OF AMERICA. 



CHAPTER II. 



HOW MUCH IS ACTUALLY TAKEN (vEARLy) OUT OF THE 

 POCKETS OF THE AMERICAN FARMERS BY COMPELLING 

 THEM TO BUY DEAR, INSTEAD OF ALLOWING THEM TO 

 BUY CHEAP, GOODS. 



By the census of 1870 the population of the United States 

 was found to be 38,600,000 ; and the number over ten 

 years of age was 28,229,000. Of these, 12,506,000 were 

 engaged in various kinds of occupations, the rest being 

 women, young persons of both sexes, idlers, &c. What 

 were the respective emplo3'ments of these 12,506,000 

 workers? According to the census returns there were — 



5,922,000 persons engaged in agriculture. 



2,685,000 ,, ,, in professional and personal service. 



1,191,000 ,, ,, in trade and transportation. 



654,00c ,, ,, in mechanical trades and mining. 



2,054,000 ,, ,, in manufactures. 



12,506,000 



In round nunfters, there were two millions of persons 

 engaged in manufactures, and these were exclusively privi- 

 leged to supply nearly all the physical wants (except food 

 and lodging) of the other ten and a half millions of workers 

 and their families. 



As in these pages we only profess to represent the case 

 of the American farmer, we must confine our attention to 

 the six millions of persons and their families who are en- 

 gaged in the cultivation of the soil. It is quite true that 

 the remaining four and a half millions engaged in professions, 

 in trading, in mining, and in personal service, are sufferers to 



