756 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
NOV. 8 
Farm Politics. 
Here it is proposed to discuss with freedom and fairness, ques¬ 
tions of National or State policy that particularly concern farm¬ 
ers. The editors disclaim responsibility for the opinions of cor¬ 
respondents. The object is to develop a true and fair basis for 
organization among farmers. Let us think out just what we want 
and then strive for it. 
FASHIONABLE COMPLAINTS OF FARMERS. 
Fashions seem to affect farm journals as well as other 
things, and at present it seems to be fashionable for farmers 
to denounce legislation for classes. This may be sound, 
but it ought not to be accompanied with the demand for 
legislation for farmers as a class. The same man who 
shouts against legislation which may help the manufac¬ 
turer, demands legislation against oleomargarine, notwith¬ 
standing the fact that Prof. Atwater and other scientists 
pronounce it one of the cheapest and most wholesome arti¬ 
cles of food. Again, it seems to be fashionable to denounce 
any particular revenue law, without knowing its provisions, 
and to denounce general legislation without understanding 
the difficulties of legislation. It seems to a Maryland corres¬ 
pondent, on page 710, to be an easy thing to have legislated, 
any time in the last 25 years, in some particular way in Con¬ 
gress, and yet it is very seldom that the legislators and Exec¬ 
utive are of the same political faith, and either the House, 
Senate or President can block legislation, and until very re¬ 
cently, the minority could, by parliamentary usage, stop 
all legislation by simply declining to vote, thus causing no 
quorum. It is still rulable in the Senate and claimed by 
many in the House that a member by refraining from 
voting, ought to be much more powerful in killing a bill 
than by voting against it. And for disregarding this anti¬ 
quated nonsense Speaker Reed has been roundly denounced. 
The same correspondent speaks of Canadian potatoes being 
sent to Cincinnati while coal is not allowed to come in. He 
should have known that under the McKinley Bill, potatoes 
are protected by 25 cents a bushel or §8.33 a ton, while an¬ 
thracite coal is absolutely free and bituminous is taxed less 
than three cents a bushel, or 75 cents a long ton. 
Even The Rural supposes that it is the intelligence and 
skill of the American farmer that has made this the 
foremost agricultural country on the globe. A nation of 
shepherds never amounted to much. It is 
when manufacturing, mining and agricul¬ 
ture go hand in hand that a nation be¬ 
comes powerful. Our cotton industry 
might or might not have started had it not 
been protected at a time when we did not 
raise it to any extent; but it is certain 
that the inventions of Eli Whitney and 
others in developing the cotton gin were 
the immediate cause of its vast expansion, 
and in the same way the invention of 
reapers, mowers, thrashers and other agri¬ 
cultural machines has immensely aided 
the development of agriculture. 
It is fashionable in farm journals to de¬ 
nounce the charges on railroad transporta¬ 
tion, and yet on the long haul a piece of 
coal the size of a quarter of a dollar will 
carry a barrel of flour 10 miles. The charge 
that seems dear to the Western farmer, 
seems cheap to the average New England 
farmer, and its very cheapness has made 
it impossible to raise our grain in New Eng¬ 
land, and now Chicago dressed beef is sold 
at our own doors at less than we can pos¬ 
sibly raise it without any transportation. 
Were it not for the numberless factories * 
on our New England hill sides, the farmers 
would have very little market for their 
products, and they are only too glad to see 
any new industry located in their midst. Again, it is 
fashionable to cry out against the new tariff law ss 
enacting a tariff too high to suit farmers. In the first 
place, no bill has been enacted in years that has put so 
much on the free list. In the second place, it has, for the 
present, immensely stimulated trade, and it might be best 
to give it a fair chance for a few years until we can more 
clearly see how it will affect general industry. There 
seem to be only three plans in the matter of a tariff : 
1. To abolish it entirely and raise all revenues by direct 
taxation. This would silence all free trade importunities ; 
but would bring a government tax of say §15 on each 
average family. 
2. To tax articles which we must import, simply for 
revenue. This, for example, would naturally put a duty 
on pine-apples and bananas, wnich we do not raise, and 
leave it off from oranges, which we do raise. 
3. To tax articles that we do import and that come into 
competition with articles that we raise, mine or manufac¬ 
ture. All these plans have able advocates, and, personally 
I do not believe it is in the province of strictly farming 
papers to discuss them ; but, if it is, I am decidedly in 
favor of the present policy of protecting what the Amer¬ 
ican farmer grows, what the American miner mines, and 
the American manufacturer produces. [The tariff, what¬ 
ever it may be, affects farmers as much as any other class 
of society in every case, and in some cases more. Thou¬ 
sands of farmers who take agricultural papers, take no 
others, except, perhaps, the local papers, whose discussions 
of the tariff are generally scant and often crude. The 
views expressed in the “agricultural” weekly editions of 
the large daily papers are simply “lifted out” from the 
daily editions, where they have already served for party 
purposes, and are biased by party prejudices. Why, then, 
should not a question so important to farmers, and the 
views of which, as they are apt to find them elsewhere, are 
likely to be blurred by ignorance or distorted by partisan¬ 
ship, be freely discussed in the papers especially devoted 
to the honest interests of the agricultural community f 
—Eds.] I have worked a small farm at high pressure for 
20 years, but of all the crops I have so far tried, I have yet 
to see what I can profitably raise and send to England, ex¬ 
cept tobacco, and against that she has a heavy import tax' 
There may be farmers who are differently situated, and 
who do not want manufacturing encouraged or a mill 
situated anywhere near them. But in New England it is 
hard enough for us to have free trade with the Western 
corn and Chicago dressed beef, without extending it to 
nations who are not interested in our welfare, and even in 
the case of coffee, which protectionists made free, It was a 
great mistake. Brazil immediately put on an export duty. 
Our coffee has been no cheaper to the consumer and we 
pay fully around §10,000,000 a year for coffee more than we 
would had the duty remained. The country is somewhere 
in the neighborhood of $100,000,000 poorer for this single 
free-trade clause, and no duty ought to be taken off in the 
future without full power in the Executive to replace it in 
case the supplying country puts on an export duty. 
A CONNECTICUT FARMER. 
THE HAWK AND THE KING BIRDS. 
You’ve all seen a hawk flyln’ over a medder, 
With two or three kins birds a-plckln’ away 
At his back till It looks like a good-sized hay tedder, 
Had ruffled his feathers all up the wrong way. 
The poor feller squawks an’ keeps flyln’ an’ flyln’, 
He’s big enough surely to eat up his foes, 
He’d scatter their bones without ever once tryln’ 
If he only could get them down under his nose. 
But he’s big and heavy while they’re light and nimble, 
They circle about him and torment and goad— 
With toe like a needle an’ foot like a thimble. 
They make life the very worst kind of a load. 
Let hawks go in flocks an’ the king birds would scatter, 
They couldn’t stand organization at all, 
If hawks were good neighbors they soon would grow fatter, 
While stock in the king birds’ performance would fall. 
I once see an act* that was played in our village, 
That favored the hawk an’ the king birds I thought. 
Four little young rascals were tryln’ to pillage 
Some apples a thrifty old farmer had brought 
Into town ; there he stood with his barrels beside hint, 
The four little fellers a dancin' around, 
To mock him, torment him, Insult and deride him 
And tempt him to chase them away from the ground. 
-^C>. =_ 
THE HAWK AND THE KING BIRDS 
“Four Little Fellers a Dancin’ Around.” 
He’d spanked ’em to stay spanked if he’d a-got near ’em, 
His hands, they Jest achea for to hit ’em a lick, 
But actually, they made the old feller fear ’em. 
For he was too clumsv and they were too quick, 
He never could catch ’em. for each time he started 
Away from Ills barrels, the little scamps knew, 
Their game ; for while, three of ’em scattered an’ parted, 
The fourth stole an apple an’ oftentimes two. 
The apples grew less, an’ the farmer grew tired 
With running an’ shouting—his anger waxed high. 
He ought to have organized—ought to have hired 
His neighbor to help him when trouble come nigh. 
If guardin' them barrels gave work for one feller, 
While t’other one chased oft the thieves with a stick, 
You'd soon heard them little chaps holler and beller. 
An’ then start up-street at a smart double-quick. 
It’s jess so with farmers-aln’t you seen ’em dancin’, 
An’ wastin’ their flghtln' on shadders and things, 
While little sneak thieves come behind ’em a-prancln’ 
An’ gobble a handful of apples an' things ? 
tell ye, Its nuts for these smart politicians 
To get us to tucker ourselves on a chase 
After hobbies; an’then come like practical magicians 
An’ change our good apples for thinnest air space. 
As long as we’re scattered without organizin’, 
An' one calls for this thing au’orte calls for that, 
An’ pull every which-way, It won’t be surprisin’ 
If farmers grow thin whilst the others grow fat. 
But, back up together, stout brother to brother, 
An’ see If them little frauds won’t run away. 
They’ll give up their Job, and hunt hard for another, 
Where stealing and roguing Is nearer like play. 
The farmers of Vermont are making a strong effort to 
separate their agricultural college from the University of 
Vermont. Up to date the University has drawn and han¬ 
dled the agricultural college funds. The spirit of the 
University is utterly opposed to modern ideas of practical 
education. As a consequence, not a corporal’s guard of 
boys attend the agricultural college. A bill is now before 
the Vermont Legislature to separate the two schools, and 
form a new agricultural college by itself in a new loca¬ 
tion. Good! Farmers should support it. 
NOTES. 
The present farmers’ movement forces our historians 
to go back into history to find how similar periods of dis¬ 
content among farmers have been handled. We are in¬ 
formed that “when the agent of the tyrannical British 
government appeared in the Carolina colony 200 years ago, 
and drove off a planter’s cow for his unpaid tobacco tax, 
the sturdy wife of the yeoman chased him away with a 
mop-stick.” There are still many farmers who remember 
the “ anti-rent” disturbances on the “Old Patroon” estates 
in New York State in 1844. Many tenants refused to pay 
their rents, and when force was resorted to, some of the 
“ anti-renters” assumed disguises of Indians and tarred 
and feathered those who paid rents. The present move¬ 
ment among the farmers is too strong to be turned aside 
now. Every well-wisher of agriculture will hope that 
wise and strong leaders will come to the front and give 
the movement dignity and true force. Mop-sticks and 
Indian disguises may be laid aside in this conflict. The dis¬ 
trict school is our training ground. 
Effects of the New Silver Act.— What has been tho 
effect of the new Silver Act on prices ? is a question fre¬ 
quently asked. The act could never have been passed were 
it not for the irresistible pressure brought to bear on their 
Senators and Representatives in Congress by the farmers 
of the South and West. They expected that the conse¬ 
quent increase in the volume of the currency would boom 
the prices of agricultural products and help them to pay 
their debts with less difficulty. Hitherto, however, the 
“silver kings” and speculators have been the chief 
gainers. It has caused a rise in the price of silver bullion 
from 95 cents an ounce last April to §1.21 last August, and 
§1.07X to day, the recent decline having been due chiefly to 
the fact that the early advance was caused, iu great part, 
by speculative buying, and naturally when the buyers 
began to realize their paper profits, the price of silver fell. 
Moreover many of the "silver kings” and other specu¬ 
lators, in a gambling spirit, held back large amounts of 
silver in expectation of an advance to $1.25 per ounce or 
higher, and of late these have been forced to sell, and the 
consequent large supply has still further depressed the price. 
It is likely to go up again soon, however, if reports here are 
correct. It is said that the native output is being cornered 
against the government, and that §25,000,000 
of foreign silver has been bought by a New 
York pool from the Netherland Govern- 
|[/ ment. This is the largest speculative deal 
since Keene tried to “corner” the wheat 
output of the United States in 1885. 
Future Effects of the Silver Act.— 
What are likely to be the future effects of 
the Silver Act ? Hitherto the increase in 
the volume of the currency issued under it 
has been comparatively so small that it 
has had little or no effect on prices, and 
the same is likely to be the case for a year 
or two. Under the Bland Act of 1878 there 
was an annual issue of about §30,000,000 in 
silver or certificates ; under the new act the 
issue has been increased to between §50,- 
000,000 and §60,000,000 a year of silver or 
silver Treasury notes. The mere growth 
of our country, however, calls for an aver¬ 
age addition of about §20,000,000 each year 
to the currency in denominations of §20, or 
less, for convenient use in retail trade, the 
amount varying greatly with the condition 
of business. Moreover, since 1883 there has 
been a rapid decline in bank note circula¬ 
tion. Under present conditions the circu¬ 
lation of notes is unprofitable and they 
have been steadily retired and their place 
is being taken by the issue of silver cur¬ 
rency, without much increase of the volume of money in 
circulation. There are still from §80,000,000 to §90,000,000 of 
the notes in process of retirement, and until these have 
been withdrawn and the gap thereby left has been filled 
by silver currency, the issue of the latter will really add 
little to the present volume of the medium of exchange. 
The late rise in the prices of agricultural products is due 
rather to a shortage of the crops of the world than to an 
increase of prices owing to the passage of the recent Silver 
Act. The “silver kings ” and the advocates of a large in¬ 
crease to be made at once in the volume of our currency 
are very much disappointed with the results of the late 
silver legislation and are very likely to insist on the passage 
of a bill providing for the free coinage of silver, during the 
next session of Congress. 
In California an “American Party” has nominated a 
full State ticket. It is headed by a picture of the American 
flag and “the little red school-house.” The American 
Party “ resolves” that the soil of America should belong 
to Americans; that no alien non-resident should hereafter 
be permitted to acquire real estate iu the United States; 
and they demand laws that shall prohibit non-resident 
aliens from owning lands, and they also want the owner¬ 
ship of lands by resident aliens limited iu area. They favor 
educating boys and girls as mechanics and artisans, demand 
new tax laws, denounce the present tariff discussions as a 
fraud and a snare, advocate a per capita tax on all imported 
immigrants and prohibit all immigration of criminals. The 
public school Is iu their estimation, the most important 
element in our society. “The common schools must be 
protected from all assaults, native or foreign, sectarian or 
ecclesiastical, audall private schools must be under State 
inspection, and teach the English language as a prepara¬ 
tion for intelligent citizenship. The American flag ought 
to float over every school building in the laud as an object- 
lesson in patriotism for childhood, and as a symbol to the 
world that we consider these buildings the arsenal of our 
strength.” Well, let the dance go merrily, merrily on. 
