CHAPTER I. 



THE farmer's COTEMPORARIES. 



It is necessary to keep the fact well in view, that there 

 are those cotemporary with the farmer who are prosper- 

 ing, or who are gathering to themselves wealth and the 

 various powers which abundance yields. 



In a former chapter it was shown that relatively the 

 other great classes in the aggregate were leaving the 

 farmer far behind in the race for wealth, but nothing 

 was done to show the position of other special industries. 



Some industries in America, like that of agriculture, 

 are in a depressed, if not a ruinous, condition. Shipping 

 is prosperous in some countries, but going to ruin in 

 America. This is admitted on all sides, and will require 

 little verification. 



Manufacturing stands out prominently as of the utmost 

 importance in almost every dissertation on the industrial 

 progress of America. It certainly occupies a large place 

 in giving employment to labor, in the production of 

 wealth, and to development of various kinds. 



Its real magnitude, as well as the importance which 

 the prevailing thought and political policies of the time 

 evidently tender it, as compared with their treatment of 

 agriculture, makes its consideration one of great moment 

 in the discussion we have entered upon. 



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