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Wisconsin State Agricultural Society. 
merits; and that capital grows corpulent upon the factories and 
commerce which he feeds, is it unreasonable that he should de¬ 
mand that nothing be purposely placed between him and the fall 
enjoyment of the proceeds of his labor? Is it unreasonable that he 
should complain that capital, which he has largely created, and 
which of itself is incapable of producing additional wealth, is exor¬ 
bitant in the rate of interest which it demands for its use, and is 
heartless and unjust in its arrogance? Is it true that the wealth 
which has been dug from this western soil and showered upon the 
capitalist belongs absolutely to him; that it has the right to turn 
and sting the hand which first nurtured it into existence? No, it 
has no such right, and the law which sanctions it is the embodiment 
of treason to the State. It encourages that which is non-product¬ 
ive to cripple that which is; it lets loose a Shylock upon every 
farm, and applauds him while he whets his knife and demands his 
pound of flesh; it builds a barrier between willing industry and 
millions of these wild acres, and in so doing it cripples the pros¬ 
perity of the nation, 
AND THAT IS TREASON. 
It prevents the farmer from enjoying a just share of the benefits 
which modern improvements and the advance in science generally 
have conferred. An enormous rate of interest is tacked upon every 
implement he buys, upon every pound of groceries which he takes 
into his kitchen, upon every garment which he or his family wear 
upon their backs, upon his textiles, upon liis church-pew, and even 
upon his grave; and with all the improvements on machinery, and 
notwithstanding the general advance in the science of agriculture, 
he is compelled to work from the early dawn until the sunset, 
month after month, and year after year, ostensibly for a livelihood, 
but really to pay interest. He cannot escape the burden and live. 
He must have means of transportation, else his three hundred mil¬ 
lions of bushels of grain would be of little use to him, and none 
to the country. Railroads became a necessity; but a high rate of 
interest at every stage of the progress of construction, from the 
taking out of the iron ore to the laying of the rail, is attached to 
the cost of construction, and the aggregate is double the actual 
worth of the road. There is ten per cent, at the mine, ten per 
cent, at the furnace, ten per cent, at the rolling-mill, ten per cent. 
