342 
Annual Re poet of the 
ufacturing. Money has been borrowed from the East for the pur¬ 
chase of farms and for building railroads, and high interest and 
taxes must be paid in consequence. And convenient water-power 
is not abundant. While New England with factories already estab¬ 
lished, with wealth and abundant water power, has every advantage 
over western competition. These are some of the reasons why we 
cannot expect to see the manufacturing interests of the West grow 
rapidly. They will doubtless increase, but it is upon a wise system 
of agriculture that our great dependence lies. 
It behooves us, then, to look about us with scrutinizing eye, that 
we may see where the sources of the evil of our present syst Q m Jie, 
and to give every cause its due weight in the production of that 
evil. Whenever any given course is recognized to be opposed to 
success, it will soon enough be abandoned. But the relations of 
cause and effect are often intricate, and the danger lies in the diffi¬ 
culty there is in tracing out these relations. 
As I have before shown, the independence of the farmer has been 
taken away. He is now like a manufacturer, the producer of a cer¬ 
tain class of commodities, not for his own use, but for sale in the 
markets of the world, that, with the means so obtained, he may 
purchase the supplies needed by himself and family. He is thus 
brought into competition with other producers, and needs to famil¬ 
iarize himself with the fundamental laws that govern commerce. 
He cannot safely ignore these laws and satisfy himself by decrying 
political economy. If he shuts his eyes to the wants of the world 
and plants a hundred thousand acres of hops, he will live to regret 
his unfortunate blindness, as doubtless many present to-day can 
testify. But how many western wheat-growers have ever asked 
themselves, “Where shall a market be found for the surplus pro¬ 
duce of my farm, and what will be the demands of that market?” 
Have they not grown wheat because ten years ago it found a ready 
sale at a high price, instead of studying the present and prospective 
demands for that article? a course for which they are now paying 
the penalty. 
Like every other class of producers, farmers are brought into 
contact with the world through the exchange of their products. 
If they fail to inform themselves upon those commercial questions 
that are of especial importance to them in buying and selling, they 
