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THE SEMI-WEEEY JOURNAL
ATKAHTA, OA.' S NORTH POBSTTH ST.
Entered at the Atlanta Poetofflce ae Mall Matter ot
the Second Claes.
JAMES B. OKAY,
President and Editor.
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Atlanta, Ga.
Free the Tariff Bill
From the Cotton Tax.
There are hopeful indications that the tariff bill
as finally adopted by Congress will contain no ref
erence to the subject of cotton futures. It is the
reported opinion of President WPson, and of leading
members in both Houses that, however important it
may be to regulate cotton exchanges, this matter is
not germane to the tariff, but shou'd he considered
independently upon its own merits. If this wise
judgment prevails, as it probably will, the tariff
measure will be freed from the embarrassing Clarke
amendment, taxing all cotton sold for future deliv
ery at the rate of fifty cents a bale, and will he
ratified without further delay.
That is clearly the sensible course. The Clarke
amendment, far from being in any wise pertinent
to tariff reform, is really at variance with the spirit
and purpose of that great cause. It proposes to levy
a prohibitive tax on transactions which are thor
oughly legitimate and which are necessary to the
safe conduct of cotton merchandising, a tax which
would inevitably concentrate the power of buying
cotton In the hands of a few large Interests and
thereby place the cotton grower at the mercy of a
new and very dangerous monopoly. The very kind
of evil which the Democratic Congress is seeking to
curb and prevent by a removal of exorbitant tariff
taxes, the Clarke amendment would foster and per
petuate. No such scheme should blot the tariff bill
about to become a law.
The substitute plan offered by Senator Hoke
mith and Congressman Lever would accomplish all
the rightful aims of the Clarke amendment and. at
the same time, avoid the follies and evils the latter
would impose. In the House, at least, sentiment for
this substitute appears to be uecicive. It is clear,
however, that no device to regulate cotton exchanges
suould be thrust upon the tariff hill, which was
conceived and carried forward for an entirely dis
tinct purpose. Whatever legislation Congress may
see fit to enact with reference to cotton exchanges
or any other exchanges should be considered as a
particular measure.
From The Journal’s Washington dispatches, It
now seems that this is the direction the cotton tax
Issue will be given. The Senate and the House hold
divergent views as to the special means that should
be adopted to effect true reform In this regard. The
Conference committee has been unable to reach an
agreement. A wise settlement of the question would
doubtless require prolonged debate. The passage of
the tariff bill should not thus be delayed; nor should
any plan to regulate the exchanges be hastily estab
lished. The logical thing to do, therefore, is to
eliminate this subject from the tariff measure and
give it due consideration when ..me and circum
stance will permit.
The Profits of Georgia
Truck Farming.
Experiments in asparagus growing have proved so
successful in the country around Marshallville that
planters are preparing to double their acreage for
next season, A few years ago the production of this
vegetable for market purposes was scarcely known
in that or any other district of Georgia; indeed, all
truck farming was regarded as a doubtful venture.
But the idea of a hew agriculture and of diversified
crops has been forging steadily forward, winning
converts In every part of the State and always hold
ing them. Some seasons ago a group of progressive
farmers near Marshallville decided to try their for
tune at asparagus. They began with a few beds
and sold to a limited territory. Their profits outran
expectation, so much so, indeed, that they determined
to increase their output to a point where carload
shipments to the east would be possible. As a re
sult five hundred or more acres of asparagus were
under cultivation this year in that one county; and
by next year there will be a thousand acres.
This Is but one among many examples of the en
couraging progress of truck growing in Georgia. To
matoes grown in the southern part of the State
brought record prices in New York the past summer;
and other table products found a ready and profitable
market in distant sections. Wherever truck farm
ing has been tried faithfully and Intelligently, it has
yielded substantial, if not really wonderful, results.
The increasing Interest in, this industry now ob
servable throughout the State signifies much for
Georgia’s development and prosperity. It means
surer and richer returns from the soil, "a more inde
pendent agriculture, a more adequate food supply,
a broader variety of interests and of opportunity, a
wider advertisement of the State’s natural resources.
It means that we shall no longer be independent
upon a single crop, the success and value of which
are continually at hazard; but that we shall have
plenteous and wealth-producing crops the twelve-
month around.
Many a woman can’t remember what her husband
said when he proposed, because she did the pro
posing.
THE ATLANTA SEMT-WEEKLY JOURNAL, ATLANTA, GA., FRIDAY, OCTOBER 3, 1913.’
Making Georgia Ready
For Cattle Raising Industry.
Newton and Oconee have been added to the honor
roll of Georgia counties that are free from the cattle
tick and officially released from quarantine. Their
farmers are to be commended for the co-operative
work through which they have secured this new
advantage, and the State and federal authorities
deserve particular thanks for the valuable aid they
have jointly rendered. By ridding themselves of
the cattle tick, these counties have taken a long
stride forward in the live stock Industry and al30
in general agricultural interests. Their lands should
be worth more, their business as well as farming
enterprises should enjoy a larger measure of pros
perity, and every fluid of their people’s common
welfare should be enriched as a result of this one
accomplishment.
Keen observers of agricultural and commercial
conditions in Georgia agree that one of the great
needs of this State Is the production of more cattle.
It has been estimated that Ge rgia now spends
something like a hundred and seventy million dol
lars a year in importing food products, among which
meat is an especially important item, products
which could be raised easily and cheaply at home.
Iowa, whose area is practically the same as Geor
gia’s, and whose soil and climate are no more
advantageous, if as much so, is exporting each year
over two hundred million dollars worth of animal
products.
Why is it that Georgia falls so far behind in an
industry to which her natural resources are so
invitingly adapted? The answer hangs upon several
circumstances. Until recent years our farmers have
for the most part limited themselves to a single
crop, cotton, and have neglected their abundance of
other opportunities. They have not produced corn
enough for their Immediate needs. They have not
produced hay and other forage necessary to cattle
raising. Furthermore, they have not taken due pains
to protect such cattle as they had against ruinous
pests.
Fortunately, however, each of these deficiencies
is now being recognized and gradually remedied.
Cotton no longer monopolizes the soil; at least there
Is a hopeful tendency away from that old folly. The
corn crop Is steadily increasing in quality and
volume. Food crops of all kinds are receiving more
generous and more competent attention. The pop
ular emphasis now placed upon the raising of hay,
oats, alfalfa and like product:, is evidenced by the
fact that they are to be featured at nearly all the
county fairs to be held this autumn and at the State
fair at Macon. Somewhat slowly, perhaps, hut none
the less surely, the difficulties that hitherto have
stood in the way of cattle raising are being over
come.
Of particular importance in this regard is the
steady elimination of the cattle tick. Until this work
is well advanced, the State as a whole will have
scant opportunity to realize its rich natural advan
tages for the cattle Industry. The results thus far
are encouraging, but they represent a mere frag
ment of what remains to be done. It is to be hopod
that the example of Newton and .Oconee counties
will arouse all others that are still infested with
the cattle tick to speedy and vigorous effort. Thus
only can Georgia be fully prepared to enter upon
the cattle raising industry which means so much to
her agricultural and her every other interest.
A Timely Plea for
An Army Reserve.
It is to be hoped that Congress will respond, as
the thoughtful public has, to Secretary Garrison’s
timely plea for an adequate army reserve. In his
recent tour and on other appropriate occasions the
Secretary has' urged with good effect the need of a
more modern and far-sighted policy of national de
fense. His views merit particular consideration for
the reason that he is in no wise an alarmist but on
the contrary a stanch advocate of peace and, indeed,
opposed to the establishment of a great standing
army. But he is open-minded and prudent enough to
perceive the value of preparedness as a means to
peace itself as well as to security In time of danger.
“The need for an army,” he has said, “arises from
the fact that it takes two parties to keep the peace,
and at best any nation can control only one party,
namely, itself.” In the same connection, he has
said, “It seems inexcusable . neglect and blindness •
not to provide in times of peace the proper method
for augmenting the small standing army as It would
need to he augmented in time of war.” The fact is
there is but one way of reasonable escape from the
burden of maintaining a large regular army in the
United States, and that is through the development
of an ample reser'-f force.
One means to this end, thinks Secretary Garri
son, Is to reduce the required term of army enlist
ment to one or two years of service with the colors
and to make army life more profitable and thereby
more inviting. The shortened term of enlistment
would attract many young men who recognize the
value of soldierly discipline, but who are now un
willing to bind themselves for a comparatively long
period of years at the end of which they will return
to ordinary pursuits, unequipped for any particular
vocation.
Enlistment for two years would make a man fair
ly efficient In military discipline. He would at least
be fitted for practical service in case his country
needed him; and after his retirement he would be
subject to call should an emergency arise. In this
way the army could be held within conservative
bounds as regards its size and at the same time it
would be continually developing an, efficient body of
trained soldiers. There would be little or no addi
tional tax upon the Government, yet the national
defense would be steadily growing stronger.
Directly related to this plan Is that of making
the army of < broader educational value. It is Sec
retary Garrison’s idea to offer the enlisted men op
portunities for practical training that will fit them
for useful occupations as citizens. This is akin to
Secretary Daniels’ conception as the navy which he
has said should be in one of its aspects a great uni
versity, beginning with primary departments and
ending with what might be termed a post-graduate
school, in which trades and professions could be
acquired.
Whatever the means may be, it Is certain that all
the important end is to reinforce the present army with
a numerous, well-prepared body of reserves; "to
maintain our small army in peace time at maximum
efficiency, with the most perfect organization and
supplied with officers of the most advanced train
ing.” “Only by so doing,” as Mr. Garrison declares,
“can our present small army effectively act as a
school of military instruction for the nation and as a
nucleus for the expansion that will be necessary in
time of war.”
...R-E-S-T...
By Dr.
Frank
Crane
We do not want “the saints' everlasting rest” nor
that other saintly activity of a heaven
Where congregations ne’er break up
And Sabbaths have no end.
When we say we would like to
rest forever, or that we should
love to be always busy, it i* but
the extravagant over-statement
of a mood.
There is but one thing in this
regard that we all want, and
that Is a due and proper alterna
tion.
The true human need is
rhythm. Human torment is lack
of rhythm, the continuing of any
thing too long.
We live in a thus-organized
universe, with its night and day.
And in climes where there is no
change' of seasons it is difficult
for civilization to develop.
We crave rest only after sur
feit of activity; we crave exercise only after enough
rest.
One great problem of the world’s work is how to
get the most efficiency out of the laborer.
The higher the order of work, that is, the more it
requires brain and nerve rather than mere muscle,
the more it needs alteration. That is to say, you
can write a better novel, or think out better a busi
ness problem, by going away and coming back than
by sticking to it. The extra hour you put in when
you are fagged is not worth ten minutes in the morn
ing when you are fresh.
There has been much cursing of idleness. One of
the great religious organizers wrote a note for his
followers:
AUP timely
QME topics
{ r Com>OCTO WJlB&WKJrtLTW
A STOBY OF THE WAR-TIME.
A dear good Christian woman now in her eighty-
fourth year told me today of her sad experiences dur
ing the war, and because it was so sad pnd so heroic
I decided to tell the readers of The Semi-Weekly some
of these sad and heroic occurrences.
The mother of six children, ranging from two years
to thirteen, she was left a widow in 1863. Her hus
band, a bravfe cavalry captain, was desperately
wounded in an engagement in Virginia and died tne
third day afterwards. She had a good home in Cass-
ville, Ga., two-story house, plenty of provisions, cow
and a pony for the thirteen-year-old boy, when Gen
eral Joe Johnston issued his famous battle order at
Cassville after the sharp fighting at Resaca. When
the Confederate troops entered Cassville it became
necessary for her to get out a mile or so, as she was
told that the engagement would be general and the
place most likely a bloody battlefield. With the six
children (and nothing else) sue left her home and
waited until the retreat (and not a battle) came cn.
Her losses were great, sh e hurried back to find the
yard and horse lots full of Yankees consuming her
provisions, etc. This was- in May, 1864, and she was
at the mercy of the Federal troops until the next fall,
when General Hood decided to go into Tennessee nd
Kentucky. Then the great dstruction took place, as
the Federal army retreated.
She was ordered out of her .ouse again, being told
that the entire town was to be fired within twenty min
utes. She and those six orphaned children huddled
near the cemetery fence and saw their own home set
on fire.
“Never be uselessly or trlflingly employed.” And
in school we learned the motto: “Give every idle
moment something to keep in store.” We were ex
horted to make every minute count.
All of which shows how honest people are a little
crazy. For a man’s life can be nothing but common
place if he is tense and earnest every waking mo
ment.
Idleness is as necessary to good work as is activi
ty. The man who can take hold hard and to some
purpose is the man who knows how to let go.
That body is strongest and fittest that can relax
perfectly between efforts. That mind is likest “steel
that bends and springs again,” that can dream and
wander at times.
After this life I do not look to sinking into end
less rest, nor to go on in ceaseless vigor; but yonder
I shall tire and wake again, according to the law of
all life; I shall be : i endless pulsing, an endless
rhythm, and not an endless note.
Southward, Ho!
It is a noteworthy and broadly suggestive fact
that the tide of immigration which once poured from
the United States into Canada is steadily falling.
In the five months from April to September of thfc
current year, according to a report of the Dominion
government, the decrease was nearly twenty per cent
under the record for the corresponding period of
1912. There were sixty-three thousand, seven hun
dred and twenty-one immigrants from the United
States during those months, while last year there
were seventy-nine thousand, two hundred and nine.
Divers causes for this interesting change might
be ascribed but certainly onp of them, and one of the
more important, is the fact that the South is now
beckoning the home-seeker with unusual persuasive
ness. The class of men and families who in quest of
new opportunity once crossed the northern borders
are evidently realizing that in this favored region
of their own country richer soil, friendlier climate
and riper chances :;wait them. They are discover
ing that here land is comparatively cheaper, that
all manner of crops can be produced the year around,
that access to the large eastern markets is easy, that
Southern industries are multiplying and offering
employment to more and more men and that a
Southern welcome is open to all good Americans.
The fact is the South’s resources and opportun
ities are impressing observant people in all parts of
the ebuntry—investors in the east and middle west,
manufacturers in both those sections and the rep
resentatives of European capital as well. But the
South is appealing particularly to the man who is
looking for a good place to live in and to press his
fortunes through agriculture. Railway companies
testify to a steady inflow of home-seekers to Georgia
and neighbor States. The Southward trend has
fairly begun and from this time forward, as our rail
ways and trade organizations increase their publicity
efforts, it will become more and more pronounced.
With kindling in hand, the vandals went upstairs,
started a blaze in the middle of two rooms and tended
the fire until it was under way before they descended
to fire all the dwellings in the vicinity. This was
late on a Saturday afternoon, and the homeless group
passed the night near the cemetery fence. By drag
ging a few planks from a barn shed and contriving a
sort of shelter, with no help except what a boy of
thirteen could afford, those six children passed the
night on the b re ground except for some quilts the
mother had parried out from the house. The mother
and her wich>wed sister sat up all night and watched
in .this dreadful time. Every dwelling house but two
was in flames, and except the three wooden churches
nothing else was left to show where the county town
of a large and populous county nad been on the day
before. The beautiful female college was in ruins, the
hotels, court house, jail, everything else was fired and
entirely destroyed. Tne town was full of other home
less groups who had been ordered out of doors when
the torches were set- The conflagration was general.
Two houses alone were spared where some very sick
people could not get up from the beds of suffering,
and I suppose the soldiers bulked at cremating them
in their desolated dwellings.
Not one mouthful of food was spared to this home
less widow with her six small children.
Next day (Sunday) a raw, drizzling rain prevailed.
A good-hearted country family sent word to this al
most - rantic mother that she could get shelter in an
empty cabin on their place, and there she lived until
after the surrender, when her army brothers were sl-
lowed to come home. She, a delicate woman, did all
sorts of rough field work except plowing and grubbing
stumps, and this hsroine said today: “I don’t know
how we did manage to exist, but we did.” Sorghum
and corn bread were the principal dependence for these
hungry, growing children, and at one time her oppor
tunities were so slim that she lived several months *n
a good-sized hen house that had escaped vandal
wreckage. As I looked at her aged face, full of char
acter arid still remarkable for its fine intelligence, I
said s to myself: “What a dreadful thing is war!”
And the strife over slavery was all wrong! The
price we paid was too heavy! The negro was not
worth the awful sacrifice.
Any tolerable compromise would have been better
than this suffering, bereavement, poverty, cruelty,
widowhood, orhanage and destruction of values!
Those six children lost their father, their home,
their chance for an education, and saw that brave moth
er endure hardships that were wellnigh. intolerable to
human life!
Why did we fail in statesmanship at such a crisis?
A PLAIN TALK ON SHEEP.
I am not one of tnose who fear the* effects of free
wool. In view of the fact that myself and family
wear clothes, I am in favor of it- And to show that
I believe in sheep, free wool or no free wool, I drove
up the valley a few miles the other day to buy a
small flock. Almost every farm needs sheep, no mat
ter what the price of wool may be. My farm is In
especial need of them. For years I have been chop
ping and cutting and hacking at the sprouts and suck
ers in our newly cleared fields until I have struck.
This fall we are seeding down forty-six acres of this
in rye and orchard grass, and shall sow clover in it in
the spring as the frost comes out. Then we shall
stock it with sheep and let them wrestle with the
sprouts. I’m going to leave the killing off of the lo
custs, redbuds, dogwoods, greenbrier, sassafras and the
Wise Railroad Policy.
•
The Pennsylvania Railroad has shown a whole
some public spirit in announcing its purpose to
dispose voluntarily of its coal mine properties in
keeping with a requirement of 3tate and federal
law. The constitution of Pennsylvania forbids a
common carrier to hold stock in a mining company,
though this provision does not strictly apply to
ownership established prior to »ts adoption. The
Hepburn act, however, is conclusive on this point
and makes it illegal for a railroad to be financially
interested in the production of a commodity it must
transport. The obvious design of the law is to pro
tect public interest-- against monopoly and to assure
free commerce.
The noteworthy and commendable fact in the
Pennsylvania’s policy is that it has not sought to
resist or evade these statutes, and has not waited
to be forced into compliance. “While the Govern
ment has initiated proceedings to disassociate other
railways from anthracite properties,” says the New
York Herald, “it has taken no action against the
Pennsylvania. In voluntarily taking action to place
itself in accordance with the law, the Pennsylvania
gives evidence of sagacious management and at the
same time sets an example which might well be
imitated by other corporations.”
The attitude of this great railway system is that
which all truly progressive public service companies
are assuming. The railroads that have prospered
most within the past few years, and that will con
tinue .to thrive, are those which recognize the com
munity’s rights and respect the community’s will,
those which take their place among the country’s
common interests, asking no special favors, seeking
no undue influence, but striving competently to give
the best possible service and to help themselves by
helping the public. The representative railroads of
the South today are doing much to develop agricul
tural interests and to upbuild the section and they
are finding this policy sound and profitable.
These are the melancholy days, all right.
The self-made man never quite gets the job fin
ished.
Some men have to marry for money or get some
other kind of a job.
rest to the Woolly Hired Man—-the hired man who
will board himself on the sprouts he cuts, and turn
them Into wool and mutton.
So I drove up the valley to buy fifty sheep. And
as I went along:, at every house was one or more dogs.
I spoke to one or two men about the dog problem. "1
tell you,” said one, whose attitude was about the same
as that of the others, “the worthless curs folks keep
around are what makes It risky to keep sheep. The
dog tax”—this Is in West Virginia—“Is 60 cents a
year, and I pay mine. I wouldn’t pay it on my dog if
he wasn’t such a good dog. He wouldn’t touch a
sheep, and he's mighty good to the children. Why, If
the children start eff anyhewere, that dog marches
right along with ’em, and I’d like to see the varmint
that could harm ’em. And he’s right smart of com
pany for us all.”
This “good dog” may have his teeth full of wool at
this very moment for all I know—or his owner either.
The dog problem lies right in that disposition of every
man to believe In his own dog. It lies in the fact
that a dog is kind to children, and guards them, and
licks their hands, and is a friend to them. It lies in
the centuries of companionship between the man and
the dog. « dog is a lower sort of child of the fam
ily. Every man, woman and child believes in his own
dog, no matter how sneaking, mangy and worthless
he is, just as every parent believes in his own child.
I don’t blame people for this. I have felt my own
eyes full of tears myself at the tragic death of a <log
which had owned m e during his life. And he was just
a plain worthless dog of doubtful pedigree and no vir
tue except that of loving and serving me.
The man of whom I bought the sheep told me that
he has been, for the past year or so, troubled a great
deal less by the depredations of dogs than formerly.
He thinks that the 50-cent dog tax is doing some
good. But that doesn't correspond with the experi
ences of others. The dog question is a far more se
rious thing for the farm flock of sheep than the tariff
question. The sheep is needed on every farm. He is
neeued to use up things which other animals will not
consume. He fills In between other animals like peas
in an appple barrel. A certain number of sheep can
be kept without decreasing the supply of feed for the
other stock. And he supplies meat as well as clothes
for the world. I, therefore, impeach the dog of high
crimes and misdemeanors, In that he kills thousands
of sheep directly, and Indirectly he kills millions by
so wearing out the patience of sheep owners that their
flocks are sacrificed, and by keeping thousands of
others from growing sheep. I Impeach the dog, there
fore, of causing scarcity of meat in a hungry world,
and scarcity of clothes in a shivering one. I impeach
him of high treason in causing the waste of all those
natural resources which would be utilized if it were
not for dogs and the fear of dogs.
And yet, when he comes wagging his tail and fawn
ing on me, my compassion is his—for I love him—
darn him!—Exchange.
CROP FAILURES
I.—THE EFFECT OF SHORT YIELDS.
BY FREDERIC J. HASKIN.
The failure of the corn crop in the United States
this year may not have as far-reaching effects as sim
ilar shortages have had in years gone by, but at the
same time it appears certain that it will be felt in no
little degree.
• • •
When the American corn crop fails the principal
crop of the nation is affected. The farmers of the
United States annually plant a hundred million acres
of land in corn. In other words, the American corn-
lield is as big as all Japan, is larger than England,
and is as great in extent as Italy and Greece together.
It is more than twice as big as all the rest of the
cornfields of the earth together, and it Is the most
productive of all the earth’s cornfields, for, while it Is
only twice as big as the others, it produces three
times as much as all of them. The annual crop now
ranges between 2,600,000,000 and 8,000,<000,000 bushels,
usually approximating the latter figure.
• > *
Some Idea of how much corn this represents may
be gathered from the statement that if all of it were
put into a pyramidic pile with a bale a mile square,
It would tower 400 feet into the air. Loaded in ordi
nary grain cars it would require nearly 2,000,000 of
them to carry It, more than a load for every box car
In the United States And when we remember that
our meat supply is partially the finished product of
the corn crop, it will be seen how intimately the out
come of the corn haivest touches every table. The
extent of the effect of the yield of corn on the price
of beef may be illustrated by citing the fact that the
difference in the price of corn In Pennsylvania and in
Iowa may make at least 810 difference in the cost of
getting a steer ready for the block. The farmer who
gets 60 cents lot his corn must make each bushel add
ten pounds to the weight of his steer when call :
bring 6 cents at the farm, or else he will find him
self working for charity.
The farmer does not always profit by bumper
crops. Indeed, there have been many times when rec
ord crops have been his undoing. For instance, in
1906 the corn crop showed a yield of 2,927,000,000
bushels, while the crop of 1909 amounted to only 2.772,-
000,000 bushels. Yet, according to the figures of the
department of agriculture, the yield of 1909 was worth
nearly 8600,000,000 more to the farmer than the crop
of 1906. On the same principle that a fruit company
may sometimes make money by dumping whole ship loads
of bananas in the sea, in order to prevent a too plen
tiful supply reaching the market and forcing down
prices, so there are times wheh the farmer reaps a
benefit from a crop failure.
It was this idea that Andrew Carnegie had in mind
when he said that a war between a European nation
ano the United States could not last a great while-
He asserts that the consequent stopping of the ex
portation of foodstuffs from America to Europe would
force up the price to such heights that a starving con
tinent would demand peace in order that it might eat.
After a certain point in food scarcity the price soars
much more rapidly than the supply declines, until, at
last, the point of prohibition is reached and the people
must starve because they nave no money with which
to buy.
It has so happened in the United States that there
has nearly always been either a very favorable or a
very unfavorable crop condition In years of economic
legislation. When specie payment was resumed after
the panic of 1873 there were some bumper crops which
permitted the sale of a very large surplus to foreign
countries, and this brought In a supply of metallic
money that was necessary to the success of resump
tion. After the panic of 1907 it was the large crops
that permitted an inflow of gold in sufficient amount
to wipe out thf shortage and place the finances of ths
country on a healthful basis -.gain. Likewise, ths
crop lailures of th e middle 90’s had a very intimate
and Important effect upon the financial situation of
that day.
It Is not a general shortage of food that seems re
sponsible for the high prices of the present day. For
instance, in 1880 there was a per capita yield of corn
amounting to thirty-four bushels. In 1910 it was al
most exactly the same, and yet the farm value of a
bushel of corn on December 1, 1880, was 36 cents, and
on t^ie same date thirty years later it was 48.8 cents.
The corn crop of 1910 amounted to 848,000,000 bushels
more than the crop of the year before, and yet it
brought the farmer 8100,000,000 less than the crop of
the year before.
Just now the attempt to ascertain the real causes
of the high cost of living is being made by every se
rious economic student. Some say that crop failures
and crop successes have a comparatively small share
In causing the steady rise, although, at that, the tax
a crop failure imposes is great enough. They point
out that consumers’ prices keep high during fat as
well as during lean years, and that consequently the
crop situation cannot be in any large degree respon
sible.
One investigator has taken the case of the city of
New York. He finds that it costs the people of that
municipality 8150,000,000 a year to get Its provisions
from the freight depots to their kitchens. In other
words, they pay out nearly half a million dollars every
working day to the people who handle their food be
tween the steamboat and freight car and the back door
of their kitchens.
Just now there is much discussion among econo
mists as to the American dollar. Has Its value depre
ciated or has the value of food simply appreciated?
Do commodities go up, or is it the dollar that goes
down? The man who can answer that question in a
way that carries conviction will write his name on the
tablet of the immortals. Some contend that a dollar
Is a dollar, heretofore, now, and hereafter, and that
the whole thing is that commodities vary In value.
Others contend that a plentiful gold supply makes
money easy to get and, therefore, not worth as much.
But it will be observed that prices of some commodi
ties stand still while others fluctuate slightly, and
still others extensively. For instance, the price of
oats was over 2 cents a bushel higher in 1906 than in
1905, while the price of corn was a little more than a
cent lower; at the same time wheat was 8 cents lower.
It will be seen from thlr that the prices of these
commodities could not be the result of a shrinkage or
expanding value of the dollar, else it would show the
same changes In them all.
However all this may be, a study of the prices of
the great crops of the United States during a term of
years will reveal the fact that the price of wheat goes
up when there is a shortage of a hundred million
bushels, and rises in Increasing ratio as the shortage
becomes more marked. Likewise, overproduction to
the extent of a hundred million bushels forces the
price down. In the case of corn It takes a half billion
bushels variation to turn the balance of the price
scale.
Incomes of English Novelists
Those who are acquainted with the record of Eng
lish literary incomes since Chaucer was a court serv
itor will not find It a particularly harrowing fact that,
according to the London Daily Express, “not more
than fifty British novelists make an average annual
incomp of $5,000.” Indeed, some people will find It a
ground for regret that Miss Corelli is said to have
made $100,000 in a single year, and Hall Caine twice
that. The other happy plutocrats of an average in
come of $25,000 or more are, it is said, Wells, Kip
ling, Garvice, Stacpoole, Conan Doyle and Mrs. Ward.
Masefield and Noyes are said to flourish on poetry,
and Trevelyan and Morley on biography; as to the
dramatists, we are left to judge only from Shaw’s
quarrels with the Income tax collectors. These esti
mates, naturally, are inspired by that striking literary
event, Hall Caine’s latest publication. Their one sig
nificance is that every change affecting English book
selling—sixpenny editions, the growth of the libraries,
even social developments like the motor car and the
week-end—has been in favor of the few big sellers
and against the authors with a small, select audience;
and similar causes are operating in a similar way i»
America.—New York Evening Rost,