xxin THE SOCIAL QUAGMIRE 403 



the government reclaim from the railroads all the land still held by 

 them beyond what is necessary for the operation of the roads . . . 

 take absolute control of the roads . . .then level to the ground the 

 tariff- tax abomination." 



Hon. James H. Kyle, U.S. Senator from South Dakota, 

 says : 



"To pass the income tax ; to sweep away national banks; to 

 restore free coinage of gold and silver ; to have money issued 

 directly to the people in sufficient volume to meet the needs of legiti- 

 mate business these are the reforms which are entirely within the 

 reach of earnest and persistent agitation . . . Land loans and produce 

 loans would surely follow . . . The nationalization of the great high- 

 ways of commerce would inevitably follow." 



These same reforms are advocated by General J. B. 

 Weaver in his powerful work A Call to Action ; and 

 he imputes all the evils of the present land system the 

 increase of large land-owners, the rapidly increasing army 

 of tenants, the numerous mortgages at high interest, and 

 the universal distress of the agriculturists to causes 

 connected with the banking system and with the tariff. 



Now, so far as I can understand these difficult questions, 

 all the evils pointed out by these writers are real and 

 very great evils, and the remedies they suggest may to 

 some extent remove these evils ; but I feel convinced that 

 these are not the fundamental remedies as regards the 

 farmers. The suggested remedies might benefit them 

 slightly along with the rest of the community, but would 

 not remove the troubles that specially affect the tillers of 

 the soil. It would, no doubt, be an advantage to be able 

 to pay off existing mortgages with money advanced by 

 the government at very low interest ; but an agriculture 

 that rests on mortgages, whether at high or at low 

 interest, is not a successful agriculture. General Weaver 

 truly says: 



" The cultivation of the soil should be, and in fact is, under 

 natural conditions, the surest road to opulence known among men. 

 Under just relations it would be impossible to impoverish this calling, 

 for it feeds, clothes, and shelters the human family." 



And again : 



' ' What the farmer most wants is a good price for the products of 

 his farm, rather than an advance in the value of the farm itself." 



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