THE CINCINNATUS. 



Dol. 1. MARCH 1, 1856. No. 3, 



Ij£ prices anb profits of gigricttUttral ^rob«cls» 



To LOOK chiefly at results, without examining the intermediate ope- 

 rations, is a characteristic of mankind, so universal that it has ceased 

 to be remarkable. We admire the chastened beauty of the classic temple, 

 we gaze in silent wonder on the towering grandeur of the monumental 

 pyramid, but give no heed to the firm unyielding Dases on which the 

 splendid superstructures rest. The high, the mighty, the imposing, 

 monopolize attention, and engross all thought, while the \inh.evfn f<junda- 

 tion is not honored with even a passing notice. In a similar manner do 

 we seem inclined to act in relation to the industrial interests of our 

 national economy. Our navy, our arts, our commerce, our manufactures, 

 are pointed to with a degree of national pride, at least pardonable if not 

 justifiable — while our agriculture, the foundation of all, is treated 

 with a measure of public indifference utterly inconsistent with the mag- 

 nitude of the public interests that agriculture involves. 



The annual value of the agricultural products of the United States is 

 officially stated at the enormous sum of two thousand millions of dol- 

 lars ! And what has government ever done for the promotion of this 

 prime, essential interest of the country ? The accumulated millions of 

 our national revenue are mostly expended for the benefit and protection 

 of commerce, and, by that means, to almost directly advance the manu- 

 facturing interest; while only a few hundred dollars, through the 

 instrumentality of the Patent Office, are doled out as a pitiful peace- 

 offering to the interests of agriculture. Only two years ago, our Congress, 

 at a single session, appropriated the sum of sixty-eight millions of 

 VOL. I. NO. in. — 8. (113) 



