t OL. XIX.
^
INDIANAPOLIS, IND., SATURDAY, MARCH 29,1884.
NO. 13.
l5.eul.ural Outlook of Amerik .
f Iiabor and - Ita Effects oa
Agriculture.
Foture Market of Our Surplus Farm
Productions.'
'•", ae Very Palpable Pacts Prom Our
National Statistics.
-   ■
f. —.
_b*,r in the heritage of man; and in his
■ *_at state it ia a blessing rather than a
a ■*?, as most people regard it.   Idleness,
-1 Lj«t invariably leads to rice and crime,
I happiness is lost. Bat civilization
1 niplies the forms of labor, by; greatly
j  easing human wants.   The savage has
'i   tot*'wants,  and   to supply  them de-
' j ndi hut a few forms of labor j but civil-
| .m creates the home, and this demands
t  use with its furniture and conveniences
;j carrying on the various processes Of
t ieli!e. To supply these necessarily
j ninds many forms of labor  adapted to
't varied processes of production. Thia
I 's directly to a division of labor, and
9* labor, of necessity, becomes diversi-
m in proportion to the advance, of civil-
1 .n and tha accumulation of wealth.
1 haps at no place on. the globe, .nor
t  e in human history, have these changes
I _ moro marked, or more rapid, than
.il theso western States within the last
*| i j ears.   At that period the farmer and
- i family lived substantially on home
«ia r. Many of them lived plainly but
i a  ("itably through tbe whole year, with
II -p.n_l.ure not exceeding $100 for the
_ | lurtsot labor beyond the family. A
1 i 11 bill to the blacksmith, the grocer
, 1 I drv -goods merchant, comprised his
•I re cash outlay. He clothed himself
. I !   family,  chielly,   with   home-made
•  hing, manufactured from home-grown
31 and llax.   He  made his   own sugar
,       ate his own honey.   His garden, his
« sard and his  melon patch supplied his
8 > with all  the luxuries   and many of
< I  «-iistantia.s that the  simple habits of
1 times demanded.
* it tliese days are past, and we could not
fji'lthemlf  we would.   In the lifetime
J ne generation we have passed   to that
.:■ -e of civilization   which   demands a
«  -»n of labor everywhere.   "We sell
* J   labor, even from  the farm,  and buy
* ' rything that we consume, except the
' '   -untiai dishes of food  on our  tables.
- j fell our grain and hay, our pork and
f J '; 0'r poultry, eggs  and butter,   our
' '»nd llax, If we produce any; and we
' ' cur clothing, If not ready- made, vet in
. J 'aainpletfl fabric, ready to mak*e into
; J   1'enis.   In short,   the farmer   has eir-
»  bribed his operations to the  simple
■ '.iifs. of raising and securing crops; and
f_ ",?,r1and marketing stock; and even
. _ ii h™ich of labor shows a strong
[ J ''aey to divorce itself from the general
<* i *■ *^S.? gRl!n 'arming. Of this tend-
f« y,i2lv?I?"y fields of labor by their
.« li!; "T19'?,n> we are not disposed to
»j ;^n, while it is kept within reason-
i- * •,_!, '■ U is-t0 a Sreat extent the
t     -'mate outgrowth of the invention and
*.; *l*PUt'ATION OF MA.CHI_.__RY,       .
Jl l,h«h lhe productiveness of labor Is
, ^ -'y Increased and the inanimate forces
vur*->, In the factory, are trained to do
*n'< formerly   done at  home bv the
^-.tej.'f™.^9 of haud labo>-- While
rof ti? . l°Bsl8 concentrating, the
r^ii'U"".   1ntoa   narrowerline.it
'•i'V -m I >V flel(,S "f   labor    Jtl tllfJ >"<?-
Uits..,';'"anuiacturing department;
'rol h"«tlTf in these shops must be
*>U-omifi8las 4»>at the farmer culti-
*x-d"„m? W,uies*nd from his poul-
M"Hr~r.e is snPP»ytaK'the farm-
">-tt. Zf ng wants—wants, perhaps,
"*« outgrowth  of  our  advancin^
clvillzatlon—wants which our fathers
never felt, yet real wants, nevertheless).' '
! The United States may be regarded aa
essentially an agricultural country, yet
there is .a large per cent of our population engaged In other, industries, who
must be fed from the surplus food of our
cultivated acres. But with all this, : an
undue proportion of American labor Is devoted to farm products. It is estimated
that the*consumption of bread and meat
by the entire population of the United
States amounts to but 66 per cent of an
average crop, while the remaining 34 per
cent must seek a foreign market; and the
future outlook for that market is not very
flattering. While this is true, we are importing and consuming- largely the products of foreign labor in the form of manufactured goods whi*.h could as well have
been-«naae on American soil by American
laborwhlle consuming American food.
While it is true that the permanance and
prosperity of a nation requires that it shall
be able to       ■
FEED ITS OWN PEOPLE   •
from the products of its own soil, yet it is
equally truo that a nation that devotes all
its labor to the production of food must
secure a market for its products, or suffer
the effects of over-production. The agriculture of Great Britain falls short of supplying the food consumed by that nation,
in an annual deficit of about $100,000,000,
while our food surplus considerably exceeds that sum. This deficit cannot be
remedied by Gri'at firitian on her home
territory, but her dependencies in India
at-e in a fair way to supply the deficit of
food at prices beyond our competition. On
the other hand, we'fan short of supplying
the manufactured articles consumed; but
we have an unlimited capacity for manufacturing, with any supply of power that
may be demanded. All that ls required of
us is to so diversify our labor as to make
our farmers independent of foreign markets
for the consumption of the products of our
farms. Indiana alone can supply cheap
power in her immense coal beds, to manufacture all the iron,, cotton, woolen and
wooden products of the factory that could
be consumed in half a dozen States, and at
the same time furnish a home market for
all the products of our soil.
' IT IS NOT SOUND POLICY
tb export the crude products of the-noil,
either as food or as the raw material for
manufacturing. Our surplus should be
sent to foreign consumers only after it has
received such labor as will give it its highest value;
We may as well say to farmers now
tiiat nnless there should be signal failures
of crops abroad, the era of high prices for
grain in foreign markets is about past.
We must turn our attention to the creation of a home market that shall not be so
high as to tempt the mechanic or manufacturer to divert his capital and labor
from the shop and the factory, to become
a competitor in the production of grain
for which we can find no ready market.
WHAT  DIVISION OP  LABOR   DOBS FOR  THK
FARM.
The statistics which are here given from
the national census, for four decades for
comparison, are very significant, as showing what wonld result to the farm industries of America, should the manufacturing and cognate industries become crippled, or even cease to expand as they have
in the past thirty years. For a just presentation of these facts, the manufacturing, mining, transportation and commercial industries must be included, for the
two latter are necessary results of the
former, indeed largely created by them.
EMPLOYED OTHER THAN IN FARMING.
Tlie following, taken from the census
reports forthe years named, shows the
number of persons employed In theUnited
States iu all the legitimate Industries, except that of farming.
i This number of persons are actually
engaged ln the ■ pursuits named and are
consumers of American farm productions,
and while we have not at hand the numbers for 1§50 and 1860 engaged in all the
pursuits named, the figures given for 1870
and 1880 will show the increase, taking
the other facts given as data for comparison. But the 9,721,600 persons engaged
in 1880 ln other than agricultural pursuits
represent, it is estimated, four other persons each, who are consumers and dependent upon these. . This would make 38,884,-
424 persons who are consumers engaged in
and dependent upon those employed in
Other than agricultural pursuits.
i HOW MFCH THEY CONSUME.
; It is estimated that each person will annually consume in. bread the product of
live bushels of wheat. ThisJ would make
an annual consumption by these classes of
194,442,120 bushels. , From this it can be
estimated about what the same class consume of meat and the other farm productions. It is at once seen what danger
would threaten the agricultural interests,
should any public policy be adopted which
would harm or hinder manufacturing and
cognate pursuits. And it must be remembered that these industrial pursuits must
necessarily expand with the rapidly expanding productions in agriculture, in
order that the demand for the latter may
keep pace with the increase thereof.
' ■ Another factor presents itself which
must be considered as important, and bearing upon this question. We refer to the
rapid increase of wheat production in India, and its increased exportation to countries-which are our chieicustoinera forth*
surplus we export. We havo before referred to this question, and given the figures of increase rrientioned. It must be
plain that whatever we lose in foreign demand for our farm surplus must be made
up at home. This can only be realized by
increasing our manufacturing industries,
which would add to the number of consumers. The outlook abroad certainly
suggests the fact that the world is on the
threshold of important social and economic
changes, and the way to safely meet them
is by a wise apprehension of the facts, and
the development of our own industrial resources. In a future article we shall show
what Indiana alone can do in   this regard.
Site
|f arm.
Postal Card Correspondence.
Iran, i   I860,    i   la'O.
I
T
Persons _n;»a;__*l In..
•  luanuf ai-turln*.' !    '         !
■  i-lnin*.    and   m*?-; I   __
ohanl.-!*li..irmtlts...!!»8,077!l,JU,'lItl.2,<»>5,'
Traiujio-uuton and. " I             I
commercial ...-■. «f '         l,_M,_-_
Prof-ayilonalsnilpp'r-j — ..       -   1^
s.o_.r1 pursuit. i '             !-,6-4,793
3.8-7,11-
I,8_.,_fJ-
-,074,-3S
• Total., «...•■
. j»i_aa,a-7t».7_aJ60B
__sTD>IA_CA.
' Henry Co., March 22.—Wheat looking
well.   Prospects fine. W. D.
Gibson Co., March 22.—Wheat looks well.
Bees begin to carry in pollen. E. J.
; Spencer Co., March 22.—Wheat looking
better. Ground still too wet for farm work.
J. A.
Rpsh 'Co., March 22.—Grass starting
nicely.   Verv  little  plowing  done  vet.
E. K.
Warrick Co., March 22.—Wheat Improving.   Clover seed sprouting nicely.
■ J. P. C.
Cars Co., March 22.—Wheat In excellent
condition. Vegetation begins to look
green. T. B. H.
Crawford Co., March 22.—Wheat and
grass growing finely. Ground too wet to
plow.   Some sickness. J. M. J.
, Kosch'sko Co., March ___.—Clay roads
In fearful cendltion. Wheat does not look
very promising at present. E. M. I.
Greene Co., March 22.—But little improvement in wheat; freezing weather at
first of month was hard on it.     W. B. S.
Jennings Co., March22.—Smallfrultnot
frozen. Plants and vines green and
healthy.   Wheat a good deal Injured.
J. P. C
White Co., March 19.—lite wheat is
about played out; early looks bad. The
more mat seed corn is looked at. the
scarcer, if becomes. No work being done
oh the farm yet. Roads bad. Farm hands
demand %HS to $20 per month for this season.   Some yearling calves'Change hbnds
at $20 to $26 a head. Goodpasture can be
had here for 60o for yearlings and 75c for
two-year-old steers per month.
J. M. M.
Vanderhcrci Co., March   22.—Plowing
begins.   Grass starting  nicely  and buds
beglning  to  swell.   Wheat  reports  not .
very promising. .... W. B.
Switzerland Co., March 22.—Plowing
commenced; considerable meadow land;
being turned under. Wheat that was not'
submerged is promising. C. G. B.
Knox Co.—Wheat is looking very badly;
all the requisites  will have to be Its favor
if  there is an  average  crop.   Clover ha*.'
frozen out on  clay grounds  more than in
10 years   before.   Peaches are   killed and -
trees badly damaged;  blackberries killed .
and  other small  fruits Injured.   Apples -
and  strawberries O. K.   Cattle have wintered well. • Hogs scarce, no stockers.   An ■'
average  acreage of  corn will  be  put In. •
When we have three or four tile faclorie*),
a man that understands cranbeiry1$:ultu-'e
and a gravel road, we will have a boom.
J.M. R.
TEXAS. . : '•-'■   ■'-..
Williamson   Co., March   J7.—\Veatber
fine; corn mostly planted; orchards lu full
bloom; gardens look fino; grass six Inches
high.   Wheat looks Une,   but little raised^
here.   Oats badly  winter  killed.   Cotton
planting will begin In afew days.   Plenty.
of old corn and oats for  home use.   Corn
worth 50 cents;   oats  45; hay ' j20 per tori
apples ?8 per barrel, no apples grown hdre;
most all other fruit does well here.       ...';_,
..■•.-.■--—/-■•■•*—'""" ' J.F.rY.,   ,
Ch-IrokkI. Co.—We have had ah unusually cold bad winter; the coldest'was
26° below zero. I think the peach crop Is
mostly killed. The weather Is now nice
and pleasant, so tho farmers are plowing
and doing their spring work. There is a
great deal ef fencing being done this.
spring, mostly wire fence. Farmers are
all busy and seem to be happy. Land is
on the rise and Is nearly all owned by
those who wish to live on it. Corn is
worth 36c; wheat $0c; hay, prairie, $7 per
ton.   Health good. J. C. H.
MLUKA-BA.
Lancaster Co., March 17.—The flrst rain ,
of   the season   began yesterday.   It is the
only  rain we  have  had for about four
months.   It  bids fair   to lift   the frost of
the ground.   A short  season of  mud and'
then all the worst of the year is past.        '
■C. F. C
CONDITION OF THK WEATHER IN THE STATU .
OF INDIANA, FOR THE WEEK ENDING* FRIDAY NIOHT, MARCH 21. '**■
IndiaDa.
'temperature.
No. c<_ar<__
clo'dy days
Rain
H
if
cr
£
3
r*
•I
et
s
a
f
t
**
i
o
o
c
a.
•<
B
O'
IS
It
<_
13
p
V
9
r
a
-t
c
CoaoUea.
,
*
*
t
B
i
^
52
25
39.1
i
s
i
0
*.
i
fl.M
-
Allen	
n
Casa.....--.. —-~
33
•A
l_.
'.
1
4
l.il
3
0
Clark 	
m
•r,
«...
1
1
*•
).*-.
a
ii
Clinton __	
64
■**>
42.*<
1
_
4
1.-*
a
n
Crawford...,	
IM
30
M.M
1
1
.
'J.8
S
■ 0
5-
_7
16.0
1
■ _
4
11.6.
3
0
Fran-lla.. ,_..
.....
.__.
Gibson	
60
—•
19..
•J
1
.
I.II
tt
0
Greene—.-..—..
111
27
».'_
1
»
4
i>.4L
e
0
Hamilton... _..
68
X!
W.l
_
».
1
1.0
5
0
HancoC-L.—	
.....
.....
....
Harrison	
..."-
Henry	
68
tt
14.4
1
1
n.-i-
J
0
Howard. 	
.-.-
—.
Jay _	
HI
X
iS.6
1
■  'l
.
i.ti
_
0
Jefferson 	
tu
it
I9.E
t
J
1
ll m
J
0
Jennings .......
OU
z
17.4
,
t
1
1.61
S
0
Ko-dasi-o.,.	
46
11
II.4
t
_
<
1.71
I
0
Lawrence „...
.....
.—..
._ L
Monroe _..._...
ts
2
!l._
1
»
;
I IC
1
0
Montgomery	
.....
.....
.....
Morgan...—- ......
tu
.
->.'.
il
1
1.*
-_
0
Putnam.—_„. «...
.....
-—..
.....
Randolph	
54
a
Si.l
1
.!*
1
i a
4
u
Rust*	
tt
■".
111
- 1
£
t
1.6;
1
0
Spencer.— ._..
«_
!
IH. 1
'.
1
f
1.4!
_
1)
Swltierland	
66
31
Lll.1
1
2
4
f|.4*
1
0
Vanderourg™	
',--
a.
U.l
1
_
4
>.6(
:
-0
Vermillion.-..-..-
—.
—.
8.1
.—.
.«..
.—..
.
Wauagh 	
64
i
1
I
t
1 If
;
0
Warrlcl- ._..
68
:«
.0.1
i
1
4
»
I
..«
Wasnlngton-	
....
......
—_.
Wayne-....—..:.;...
M
»:
tV.(j
a
i i
- £
*",_*.
I'l.