THE FARMER'S WAR AGAINST MONOPOLIES. 401 



We have seen how the citizens of the Eastern States 

 are plundered by the Coal Ring, and how this is but 

 another phase of Railroad Extortion and Tyranny. In 

 this unhappy state of affairs, the farmer suffers in com- 

 mon with the rest of the community. 



We have seen also how the middle-men grow rich at 

 the farmer's expense, and how he is compelled to pay 

 an exorbitant price for almost everything he uses. The 

 fact is, the farmer is charged too high for nearly every 

 article he purchases. " In this State," says a recent 

 letter from Iowa, " the farmers are also overcharged for 

 the groceries and dry goods that they buy at the village 

 store. I don't mean to say that the traders make too 

 much money ; it is the system that is at fault rather 

 than the men, and those of the farmers who think most 

 are beginning to see that they are in a great measure 

 responsible for the system. The majority of the farmers 

 of this State buy their goods of the local traders on 

 credit, paying when they sell their crops. These tra- 

 ders have, therefore, in fixing their prices, to make 

 allowance for bad debts and for interest. But as they 

 don't receive cash, they of course cannot buy for cash, 

 and the New York arid Philadelphia merchants who 

 'carry' the local traders have to be paid for their 

 risks and loss of interest. And besides all this, there is 

 hardly a town in Iowa in which there are not about 

 twice as many stores as there ought to be. It is a mis- 

 take to suppose that by the over-crowding of the busi- 

 ness in the small Western towns the people get the 

 benefit of competition. Where there are two stores and 

 only trade enough for one, their owners combine and 

 arrange the prices between them, being sure to put them 

 high enough so that both can live." 



