupa
tions , who must depend for their steady
employment upon the demand which
the world makes for American goods , is
constantly increasing. It is probably
quite safe to declare that at least two
millions of American workmen , on
farms and in factories , subsist almost
wholly upon employment based upon
foreign demand for American commod
ities. And in this contest for feeding
and furnishing mankind notwithstand
ing the fierce competition which meets
us all over the globe American agricul
ture , manufacture , and commerce are
steadily gaining more trade , and thus
furnishing an enlarged wages fund , on
a gold basis , out of which many thous
ands of American laborers and skilled
artisans draw thenyearly remuneration ,
and upon which they and their families
largely depend for employment and com-
fort.
