No. 4.] THE AGRICULTUKAL SITUATION. 81 



has a few hundreds or a few thousands (which of course is 

 better still) of dollars to fall back upon in case of misfortune 

 or sickness or a rainy day, — I have said, and I say now, 

 that such a man, if he is satisfied with reasonable enjoyments, 

 is as well and better off than the millionaire or the king on 

 his throne. And I say that we have scores and scores of 

 farmers in rocky, sterile New Hampshire who either have or 

 could have all these blessings if they chose. They are sur- 

 rounded with all the comforts and many of the luxuries of 

 life. They have no house rent to pay, have no fire-wood to 

 buy, and if they want to take a drive they have only to har- 

 ness their own team and go when and where they please ; 

 and I say that farmers, if they had markets enough for their 

 products, and could realize prices commensurate with the 

 cost of their products, would be the best off of any class of 

 people in the world. 



Mr. Lynde-. I think this audience must see now that it 

 is not ignorance that brings farming into its depressed con- 

 dition to-day. Here is a man whom every person in the 

 audience knows from the account he has given of his past 

 life is not an ignorant man, — that is settled; but still this 

 man says that our markets are not sufficient to afford prices 

 which are commensurate with the labor and expense of farm- 

 ing, and the reason of it is, as he says, that we want more 

 markets. I say it is because of the surplus of our products. 

 Take the statistics of cattle in this country. From 1880 to 

 1889, the increase was fifty-one per cent, while the popula- 

 tion increased just thirty per cent. Now, what is the result 

 of it? With this large surplus the purchaser makes the 

 price. Now, reverse that : suppose the cattle of the country 

 have increased thirty per cent and the population has in- 

 creased fifty-one per cent ; then who names the price ? The 

 producer. 



Governor Hoard. One word, and I will not say any 

 more. This is a shield set between us. My friend here is 

 talking about one side of it, and I am talking about the 

 other. Now, I am not disputing these other tilings, but I 

 do maintain that we need more intelligence. Take the con- 

 ditions that my two friends here have named, one the lack 

 of markets and the other overproduction. The poor people 



