^\\Js \jU\iU \4s\fr \is\is vis \4sVls\is \is\is\Js \is^ 



1 



TOPICS OF THE TIME 



Mutual There are no two classes in the 

 Interests, community whose interests are 

 so intimately woven together as the manu- 

 facturer and the farmer. The one cannot 

 prosper without the other does. That 

 the farmer has suffered out of proportion 

 with other classes during the past few 

 years any one who has given study to the 

 matter is compelled to admit. At present 

 prices for farm products the return for 

 the farmer's labor is rarely enough to pro- 

 vide the absolute necessities for his family. 

 Opinions may differ as to the cause of 

 low prices, but the farmer of the west be- 

 lieves it is largely due to the manipula- 

 tions of the world's financial markets, by 

 which silver has been depreciated in price 

 relative to gold. So long as the surplus 

 of farm products seeks a foreign market, 

 the price of that surplus in great measure 

 regulates the price of the entire product. 

 If we sell our silver bullion as a commod- 

 ity for half its former price, and it can 

 still be used as money to buy farm prod- 

 ucts in other countries in the same 

 quantity as at its former price, it goes 

 without saying that our farmers must 

 compete with those products and must, 

 therefore, accept half price for what 

 they raise. It will not help the manu- 

 facturer very much to give him any 

 measure of protection by tariff unless at 

 the same time the great mass of his cus- 

 tomers are put in a position to purchase 

 and consume his wares. The principle of 

 protection is not one that should have 

 simply a local application. Every in- 

 dustry should have its due recognition, 

 and where there is such pronounced 

 mutual dependence there should be equal- 

 ly a mutual help, in behalf of such leg- 

 islation as will promote the interests of all. 



Official It is a highly commendable 

 Reports. work tuat gtate eng i neer Mills 



is undertaking to do for Idaho. He has 

 sent out over the state hundreds of cir- 

 cular letters accompanied by blank forms 

 to be filled out by the parties addressed. 

 The information so obtained will be com- 

 piled as official agricultural statistics of 



the state. Heretofore there has been no 

 advertising of the state's resources except 

 by persons interested in colonization. A 

 detailed statement of facts is expected to 

 show that the average yield of nearly all 

 kinds of farm products, in all parts of the 

 state, is much in excess of the average 

 yield for the United States, and coming 

 from a state office it will have much 

 greater weight of authority. 



Emigrant The number of emigrarits- 

 Movement. who arrived in this country 

 in 1892 was 623,684. It gradually de- 

 creased until 1895 when it was only 279,- 

 948. In February of this year the in- 

 crease began and since then the people 

 have been pouring in at such a rate that 

 Colonel Stumpf, commissioner of immigra- 

 tion at Washington, prophesies that the 

 number this spring will equal, if it does 

 not exceed the record of any previous year. 

 There is also a very heavy movement from 

 east to west, and the movement which has 

 been anticipated for the past tw'o years, 

 as the logical result of the business de- 

 pression, promises to reach the full tide 

 during the present year. 



Lands are The United States Supreme 

 Taxable. Court has confirmed a decis- 

 ion by the state courts of Nevada holding 

 that the state is entitled to levy taxes 

 upon patented lands, and also for lands 

 which have not yet been patented, but 

 which had not been surveyed, and on 

 which the cost of surveying had not yet 

 been paid. It holds that if the railroads 

 have a possessory claim to the lands they 

 are taxable under the statutes of Nevada. 



Educational The first thing asked and 

 Agencies. obtained of the state 

 legislature of Utah, in the farming inter- 

 est, was an appropriation of $1,500 for 

 the support of farmers' institutes. It 

 may be difficult to determine which is 

 most valuable, the agricultural experiment 

 stations, fostered and aided by the govern- 

 ment, or the institutes which are a state 



