Annual Report of the 
were calling for money, when corn and wheat were all the farmer 
possessed with which to raise it, and they were selling for less than 
the cost of production. An evil existed somewhere. The charges 
of railroads and commission men appeared exorbitant when com¬ 
pared with the price of grain, and so it became easy to attribute to 
these agents, evils for which they were but partially or in no wise 
responsible. 
This feeling of bitterness has grown until very many farmers 
now believe that the “railroad crusade 1 ' is a righteous war against 
all the evils by which they are threatened. But I am confident, 
that when the ground is thoroughly looked over, when every cause 
for the existing condition of things is fairly and carefully considered, 
and given its due weight,—and there is no doubt that farmers as a 
class, desire that this shall be done—the most active cause in pro¬ 
ducing the hard times among western farmers, is a great over-pro¬ 
duction of their staples, wheat and corn. 
What is the cause of this over-production, and why is it but now 
being found out? 
In 1850, the population of that territory now embraced in the 
nine States under consideration, was 4,721,551, while in 1870 it was 
11,245,635, showing an increase in twenty years of 138 per cent. 
Notwithstanding this unparalleled increase in population, the num¬ 
ber of acres of land in actual cultivation increased still more rapid¬ 
ly, being in round numbers 23,000,000 acres in 1850, and in 1870 
69,000,000, an increase of nearty 200 per cent. 
The broad and fertile prairies of these states, sold by the Govern¬ 
ment at a very low price, and since 1863 given to the actual settler, 
offered farms that were easily brought into cultivation, and that 
promised an abundant yield. Every man who had enough energy 
and prudence to save a few hundred dollars could become a land- 
owner. Thousands of men who had formerly been in the service 
of others, were converted into farmers with estates of their own, 
sowing and reaping for themselves. Thus the west was rapidly set¬ 
tled by a thrifty and industrious class of men, many of whom were 
young, and just starting a home for themselves. They came without 
monied capital, but they were rich with determination to make their 
own fortunes. 
The only possible thing for a community of such men to do, was 
to ask, regardless of the future, “What will bring the best immedi- 
