42 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Jan. 



For the Keif England Farmer, j ticles. Horace Greeley was never more puzzled 



OTHER PEOPLES' BUSINESS. I by the balance of trade, than were we at this intel- 



BY iiKNJiY 1'. FRKNCu. i ligence, and, for the moment, we were inclined to 



There is an old saying, that half the people in i lay aside our free trade notions, and go in for a tar- 



the world have no idea how the other half live, iff on corn and pigs, to be established by the New 



Perhaps we should not get far out of the way, were Hampshire General Court, for protection against 



we to say, that half the world have very little idea Massachusetts and New York ; for the evidence 



how they live themselves ! 



Everybody knows how the 7ninister lives — that 

 he has a salary of so many dollars, upon which he 



showed that we are open to encroachments in both 

 directions, the flour and corn coming in, sometimes 

 by way of Ogdensburg, N. Y., and the pork from 



>?n<snive, and in respectable style, such as may do! Boston. However, those who buy, must, in the 

 credit to his parishioners, who of course do not! long run, pay, or they cannot get trusted, and as 

 want to be disgraced in their character for liberali-j these towns gave every outward sign of prosperity, 

 ty, by having his coat out at the elbows. Every- [ we proceed to inquire how they got their money to 

 body knows how most men who have salaries live — {pay with. We found several persons engaged in 

 just up to their incomes, and hard work at that. 'making shoes. They are generally traders, or, as 

 But every body does not know how much it costs i we call them, store-keepers. They buy the stock, 

 a farmer to live, and least of all does the farmer cut it, and send it out to he Jilted. This is done by 

 have any idea of how much he really expends, not I women principally, and consists in binding and 

 in money, but in money's worth, of those articles | sewing the upper part of the shoe preparatory to 

 for which others pay money. It is very easy, again, I putting on the sole. After fitting they are returned 

 to learn how much is produced of the great staple to the store, and again sent out to be 7nadc,or have 



articles of export, as of cotton, and of those pro- 

 duced on large plantations, as sugar and rice. The 

 article Jiau, which is of far more value than the 

 cotton crop, ii hardly named as a great staple. — 

 The annual growth of live stock is stated at a 

 value of forty millions of dollars above that of the 

 cotton crop, while the sugar crop — maple sugar 

 and all — is not a tenth pari the value of the annual 

 crop of wheat. So with regard to the amount pro- 



the sole put on, and are again returned, and are 

 finished and packed away in boxes, called cases, 

 and are ready for market. 



It was proved that about two liundred and eighty- 

 eight thousand dollars worth of shoes are made 

 yearly, in these two towns — in this less than a hun- 

 dredth part of New Hampshire, and that not less 

 than forty per cent, of this amount, or one hundred 

 and fifteen thousand dollars, is paid for the labor. 



duced by the lahor at home of men, women and j This is nearly thirty dollars for every person, from 

 children, not connected with farm labor, though • the baby of a day old to that venerable individual 

 performed by farmers and their families. called the " oldest inhabitant " — every person, sick 



This train of thought was suggested by some and well, lame and lazy, poor and rich ! 



facts which came under observation a few days 

 ago. Upon a hearing before the road commission- 



Now, we see how those towns buy thirty thou- 

 sand dollars worth of grain and ilour a year, besides 



ers of Rockingham county, on a petition to lay out; consuming their own produce ! Yet these, as has 

 a new highway in the towns of Candia and Deer- been said, are farming towns, and although just 

 field, it became necessary to investigate the busi-jnow their dairies are small, and their farming 

 ness of those towns, to ascertain what occasion they [operations not extensive, yet they have the land 

 had for more roads to market. The facts, which ie/u'«</ them, and nohody can he their nmster. If 

 will be given, were stated by witnesses under oath,! the price for shoes does not suit them, there is no 

 and were not controverted. Both the towns named , need of a strike for higher wages — no need of mobs 

 are usually called mere agricultural towns. Both: and violence. They are independent, because they 

 together, they have about thirty-five hundred in- can turn to their mother earth, whose beautifnl 



habitants, and pay just eight dollars eighty-two 

 cents of every thousand dollars of our State tax^ 

 or in other words, in wealth, they compose less than 

 nine one-thousandths of the value of the State of 

 New Hampshire. The first remarkable develop- 

 ment was, that this agricultural community of the 

 two towns is every year buying and paying for tivo 



bosom is bared for their support. There is a dan- 

 gerous element in all large manufacturing establish- 

 ments, in all factory towns and villages. God 

 grant it may never work out, in this country, what 

 has happened in England and elsewhere abroad. 

 The danger is that wealth, associated wealth, 

 may crush out individual independence. In ho7ne 



thousand barrels of Jlour and seven thousand bushels ; manufactures, like this alluded to, there can be, for 



of Indian corn and meal, and about seventy bar- 

 rels of salt pork 1 These facts appeared by the 

 way-bills upon the railroad, and were verified by 

 traders of the towns, who bought and sold the ar- 



the reasons suggested, no such danger. 



And, by the way, there is fair opportunity to test 

 the accuracy of the census tables, to some extent, 

 by the facts before us. The census of 1850 gives 



