14 THE WESTERN FARMER 



to them whether they pay seven dollars to a man in Massa- 

 chusetts, or five dollars for the same article to a man in 

 Lancashire. VN'e believe, on the contrary, that the hard- 

 working Western farmer prefers getting as much as he can 

 for his money. But if we are wrong, and if it be really true 

 that the farmers are content, knowingly and voluntarily, to 

 pay out of their pockets a )'early contribution of 400,000,000 

 dollars as a free gift to the Eastern States manufacturers, to 

 enable them to carry on a losing business, which, without 

 that assistance, would have to be given up, we can only 

 admire and wonder. And we wonder all the more as this 

 immense sacrifice is made in vain, and is of very little or no 

 benefit to any one. This we shall show in the next chapter, 

 when we examine what becomes of the 400,000,000 dollars 

 which the farmers lose. 



At all events the farmers ought surely to have a voice in 

 the question, whether they really do (as it is stated they do) 

 prefer losing, or whetlier they prefer saving, the §400,000,000. 



Again, it is said that the American farmers have 

 flourished and prospered ; that they have profitably ex- 

 tended, and are still extending, their operations, and that 

 therefore they cannot have suffered the yearly loss alleged. 

 Tliat does not at all follow. No one contends that an 

 average loss of S57 per annum sustained by each agri- 

 culturist could turn the scale and make farming a losing 

 business. It does. not destroy the farmer, but it sweeps 

 away so much of his profits. By the census of 1870, 

 the total value of (cereal) farm productions amounted 

 to §2, 448, 000,000. Out of this farmers could afford to 

 throw away a certain portion, and still thrive and make 

 money. But that is no reason why they should persist in 

 throwing that portion away. A man with an income of 

 $2,500 may live on Si, 000, muddle away $500 on rotten 

 speculations, and still lay by §1,000 a year, but he would 

 certainly be richer if he did not muddle away the $500. 

 A waste of $57 a year multiplied 7,000,000 times does none 

 the less amount to §400,000,000 in the aggregate. 



Again, it is said that the prices of some of the Eastern 



