24 The Tariff and. the Farmer. 



on both sides, so far as observation has gone, reason 

 from a biased standpoint, or from very limited and utter- 

 Iv insufficient data. The basis on which some form an 

 opinion is how it fared with a few well-known individ- 

 uals, or with the farmers of the countv in which thev 

 resided. If, by close economy, these manage to pay 

 considerably more than their bills, some seem to regard 

 this as a prosperous condition. 



For a settlement of the question a national view is 

 essential. The condition of the class as a whole must be 

 taken into consideration. Nor is this sufficient. The field 

 of observation must be extended to other industrial 

 classes, and comparisons made as to how labor and capi- 

 tal are paid in them, and the degree in which wealth has 

 accumulated there. 



A careful investigation has been made along these 

 lines, and the evidence is now before us. So clear and 

 unmistakable is this that the above question may be 

 regarded as forever settled. Not only has it been made 

 evident that farming did not pay, but the direct cause of 

 such unprofitableness is pointed out. The search into 

 the agricultural situation has covered a wide field. It 

 now remains to bring together and focus the bearing of 

 the more important features developed. 



The Evidence of Agricultural Unprofitableness Under 



THE Protective System. 



(a) The deplorable tenure of farm possession (see 

 chapter IX). 



In the national campaign of 1900 Republican orators 

 and papers asserted that farmers had been so prosperous 

 under the administration of President McKinley that 



