THE FARMER'S WAR AGAINST MONOPOLIES. 389 



CHAPTER XXI. 



HOTT THE GOVERNMENT ROBS THE FARMERS. 



Relative strength of the Farming and Manufacturing Classes Estimate of the 

 Number of Employers and Working People The Farmers at the Mercy of 

 the Manufacturers Need of a free and cheap Market How the Tariff 

 works The Government protects the Manufacturers in their Extortions 

 from the Farmers The Farmer requires a cheap Market What the 

 Farmer pays for Staple Articles of Consumption The Farmers making the 

 Fortunes of the Manufacturers A Tax upon Agriculture What a Dose of 

 Quinine costs Necessities taxed more heavily than Luxuries The Interests 

 of the Farmer opposed to those of the Manufacturer The Government 

 hostile to the Farmers Food for wholesome Reflection How the Fanner 

 can be benefited by a Free Market How to bring it about 



WE come now to consider another manner in which 

 the farmers and people of the country are robbed. 



According to the Census of 1870 there were 2,707,- 

 421 persons engaged in manufactures, mechanical and 

 mining industries, and 5,922,471 persons engaged in 

 agricultural pursuits. There is no means of obtaining 

 the exact number of employers in the manufacturing 

 class, but, making all due allowance for the great num- 

 ber of small establishments in this country, we may 

 safely assert that the number of persons engaged in 

 manufacturing operations, and employing the labor of 

 others, is limited to a few hundred thousand, scarcely 

 half a million in number, if so many, the remainder of 

 the number given above being made up by the persons 

 receiving wages and termed operatives. 



The industry of the small class of manufacturers is 



