104 THE AGRARIAN CRUSADE 



precipitately with peace, rose a little just before the 

 panic of 1873, and then declined with almost no re- 

 action until it reached thirty-three cents for the 

 highest grade in 1892. 



The "roaring eighties," with all their superficial 

 appearance of prosperity, had apparently not 

 brought equal cheer to all. And then came the 

 "heart-breaking nineties." In February, 1893, 

 the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad Company 

 failed, a break in the stock market followed, and an 

 old-fashioned panic seized the country in its grasp. 

 A period of hitherto unparalleled speculative fren- 

 zy came thus to an end, and sober years followed 

 in which the American people had ample opportu- 

 nity to contemplate the evils arising from their 

 economic debauch. 



Prices of agricultural products continued their 

 downward trend. Wheat touched bottom in 1894 

 with an average price of forty -nine cents; corn, two 

 years later, reached twenty -one cents. All the 

 other grains were likewise affected. Middling cot- 

 ton which had sold at eight and a half cents a 

 pound in 1893, dropped below seven cents the fol- 

 lowing year, recovered until it reached nearly eight 

 cents in 1896, and was at its lowest in 1898 at just 

 under six cents. Of all the marketable products of 



