entirely unknown. I may add, that it has also given me 

 such a high appreciation of the ability and acquirements 

 of you successful farmers, that I feel sure it would be 

 presumptuous in me to attempt to interest you in any 

 matter which comes within your special field of labor, 

 . I shall therefore do nothing of that sort, but, instead, 

 shall briefly ask your attention to some of the important 

 principles which influence the production and distribu- 

 tion of wealth, with the purpose of showing, if I can, the 

 methods by which the material welfare of mankind has 

 been, and may still further be, promoted. 



This is a subject in which T assume we all have a com- 

 mon interest, whether we are farmers, merchants or manu- 

 facturers. 



I use the word wealth in this connection not to desig- 

 nate only money or accumulated savings, but I use it to 

 represent all the different kinds of property in which men 

 deal, and which are essential to our existence and happi- 

 ness. Money, which many appear to esteem as the only 

 thing of substantial value, in itself is not wealth, except in 

 a limited degree. In the broad sense, wealth is improved 

 lands, houses, barns and cattle, factories and stores, ships 

 and railroads, and all the various products of the soil, the 

 sea, the mines and the factories. 



The multiplication and more general possession of these 

 things have been most important agencies in the civiliza- 

 tion of mankind, and the better our understanding of the 

 economic laws which govern their development and use, 

 the clearer will be our perception of the way in which we 

 can do most for our own and the common welfare. 



In the first place we should appreciate the fact that 

 each of us is a part of that complex organism we call 



