VOL. XXVI.
• —*-i        ,_0
*r;i
INDIANAPOLIS, IND., NOV. 21,1891.
NO. 47
T_.ANK8GIV.NG PROCLAMATION.
Thursday, Nov. 20, Appointed as the Day.
The following proclamation was issued
by the President:
It Is a very glad incident of the marvelous prosperity which has crowned the
year now drawing to a close that its helpful and reassuring touch has been felt by
all our people. It has been as wide as our
country, and so special that every home
has felt its comforting influence. Itis too
great to be the work of man's power and
too particular to be the devico ot his mind.
To God, the beneficent and all-wise, who
makes the labors of men to be fruitful, redeems their losses by His grace, and the
measure of whose giving is as much beyond the thoughts of man as it is beyond
his deserts, tbe praise and gratitude of the
people of this favored Nation are justly
due.
Now, therefore, I. Benjamin Harrison,
President of the United States of America,
do hereby appoint Thursday, the 26th day
of November present, to be a day of joyful
thanksgiving to God for the bounties of
His providence, for the peace in which we
are permitted to en j >y them, and for the
preservation of those institutons of civil
and religious liberty which He gave our
fathers the wisdom and knowledge to establish, and us the courage to prtsirve.
Auione the appropriate observances of the
day are rest from* toil, worship in the public congregation, the renewal of family
ties about our American firesides, and
thoughtful helpfulness towards those who
suffer lack of the body or the spirit.
In testimony whereof, I have here unto
set my hand and caused the seal of the
United States to be affixed.
Done at the City of Washington this 13th
day of November, in the year of our Lord
one thousand eight hundred and ninety-
one, and of the independence of the United
States the one hundred and sixteenth.
Benjamin Harbison.
By the President.
James G. Blaine, Secretary of State.
Shall the Farmer be Taxed to Death?
J-1UO-B Indiana Farmer:
In a recent issue of the Indiana Farmer
there was a long article written by D. K ,
of Montgomery ounty, In which he upbraided the farmers quite severely. It
seemed to have been drawn out by an
editorial that clearly showed some of the
burthens of a farmer's life.
Throughout the entire article ran a
vein of sarcasm. The aim it would seem,
was to briug out clearly before the reader,
that nothing short of class legislation will
please him, and that too at the expense of
others. To this argument we make a
square denial. Upon the other occupations depend the farmers—without them
his produce would be of little value. Few
farmers want another's business to fail in
order that he may succeed. It is a fact,
however, that there is no class In America
today, which, as a class, has so little to
say about the selling or buying price of
the products. His capital is usually so
small he can not pick his market. In
each case, the other man sets the ptice on
Mr. Farmer's produce, and has Jlr. Farmer
pay his price for all he buys of him.
We quote D K's.. maxim: "all that the
farmer needs is something to sell." Even
if that were true, some of us would have
to get "something" on which to raise
something to sell, before we conld sell it.
Undoubtedly all a man needs is enough
money and he will have to sell nothing.
It is just as sensible for me to make this
statement as for any one to make the
other. It has been aptly said by some one
that, "If you wish to hear a good lecture
on farming, engage a man to deliver it
■who never even planted his foot on one."
Such a one will build up more absurd
theories in one article than can be realized
in a century. All that a man needs to be
a railroad magnate is to have enough
merchandise to have a store. But it is a fact
that some of us have neither. These are
people who consider themselves lucky to
be able to ride on a railroad, to buy things
out of a store, or rent a farm, and as
quite often happens, borrow money to pay
the rent, to be repaid out of a growing
crop. Sometimes it happens in spite ot
the best management that the crop fails.
We do not regulate drouth. A chattel
mortgage takes his team and he is compelled to quit farming. He must then
take his place among other wage workers,
or remove to some neglected place where
rents are cheap and land poor, and there
live as best he can. A bankrupt must sell
his goods at the purchaser's price. A man
with mortgages and over due notes on
his property must sell his produce at the
market price. Did you never notice that
the products ot*the farm are always
cheaper in September than in May ? Why ?
Because there are, as the capitalists well
know, thousands of after harvest notes,
made by expectant farmers, which must
be paid to save his credit, it matters not at
what sacrifice his produce must go. Thus
capital takes advantage of poverty. This
state of affairs does not exist in one county
or State only, but all over tha farming
districts of the United States. Debts,
debts, debts, weigh down the farmer
everywhere.
There is a cause for this great financial
embarrassment, what is it? Why this
debt? There must be a cause for it, else
it would not be so. All of a nation's
farmers plunged in debt can be no accident. Here is this great fact standing
out before us like a mighty sign post,
warning us of ruin and disaster, unless
adjusted. The financial sky of our farmer
is the darkest it has been in our history.
If price was nothing and selling things
were all, why have not some of .them
found this out besides D. K., and been
doing it? Then this great eyesore of our
country would be wiped away. The
farmers are the bone and sinew of a nation. What affects them affects all. No
legislation can be made to benefit the
farmer alone. When he is benefited all
feel the effect. Not California alone was
benefited by the discovery of gold, but a
nation. Before us are these' truths. The
cause must comprehend it all. The fine
spun theory about having things to sell is a
humbug. If this were true, there is not
the shade of a shadow of a doubt, that it
would have been done. There is a limit
to intellectual and physical ability. The
capacity of a box can be measured. A
man's productive power is measured by
his endurance. There are men living today who farmed ten, twenty-five and
fifty years ago. Can they make as much
now as they could then, with produce sell*
ing for half price? For 100 bushels of
wheat from $150 to $200 was received. To
day the same labor produces from $50 to
$60. Is there any reason for complaint?
Ten years ago the wheat growing on 70
acres could have been sold for $1,500, now
for $850 to $ 1,000. In both cases the same
amount of work was required, the man's
utmost ability was called forth. The
problem ls ..o delusion, no theory. Shall
the farmer grumble? The paltry price
that has been paid in the .past few years
for the cereals, domestic animals, garden
products, in fact all the products of the
farm, these things with the expense of
living and taxes make it just possible for
ordinary farmers to live. Did you ever
hear of a man who devoted all his time to
farming—I say, did you ever hear of such
a one becoming rich? Who ever heard of
a farmer millionaire? Look around you
and pick one out. We admit that there
oosld not be enough laws made to satisfy
each case. Though there was a law desig
nating the time to go  to bed, to rise,   eat
his meals, sow his wheat and thresh it,
plant his corn and husk it, in fact a law
governing and guiding his every act,
there would still be many miserable failures, just as they are in every branch of
business. It does not prove at all because
a man fails* and his neighbor succeeds
that the law made either the failure'or
success. But it does prove that something is wrong when thousands fail. The
success of a man's life depends largely on
the beginning. I fail, my neighbor succeeds. To begin with, he had a farm left
to him by his father, I began with nothing and quit with that, was it the fault of
any law? Do not understand that I mean
there are no prosperous farmers who did
not have a dowry to begin with. All
things being equal man's wealth is
measured by his ability. That is, we do
not mean the individual case, but the class.
There are pome general principles which
affect all and these are the oppressions we
wish to point out. It is not our aim to
suggest laws to satisfy the case, we loave
that for others. We have said, and wish
to emphasize lt, that supply and demand
to a very great extent, regulate prices of
all farm products. Capital always takes
advantage of poverty when it can, tbis is
an exception to the general rule. Then if
this be true, we think that the one idea
article is much disfigured. We make use
of an illustration. If the current newspaper reports are true in regard to Australian horses, we need make no other. It
is reported that a good horse sells tor one
dollar, and that they have become so
numerous that hundreds must be killed.
And this in a country whose history
covers but 100 years. Thoy certainly have
"something to sell." . Why don't they sell
them ? Evidently price has something to
a do with it. It is not altogether in the
amount of produce. I have in mind now
young man who bought a farm; he paid
part cash and gave a mortgage on the
farm for the remainder. He toiled early
and late; and did you ever think about
what a farmer's hours are for work in the
summer? There is no time for him to
dream over his cofiee, no time to read
Longfellow, or Lucille; hardly time to
read the newspaper. He must work long
hours, rainy days, and cold ones—brain
and muscle are continually in action,
there's hardly time to sleep. All must be
one ceaseless trial of energy. This young
man did every thing necessary seemingly for his success, sold the
timber, "corned" the ground until
it would not raise a nubbin, grew wheat
till nothing but straw came forth; worked
ten years paying out several hundred
dollars interest; became older and careworn, and finally gave up the farm for tbe
mortgage. His life was ten years a blank
and he was but little better off than
before.   This Is a chapter from real life.
Posterity would be more prosperous
under better legislation, weakness would
be strengthened and hope would again
fill our laud. The farmer, he who does
the drudgery work of humanity, would
again hold up bis head and be a man.
Debt drives man to ruin and to hell. There
is not a business, not a profession that
does not try to gouge and cheat the
farmer. They have always been considered so, even in history an Agricultural
country is spoken of as a country with
inferior people.
The salaries of the county officials are
too high, notwithstanding onr last Legislature decided adversly. But it Is useless
to go on enumerating. If D. K., will show
me a single company which has been
organized simply to assist the farmer, we
will concede the point, lay down our pen
and seal our mouth. The farmer is the
one man who has the price set on all he
sells and buys.
Can a man sell wheat for 60 cents a
busbel and make as much as he could ten
years ago when he sold it for $1.00. Or
in other word-, can a man who ten years
ago tilled all the ground he could, can he
now do any more? Now if it is a fact
that the farmer sells his produce for only
ft trills more than half what he once did,
i*i it right that his taxes, rents and interests
should renini a tho same? It is no wonder
when we consider this great depreciation
of bis products, with all his expenses remaining the same that our farmers are
plunged into debt. When the price of
wheat, corn and alloth/_*productsdecrease
then should interest decrease for equity's
sake. If when wheat is #1 per bushel I
can afford to pay six percent, interest, can
I when I get only 00 cents, pay as much?
Xo. I ought by tho great rule of supply
and demand to pay now but 1 per cent, or
in other words, can a man prosper as well
t' -day as yesterday, when ho gets only
$60 for what brought him the day before
$100 00
Produce must bo sold for better prices,
or the expense of living cheapened. The
farmer is unable to stand beneath his
burthen of oppressions. If something ls
not done a new party will become a
necessity. If things are not righted
through the present parties, they will
right themselves through a new one. /
Capital must app«>ase poverty, or poverty \
must of necessity dictate to capital. Enrich the farmer, and the whole nation
becomes wealthy, oppress them and we
become poor. C. A. B.
Fountain, Newton Co.
Perry County Farmers' Institute.
Editors Indiana Farmer:
The Perry county Farmers' Institute
was held last Friday and Saturday, at
Tobinsport.
The program was a very full one. The
following are the subjects: Organization,
Objects and Benefits of Farmers' Institutes; Shallow or Deep Plowing; Woman's
Work on the Farm; Bee Culture; Queries
on Grape Culture; Mnking Butter; Poultry for Pleasure and Profit; Small Fruits,
do they pay on large farms—what varieties aro best? How to Manage a hill
Farm; How shall we Educate cur Children ; Heavy Draft Horses—do they pay
to keep for farm purposes? Poultry and
Its Management; Sheep liaising; Cattle
Raising; Commercial Fertilizers; Housekeepers' Club.
One of the most ploasant and profitable
featuros of tbe Institute was the query
box. The queries drew forth a pleasant
admixture of wit and wisdom and so
happily mingled instruction and amusement that the audience—a large one, of
young, middle aged and old people—was
very attentive from first to last through
the six long sessions of the Institute.
The Institute was held in the midst of
a fine farming district and the farmers of
the neighborhood generously entertained
the visitors—about 100 strong—with a
princely hospitality that will long be
remembered.
A permanent organization was effected
and Perry county will henceforth rank
among those which have live f uccessful
Institutes. W. C. Latta.
Nov. 16.
President   Robinson's   Appointments.—
_■*. M. B. A.
Editors Indiana Farmer:
Nov. is, Franklin; Nov. 19, Decatur;
Nov. 24-25 Rensselaer; Nov. 27 28,
Monticello; Dec.28-31. Princeton; Feb. 12,
Sullivan; Feb. 13, Liberty.
I have cancelled my date of Jan. 5-9 at
Seattle, Wash., to will be in Indiana. A
portion of this work is in Farmers' Institutes, and a portion is devoted to the
F. M. B. A. Other dates will be announced when taken.
C. A.  Robinson.
Pres. State Assembly.