AGRICULTURAL DISCONTENT 757 



curtailed. Naturally such a state of things does not affect so seri- 

 ously the class that, more than any other, is accustomed to pay 

 and receive cash." 



Finally, the farmer sells less of what he produces and buys 

 less of what he consumes than many other classes in industrial 

 society. No part of the services of the laborer, for example, is 

 capable of ministering to his material well-being till sold, and 

 the commodities that are adapted to his wants are bought in 

 exchange. The farmer is also less under the necessity of real- 

 izing immediately on his labor than is the worker in cities. 

 The efforts of the former crystallize to a large extent into non- 

 perishable products, while the services of the latter must be 

 sold day by day or lost forever. The well-being of the farmer is 

 thus not so dependent upon general economic conditions, and 

 he therefore feels less keenly the disturbance which a panic or 

 commercial depression creates in industrial society. 



The economic basis for the existing discontent among the 

 agricultural classes may now be summarized as follows : 



The industry of the farmer, especially in some of the West- 

 ern states, has in many cases been overcome by crop disasters, 

 and those ambitious to acquire homes have been defeated by 

 unfavorable weather. 



The sharp and unexpected fall in prices of many farm staples 

 since 1891, which it has been impossible to meet by lowering 

 the cost of production, have inflicted serious losses upon the 

 producer. 



These conditions ^ave made more difficult the payment of 

 interest charges and mortgage debts, have increased the relative 

 number of mortgage foreclosures, have prolonged the period 

 required for tenants to rise to land ownership, have caused the 

 expense for hired labor to be a greater drain upon the resources 

 of the farm, have made the inequitable burden imposed upon 

 the farmer by the general property tax more difficult to carry, 

 have increased the strain of maintaining a higher standard of 

 living, and have rendered less endurable the tyranny of railway 

 discriminations and the exactions of trusts. Furthermore, since 



