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About The Oregon statesman. (Salem, Or.) 1884-1892 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 7, 1887)
THjU OKEOOlSr STATESMAN FRIDAY, JANUARY 7. 1C37. . . 0 FABHIXG IN MABION. S The Countryman's Antipathy to me tiiy. DISCUSSED BY A FARMEB. EoUtion of CroiM The Farmers and the Bridge Lecal vs. For eign Markets. gome enthos'uutic writer, whose versatility vll mora conspicuous than hi judgment,ha wid that to be ft farmer is to be a king." I make no pretension toward giving the name 0f ;the writer referred to, but I should "jufcst" him to be wme inexperienced city chap, whose knowledge of farm life ha been gathered from ft Sunday excursion in the country during the "leaf month of June," when all nature i dressed in the attractive l . vji: ttwoaia inmmer. and Lh farm- csimiwcu v er himself was basking in the unsatisfactory jealma of that fleeting leisure that come to Mm only one day out of seven. . i 4 kAM ! arrirt nf truth i n JUJU '"J B the remark. Whether to be a farmer is to be a king "depend" depend on the king he ha in mind; and torflewh.it, also, on the particular farmer ued in the comparison. That monarch, for instance, to whom refer ence may hare been made in the assertion that "uneasy lie the head that wean a crown," ha his exact counterpart in many farmer who maybe found in any commun ity, and those who are k prone to testify to the independence and opportunity for pleas ure that characterize the tanner lire, have ai a rule, made but a superficial study of the embarrassment that surround hirn, and the obstacle which a successful business career make it necessary to overcome. I have often thought that a tanner who ha abso lutely failed in business, after making a de termined effort .to succeed, has fower incen ' tire to pleasurable reflection, and more to regretful considerations, than a man similar ly situated in any other business. Jfot one man in a hundred ever succeed as a fanner, unlet. lie puis nis own sriouwer to the wbcel,Jand pushes hi business with energy and determination. It will not an swer the purpose to do this pushing with the energy and determination of a "hired man," even at low wages, for, where wheat-aisirig is mado an agricultural specialty, as is the c ac in the Willamette valley, the small mar gin left for profit on the average price of 60 Cent per bushel, leaves no surplus to the far mer to bo a replied to the payment of hired hands, excepting, of course, at such season of the year as concentrated helpisan unavoid able necessity. ,Thl thought wa recognized and intelligently applied more than a hundred mn sm. hv Dr. Franklin, who. amon? the J - I, ' ' r, many wise saying of "Foor'Richard," de clared that "He who by the plow would thrive. Himself must either hold or drive." And the farmer who has for a number of years held hi plow and made his own rails. built hi own- fences, and cut his own wood, educated hi children, .and supported hi family, and then has, on the other hand, un dergone and uv-!-fullycwith-tcxJ the physi cal torture of refraining from draining the grocer who not only turns up his none, but laugh with demoniacal gh-e at the butter which his "gude wife" has patiently toiled to make, a an aid toward supjiorting the fair ly, and who actually entertains doubt of hi sanity when he request him to buy five bushels of potatoes; and the miller who re fuses to pay him within from three to five rent of the actual market price of his wheat, and who won't let him have a sack of bran for less than it weight in gold, and seldom for that; and the merchant who charge him two price for all the good he buys, and who allow him only one-half as much for hi produce an he charge his customers who boy it the came day: I say the farmer who has done all this, and more, in the way of un recompensed drudgery, and then fails in business, is entitled to the unfettered sym pathy of human charity, and the merciful consideration of Divine Providence. It is, indeed, doubtless true, that the life of a successful farmer furnishes a career fraught with less disappointment and business appre hension than can be found in any other branch of human employment-. But the. percentage of those who can reasonably claim to be actually successful, in the sense of feel ing perfect immunity frum the dread of bus iness reveries, is so small, that it is idle to compare the averago farmer to any king whose throne is secure, and whose subject are happy. But for tho manifold natural advantages with which the reckless-Iy extravagant hand of nature has surrounded him, the Oregon tanner would be the most, pitiable and for lorn individual among the sons of men. One reason why this is so, is on account of his geographical situation. His principal pro duct, wheat, i further from the world's chief wheat market than that of any other wheat raiser in the world; and to make his burden doubly grievous to bear, he is, at present at least, compelled by circumstance "over which be ha no control," to raise wheat or nothing. There is no country in the world so good at ours for raising wheat, and none so poor for selling it. The wheat-raiser of Ohio and Illinois ha a wonderful and per manent advantage over u in not only the matter of local consumption, but in tbe di versified market which furnishes a many tided contribution to hi chance for ucce, enabling him to engage in other agricultural pursuits, in conjunction with mere wheat raiing. The Oregon fanner. however, is given no such opportunity as this. There appear to be, at present, no substitute for wheat as a staple article for production. I know I have fanner friend who will take issue with th terms of thi declaration; nut, nevertheless it is my opinion that there U no use to which good, productive, wheat land carl be applied that will pay a well a raising wheat, even at fifty cent per bushel. I nave in m mind's eye now. friend who will say this v tew of the situation is all wrong ; but I observe that tbev continue to raise wheat, all the same. I have a neighbor who has a field of 100 acres of the best wheat land in the Waldo Hills, (which mean the best there is in Ore gon) and three years ago, when the founda tion of the wheat market disappeared from view, he conceived the idea of "diversifying" his farming, o he "seeded" thi 100 acre field to grass, for hia milch cow. 1 was in that field in tbe latter part of the summer pf last ear, and abo of thi ear, and it is an absolute fact that there wa not enough grass on the entire 100 acres to sustain life in a hungry goat for fifteen minutes. It made his catUe tired to go along the fence and look in that direction. During these three years, that land would have produced two crops of wheat, which can be safely estimated at thirty and twenty bushels per acre, making an aggregate field of 5,000 bushels, which, at sixty cents, would have been a Igross income of 3,0U0, or 130 per acre. Now, excluding the farmer's own labor, which doesn't count in estimates of this kind, (since employment is what he wants and must have) this can be set down as mostly net income. But in pasture, what did be realize? Practically nothing. And the most discouraging feature is that his land is not now in suitable condition to put in wheat, for it must first be summer-fallowed, experience having proved that pasture land, freshly plowed, will not raise wheat. Thus another year will be lost. This is not by any mean tbe only instance where men have undertaken to "diversify" their farming, by turning their wheat land into pastures, and lost money by it. I know of many other. There are, in bit opinion, two reason why this is to, the cbiefet of which is the excessive dryness of Oregon summer. That very climatic blessing which guarantees us against disastrous cy clone and destructive stonns of thunder and' lightning, also ha an injurious effect on our struggling pastures, so that, ordinarily, from June until well, until April, the aver age pasture in the Willamette valley is a "delusion and a snare." This statement may sound strangely to ear accu-tomed to hearing of the "bnght, green, Willamette valley;" but I am not writing for mere fun; I am describing the situation a I see it every summer. An other reason why it is losing business to pas ture good wheat land, is that under the pres ent imperfect development of our industrial condition, the market for stock is not on) limited, but fluctuating, so that even if it were true that our wheat land could be made to yield good range for stock, the market for it would be uncertain and unsatisfactory. We are in exactly that condition where we are compel led to look to a foreign mar ket for the absorption of our principal pro duct, and it would be difficult to imagine a situation more undesirable. If, after mak ing this admission, anyone should ask what my remedy would be, 1 would simply give it up, not being in the remedy busines. That time, and the right kind of immigra tion will work a beneficent change, there can be no o,u-.tion, but it will doubtless be of small value to the present generation. Our condition is not likely to greatly im prove until we have a number of large and prosperous cities to supply with all the nec essaries of life that grow out of the soil; and therein lies our greatest difficulty, tho one obstacle which must be overcome before we can expect to realize our fond hope for "good times" that constitute the warp and woof of our "day dreams and song." The Kansas or Illinois farmer, who ha to contend for supremacy against the combined attack of the chinch bug, rust, cyclones, floods, drouth, blizzards, and the ague, (all of which we are permitted to escape) yet more than successfully competes with us, be cause he ha a ready cash market for any thing and everything that grows out of the earth and under the sun. lie not only has the beneGt of a large manufacturing city here and there, but of rival cities enjoying close and rapid railroad connection, each anxious and striving for the opportunity to furnish a market for all the produce he can raise. The farmer of Iowa or Illinois ha the privilege of assisting to supply the food for the immense populations of Chicago, Omaha. St. Joseph, St. Louis, Cincinnati, Toledo, Pittsburg, and hundreds of others too small to mention here, but each larger than the largest city in Oregon. The honte market of the Oregon farmer is limited to Portland and Salem. Just think of it! The Portland market is supplied by a few special gardeners living in its suburb; ind'-od, I saw there last month enough veg etables in tbe "canyon gardens," in the heart of the city, to supply it markets for three months. And as for Salem, tbe man who took coal to Newcastle wa exceedingly wise in his day and generation, compared to the farmer who would undertake or expect to sell anything there, aside from wheat. I know several families in Salem who make butter to sell the year around. I have now in the pen eight fat hogs, which I have desired to sell. On the 13th of this month I went to Salem to find a "mar ket" for them, and before I left town I had asked every man, woman, child and China man from the "Scotch mills" to the post office, and from the new bridge to the state house, to please buy my hogs; but I came home without a buyer. From all sides I re ceived the astonishing information that if I had come last week I could have sold them. I like Salem splendidly. I like its people and its institutions, its park and its drives, in fact. I, seldom go there without forming an ineffaceable attachment to the very mud that adorns its streets like an incipient ava lanche of unfinished cement a lasting at tachment that nothing will eradicate save a vigorous application of soap and water; while for the boulders wiih which the authorities annually deluge them at interval of injudi cious frequency, evidently to be used for im provised fortifications by the citizen-soldiery in case of foreign invasion, I have an admi ration born of speechless ecstasy. But as I rode home on the day in question, I thonght what a cheering prospect it was for the farming community, that Salem, the capital of Oregon, with the state house, the prison, and the asylum, the city of churches and the electric lights and the new bridge, had its demand for pork so nicely supplied that there was no possible room for eight more hog. "Last week," however, they could have been sold! Now, I desire to sav Wfore going fnrther, that I do not blame any business man in Sa lem for this conditihn of things, however much other fanners may do so. That "Sa lem has the meanest and most dishonest set of business, men on earth," I have heard Marion county farmers assert so frequently that I have come to suspect that naif of them think it the truth.' When I cannot sell my butter or hog or potatoes, or other farm produce, which is often the case, instead of abusing the dealer who doesn't buy it, simp ly because he can't sell it. I look further, and wonder he buys as much a he does, since nine-tenths of our population are producer. I hope to be pardoned if I find fault with the business class to which I belong for the insane hostility which it uniformly shows to ward tbe cities and towns, and the men who conduct their business. I have beard Marion county farmers, whose mental soundness was not otherwise questioned, employ them selves by the hour censuring the business men of Salem and Portland for the unsatis factory condition of our local, and even of our foreign markets; any projected move ment that promises to redound to the interest of those cities i denounced as selfish and ex clusive, and the conclusion is invariably reached that it is all to be done at the ex pense of the farmer. Tbe farmer who refuses to encourage the upbuilding of cities and towns whenever it is possible to do so, ought, to be consistent, to refuse to sow any grain on his acres of land after be ha prepared it for seeding, and he ought to urge, as a reason that thos throw ing his grain away, after going to the trou ble of raising it, is a direct wate of material. Suppose the entire human family were en gaged in agriculture. What if we had no cities and towns? Thejfarmer who nurtures a lifo-Ume grudge against his county town, or the metropolis ofhi state, and who looks' with suspicion upon, every effort made to promote their interests, ought to load bis farm produce on his wagon, and start to ward the Silver Creek fails to sell it. But be is not consistent, and therefore doe-sot do it. It is perhaps instinct, rather than intel ligence, that tells him be cant sell his farm produce among farmers, so he goes to find a market at the very place against which all his influence his been persistently thrown for twenty ears, and then growl because that market is scant and limited. This reflection contains a sermon worthy to be remembered by every farmer, because ever agriculturalist is a business rival of every other man similarly employed. His business friend is always found in the person who buys his produce, and since that person always lives in the cities and towns, it fol lows that whatever contributes to the increase of their population, and the advancement of all their material interests, also enhances the value of the farm ' and the prospects of the farmer. That farmers do not recognize this fact, properly belongs among tbe unsolved mysteries, tor when they antagonize the in terests of the town, they commit the same piece of suicidal folly that the laboring man ' does who is always attacking capital, and re gards it as his deadly and implacable enemy, when without it in some form, and generally the more "aggregated" the better, labor would be unemployed, quarrelsome and des titute. A large proportion of Marion county far mer entertain a feeling of hostility toward Salem, of which the ought to be penitently ashamed. This feeling is well illustrated by the opposition to tbe new bridge, which is continually finding expression among them, even unto this day. During this week, I had a conversation with an intelligent farmer, w ho pledged his word and honor that be would never again vote for either tho present county judge or the two commissioners, though they have been warm personal and political friends of hi for nearly forty years. The cause of all this ill feeling is that $15,000 appropriation from the county treasury to ward assisting in the building of the bridge. I remarked that I thought a free bridge across the Willamette would be a good thine for Salem. "Oh, yes," he replied; "it will be a good thing for Salem; but I am speak ing of we farmers." And then followed a long diatribe going to prove that but for Sa lem and Portland, the farmers of the Wil lamette valley would long ago have consti tuted one of the richest communities in the world. It is an absolute waste of time to argue with men of such limited range of vision; but I was reminded of the old adage, which speaks of the possibility of "saving at the spigot, and wasting at the bunghole." I can call to mind now, men who can not fiossibly muster together five hundred dol ars worth of property, but who will idle away hours at a time at the county store abusing the county court for making that appropriation, and declaring what fearful things they will do, if its members should ever again become candidates for office. If wages were fifty cents per day, some of thee loudest objectors could earn enough money in ten minutes to pay their share of that f l.'. 000; yet they will worry themselves into premature graves, the victims of a delusive belief that this county can never recover from ''that great financial mistake." Since Salem pay one-third of Marion county's taxes, it follows that the county proper will pay only $10,000 towards the bridge. This is the first time the county has ever been taxed to build anything strictly within the city limits of Salem, while for nearly forty years the city has been paying one third, or nearly so, of all the bridge ex penses of the entire county. This, however, has brought forth no complaint from the farming community, and very little from the town. The building of this bridge I regard as one of tbe most sensible enterprises ever under taken by Salem, and will be indirectly, per haps, a constant contributor to the purse of every fanner in Marion county. Any scheme or movement that promises to add new life, vim, push, and enterprise to Salem and its business interests, ought to receive the prompt and hearty co-operation of every tiller of the soil in this county, a the surest mean of upbuilding a borne market. A farmer remarked to me to-day, that what we want most is not to much an effort to build up our home markets, a to reduce freight rates on our railroads, to that we need not oe confined to our local markets. It is not often one find such a signal illustration of the "cart being bitched before the horse." While a reduction of freight rates, and the prevention of unjust discrimination, are things greatly to be desired, it is kot to be desired as a means of escaping from the boundaries of a local market. It ought to be, and would be, in one sense, one of the most fruitful agencies in stimulating local enterprises that would lead to a local de mand for the products of a diversified system of farming, and this would lead to agricul tural success. Above any and all other' considera tions, thi county needs a home market, and nothing else will ever furnish it permanent relief from the prevailing stagnation in busi ness circles. A a consumer of food, one laborer in Salem is worth as much to a Mar ion county farmer as two in Omaha, or Chicago, or a half dozen in Liverpool. In fact, if the laborer lives in Chicago, we will never feed him anything, for he i already employed furnishing a home market for the Illinois farmer. Lower railroad freight rates will never do us any good in that direction. Until we have consumers at home, we will not have them at all. Then let us, a farmer?, go hand in hand with our best friends, the cities and towns, and enconraire their growth, that ours may be assured also. One of the forces which it is allegod is operating against the interest of the farmers of Oregon, is our state law relating toases ment and taxation. The last session of the legislature appointed a tax commission, which has prepared a bill to be considered by that body next month. The proposed law provide for several vital changes in the existing one, which 1 should never favor, either by voice or vote. I refer to the prop osition to make mortgage and other forms of credits non-assessable, and to prohibit the exemption of indebtedness by debtors. This proposition may not be actually incorpo rated in the bill as reported by the commis sion, but in the accompanying report thejus tice of such a law is actually advocated. 1 see some of my farmer friends of tbe adjoining precincts of Sublimity and Lincoln are, however, advocating the proposed change, as though something of the sort were actu ally necessary to advance the interests of the debtor class. For my part, however, I can see no good reason for an alteration, and I feel constrained to repeat what I have had occasion to publicly declare elsewhere, that the present assessment laws of Oregon are as well calculated tomete out justice between individuals and the state as those of any other state in the Union. It is a grand trib ute to the wisdom of the members of our con tit ut tonal convention, that their work in I this line ha never been improved upon, and so tar as the basis upon wbicn tbey ground ed the underlying principle of our assess ment law is concerned, has left but little room for improvement. In fact, I believe the opposition to our present law is not so much to the law itself, as to the fact that its violation and evasion have become so common as to in a great degree render tbe law a far cical nullity in the statute book. But to overcome this, it appears to be a very un wise proceeding to repeal a law that m ad mitted to be just, and put in its stead one which, to say the most in its favor is a good lav baca use, and only becanse, men ct atp ital are, a a class, presumed to be dishonest, and conscienceless perjurers. The terms of the new lav, as proposed by my friends of Sublimity, say in ssbstafiee to the moneyed men of the state: "We have discovered by experience that you are a class of villainous perjurers, and since, under oar present law, yoawiU swear to a lie rather than pay your legal taxes, we will repeal tbe law roq airing you to pa taxes, to too. ma not be perjurers." . That is one way to prevent perjury. And in order to make it still easier oo the men of capital, these fanners go further, and say: "W e are not only willing that yoar mortgagee should go untaxed, but we will promise to pay taxes on property not our own, by agreeing to deprive ourselves of the privilege of deducting indebtedness from our assessable property. " From the unwise extreme of waging an injudicious warfare against capital which farmers often reach, this proposition goes as far the other way, and proposes an abject surrender to it, that would be both unjust and uu necessary. Why should not mortga ges and all other forms of credits be taxed? The theory of this new gospel is that money, as money, can be more generally reached for taxable purposes under the proposed law than ever. But why should money be taxed if notes and accounts are exempted? The note which any man holds is worth just as much to him as his money of equal amount; then why tbould the not both be taxed? If yesterday I was worth not a cent In the world, and A owned a thousand dollars in gold, and to-day I borrowed half of it, then to-day I am worth, in reality, no more than I was yesterday. Under the law as it now is, both yesterday and to-day A would have to pa taxes on a thousand dollars, because he was and is worth just that sum. My bor rowing 1500 made me no richer nor him any poorer. Then why should I pay any more taxes, or he any less, after the loan than before? Previous to the transaction, he paid taxes on $1000 in money; afterwards on $500 in money, and the tame amount in the shape of a note. Will any man say this is not a just theory incorporated in a just law? But it is claimed that, under the new law. credits not being taxed, capitalist will be more greatly dis posed to make an honest return of their money to the assessor. Then, in the case which I have supposed above, while A held bis entire $1,000, be would return nothing to tbe assessor, because it would be taxable: but after 1 had borrowed half of it, and made it untaxable, because it had assumed the shape of a note, then A would volunteer to disclose the other half to the assessor! Who really believe sj feebly supported a proposition as that? The Oregonian supports, ,nd has for years, the proposition to render mortgages untaxa ble, and in a recent issue, specially com mends the resolutions of my Aumsville and Sublimity neighbors, and declared that, "if mortgages are taxed, then the rate of interest must be high enough to compensate the mortgage bolder; and the money which the mortgage maker saves in direct taxation under the rule of exemption, he must pay in directly in the fonn of an increased rate of interest.' This might be true if money was always scarce, and not seeking investment; but the fact is, money is always looking for employ ment. Unemployed, it is a profitless as dirt, and for this reason it bears interest in different parts of the United States at rates ranging from throe to twenty-five per cent., irrespective of law. Usury laws have very little, if any thing, to do with the rates of interest. Men charge what they can and take what they can get. If, as The Oregonian asserts, money lend ers always add the rate of taxation to the rate of interest, then tbey would all charge the same rate of interest, because the taxes on mortgages falls on them all alike. But they don't do this, even under the same law. Some bankers in Salem never loan money for less than ten per cent., but others sometimes loan for eight; and all subject to the same rate of taxatiou. Then here is a case where the rule quoted does not apply, and there are hundred of case all over the State where money loan at eight 'per cent. If A claims that he is compelled to charge ten per cent, because of the two per cent, taxes hu has to pay, then who pays the two per cent, taxes on B's mortgage, when he loans his money for eight per cent.? And then comes C, and not finding a ready market for his money, oilers it for seven per cent. Evidently some body i not "adding tbe rate of taxation to tbe rate of interest." and thi special plea for not taxing credits apears somewhat thread bare. A tingle fact like the one contained in the last paragraph fully disproves all the fine spun theories of those who would thoughtless ly sacrifice their interests to those of capjtal by repealing the best clause 'in the state constitution. Their argument remind me of an agricul tural friend in Polk county, who sometimes write for the papers, lie claims that our protective law keep down the price of wheat, because in pandering to the interests of American manufacturers, they keep out English goods, thus rendering it imperative on vessels coming to our shores to come in ballast. He says if they could come loaded with English goods, their freight charges on them would enable them to make the return trip, loaded with wheat, at a greatly reduced freight rate. He says the freight on the wneat ha to be sufficient to pay the expense of the trip both ways, and, but for our pu tective tariff laws, wheat would' bring us a remunerative price. In spite of all which, we all know that at times ocean freight rates are nearly double what they are at other times. If our pro tective laws govern our rate of freight, why does not the same law always give us the same rates? And I have known wheat to sell in Salem for $1.40 per bushel under the very same law which my friend says is now the cause of its being worth only 63 cents. If protective laws are the cause of freight rates lieing up, why are they not always up? And if they kep wheat down, why is it not always down? The law doesn't fluctuate, why should prices? Fortunately the American people can see through these pet fallacies, and understand that if the demand for any given commodity is more than supplied.the price will go down, law or no law; and if the article is scarce, all the laws in Christendom cant make it cheap. This is a well known rule that applies to money, a well as to any other commercial commodity, and it cbeapnes will be deter mined rather by its supply than by any mere law governing it taxation. But the mere fact that farmers are begin ning to discuss these questions, and the in vestigation that always follow such discus sions, are "omens of a good sign." Intelli gent dicusion and searching investigation generally lead to tbe truth. It seem im possible, bowevery that we can reasonably nope to ever enjoy the advantages of a manufacturing population, and a resulting home market for our produce, to equal that of the Eastern States. There is too great a percentage of our territory that can never be settled and made to become tbe homes of "actual settlers." Marion county, for in stance, has now under cultivation almost every tquare foot of its soil that can ever be made available or profitable, excepting, of course, such timbered portions of the older settled sections a now conititotopartf of the farms already in cultivation. Tbe "clearing of these lands will be. however, by slow and almost inperceptible degrees, and will add very little to its productive capacity. So far a the average is concerned, Marion county may be considered finished. A much larger metropolitan population would, how ever, fomUh a stimulus for better farmicg. tltX eocU eatZy more tlaa donUe tbe'pres jnt at jtieate of its prod nets. Hmnau count is, in fact, an empire with in itsf. Ikirdered for nrly forty miles by the "Willamette river, wLLi ia crtcticall navigable tho year round, it k per It inde pendent of whatever "monopoly" t rail road companies ma undertake to exercwe over the tnuttspnrtatioo - eoertioo. This lovely river, which roes "onward enr, soft-. 1 caiiing to the tea," even freer and more unvexsd than when luring the primitive days of the " eus" and 'fiOs' its placid bosom funmfcel the only medium for accomodat ing the freight and passenger trafSc of Ore gon's honored pioneer. In the way of railroad facilities, this count is certainly superabundant! supplied, two lines of railway traversing Its lull length from north to south. Toe narrow ffauge road, running through its eastern section, is a great benefit to the fanning community, savins; them thousands of dollars annual in ths improved facilities afforded for market ing produce. For severally ears it seemed to oe "down at the heel' and was decidedly a losing experiment. During those ears, however, it ran only from Bay's landing to the Santiam riverboth its termini being in Marion connty. A crowd ot incipient states men were once assembled on Howell' Prai rie, and among other questions demanding their attention was the problem, "Why doesnt the narrow gauge railroad pay?" Various abstruse and philosophic solution were offered, but none seemed satisfactory, until an old German, who had been listening silently, paralyzed the entire assemblage by exclaiming: J,Mein GoUt Dow oorao he pay? He start nowhere, and he go no where r "Less could not be said more need not be said." Tbe narrow gauge is now growing rapidly at both end, and is running daily trains. The conductors and brakemen are now deprived of the former pastime of black berrying and grouse shooting between sta tion, and, having assumed normal railroad conditions, a passenger can be snubbed there as well as elseirbere. Considering all things frum an impartial standpoint, Marion county farmers ought to be happy and prosperous, and to a great ex tent are. Our disadvantages are slight, while our advantages are named legion, and the cheerful bequest of a bountiful nature, the extent of whose gifts to wayward man is so often disproportionate to his sense of grat itude. For salubrity of climate, productiveness of sou, variety of topography, abundance and excellence of running water, natural and ar tifical accommodations for transportation, wa ter powers tor manufacturing purposes, matchless quantities of endless varictie of timber, uniformly located, efficient public schools, counties church houses, and organ izations of all possible denominations, intelli gent men, pretty women, and promising boy and girls, engaing and engaged, Marlon coun ty stands unexcelled, and even unequalled by any other county within the broad domain of Oregon: and it judicious economy, per sistent industry, intelligent application of the best known methods of husbandry, pru dence, patience, virtue and honesty will in sure financial success and domestic harmony, we, the farmers of Marion county, will "get there, Ely, and don't you forget it." So there! T. T. Uker. Macxeat, Dec. 25, 1S85. P. S. Since writing the above, I have found a purchaser for my hogs, in the person of J. G. West, a Salem butcher. For thi act of thoughtful charity and kindly consid eration, hu name ought to, and no doubt will, no thundering down the ares as a friend of his country, and a lover of his race. If he is any relation to the West that- Horace Greeley had in mind when he rave his famous advice to young men, my admiration for that white-hatted old philosoper shall be broad as earth, high as Leaven, and lasting as eter nity." T. T. G. CAPITAL, LIHHCRIXO COMPANY. The Principal Saw and Planing Mill la this Vicinity. Tbi old and reliable company was estab lished in 1866. The original incorporators were W. K. Patty, J. II. Roork, J. B. For- sythe, J. E. Witten, J. M. McCaslin, John Hughes, and K. D. Towl. The South Sa lem mill of J. 11. Moore was consolidated with this company in 1875. It is the only extensive saw mill and plan ing mill establishment in thi vicinity. The average capacity of the mill is 35,000 feet in ten hour. Tbe company receives it logs from tbe fine choice timber tracts along tbe Luckia mute, in the Coast Jiang e mountain, and the manufactured article cannot be excelled in any marked of the state. Tbey make shipments all up and down the valley by boat and by rail. Tbey recently furnished the timber and lumber for the new wagon bridge across the Willamette river at this city, the filling of the order requiring 485,000 foeC The always keep on hand a rood stock of flooring, rustic, ceiling, step ping, and rough timber oral 1 descriptions. Also laths, pickets, boxes, etc. Tbey also have hi stock oak, ash and, maple timber. In the natural course of the business, thy make a large quantity of slab wood, the sales of which during the ear just closed, ha ye amounted to a trifle less than $3,000. Or ders for wood filled on short notice, and de livered to any part of the city, either by the single load, or families will be supplied by tbe year for a stated sum, at a cheaper fig ure than any other class of wood. V. K. Patty is president of the company, and A. N . Moore secretary and business manager. L. D. White i head sawyer, and in charge of the machinery department. Office and mill works at tbe foot of Ferry street. K. 8. LAMPORT. The Leading Harness beater and Maker of ftalem. On October 8 last, E. S. Lamport pur chased the harnes stock of Jordan & Son, at 287 Commercial street. He ha since pur chased the heavy stock of W. F. Lemon, at 232 Commercial street, and after to-day will concentrate the two large stock at his pres ent stand, 287 Commercial street, where from and after this date he will carry tbe heaviest and most complete stock of harness, saddles, leather, etc., to be found outside of Portland. It is his aim to make his store a perfect em porium of hi line of good. He intends to make prices on harness, saddles, etc., lower than ever before in Sa lem, and intends, by an energetic attention to hi business, to make his store one of the heaviest trade center in Salem. Competent hante makers will always be employed to do general harness making and repairing, ana his customers will be guara n teed perfect satisfaction in all work done. Mr. Lamport has been in this business, with the exception of two years, since 1869, in Salem, and every one who knows him can fully appreciate the truth of "these few remarks," and those who become acquainted with hint hereafter in a business way.wiU learn that what is said here is not buncombe, but "business." JOH KJUGHT. This gentleman i a blacksmith of long experience, and one with whom the people of this county have been acquainted for a number of years. He is prepared to do any work in his line that of gvr.eral t's kmith ing to the perfect satisfa iVn of Lis tisto men. Horses hoeing i made a specialty by Mr. Knight- His new shop m situated about midway between Court and Cbemek eta streets, on Commercial rtreet. R J. FEY. ; The Druggist and Apothecary An Enterprising Easiness Man. It is with pleasure that tide holiday issue of tbie paper notice the marked ad vancement made by IX J. Fry, Esq., ia the drug and apothecary business, in which he ia engaged at 225 Commercial street, in this city. Tbe interior of his store is elaborately finished, as veil as the exterior, with all modem improve ments in design that can possibly add to its beauty and convenience. The holi day branch of the stock displayed for presents was a very attractive feature in this beautiful store, which is exten&irely furnished with everything needed in the drag or apothecary line. Articles for the holidays were elegant sod neeful, and were selected and displayed with special r ef erenee to their utility, as evidenced by the extensive and gratifying trade this popular establishment received during this festive season. We are reminded by this that the energetic are usually reward ed, and the enterprise of Mr. Fry in es tablishing the leading emnorinm of med icine among na, entitles him to the de served and liberal custom he is receiving in his rapidly increasing business. There is something new and attractive constant ly appearing in this store to indicate the prosperity of the proprietor. There is another feature here that has not been mentioned, but to which espec ial attention should be called, because it is a great cause of success. At this late day a druggist should be thorough in his knowledge of this business. The art of pharmacy, tbe preparing, preserving and compounding vegetable, mineral or ani mal substances, for the purposes of medi icine, is one of the most important known to man. Not by any means second to the science ot the learned and skillful phy sician. Mr. Fry is a graduate in the art of pharmacy, holding a diploma from tbe justly celebrated Philadelphia College of Pharmacy. And we know of no one who stands higher as a pharmaceutist than Mr. Fry. He has an aaaistant in Mr. Herlert J. Fox, who ranks as one acoomplialied in in this art of pharmacy. This gentleman holds a diploma from the commitmioners of pharmacy of tbe state of Iowa, a very thorough institution, and ot Btate pat ronage. These qualifications secure to tbe physician and patient depending upon this store, skill and accuracy in the preparation of all prescriptions. And whether we find Mr. Fry tastefully fitting up his store or beautifying it for his cus tomers, or serving them as a druggist or pharmaceutist, he is ever the hkillfnl, thorough and finished business man. His great success is his beet recommenda tion in the accomplishment ot tbe pur poses for which his education, experience and good taste have so eminently qnali-. lied him. C0XSEKVAT0RY OF MISIC An Institution of Great Value to the City of Salem. The Conservatory of Muaic of the Wil lamette Uninereity was organized ' six yeas ago, and it has since met with ex cellent success, and an annually increas ing attendance. The present faculty em braces Prof. Thos. Van Sony, president; Prof. Z. M. Farvin, musical director; Miss Frankie P. Jones, principal of piano department; Miss Eva Cox, teacher of piano and organ; Miss Lulu Smith, assistant. Miss Jones, the principal of the piano department, has, besides having other ex cellent advantages, recently returned from a thorough course at the New England Conservatory, at Boston. Miss Eva Cox is a very painstaking and successful in structress, and Miss Hmith ia doing very weil with her pupils. Prof. Z. M. Farvin, the director, is u a teacher of eighteen years' experience. Besides being a teacher, be is an author of no mean note. Mr. Farvin has receiv ed training in voice culture from such in structors as Geo. James Webb, Carlo BssfTni, and Win. Ludtlen. He studied the piano under Wm. Mason, and W. B. B. Wattbews: and in Dermal methods of teaching, he had the advantages of such teachers as Palmer, Boot, Heward, and others. Prof. Psrvin is at present vice eesident for tbe Btate of Oregon ot the nsic Teachers' National Association. The above shows that the conservatory here is supplied with talent in ins tractors and teachers, that is equal to any on the Pacific Coast, as regards tbe teaching of piano, organ, voice, harmony, end musical composition. Diplomas are given when the course is completed For further par ticulars, send for catalogue of the Wil lamette! University, or address Z. M. Far vin, Balem, Oregon. GEO. W. J0HSS0N, Who Carries a fine Stock of Men's, Boys' and Youths' Clothing;. The gentleman whose name heads this is known to everybody in Marion county, having been in business in this county for the past twelve years, and resident of tbe county since 1847. He has been in business in Balem for the past four years, having been a member ot the firm of Johnson, Lunn, k Co. until its recent dissolution. Mr. Johnson, in tbe division of tbe business ot tbe above firm, took the stock of men's, boys' and youths' clothing, bats, caps, furnishing (foods, trunks, valises, etc., and will continue to carry as com plete and full a stock of these lines of goods ss can be found in the city, at 235 Commercial, second door from the corner of BUte street As stated above, Mr. Johnson is well known throughoBt this connty, and Y . personal qualities enter directly into Ls business relations with his cur: .3. He is s very courteous gentian", s of sterling integrity, ana one t' s Libcri- , ness as in every thing else, V 1 1 - He is assisted in the stco 1 LJ fa. Oscar Johnson, who is w J ae;iited with tbe clothing trade, and knows how to "suit" snd fit bis enstoaert, J. L. Norton Carrftlt. resWtag at Far Koeka- way. Queen x, K. T., was so crippled wlUi infLajamstory ssowatia, of tea years' sUnd intr, that i w crutcbe. lie wa ora- sieielr f c s" -swdrb' pills every Bktf ' . j wVjts. Vl W asuwer say written or .r i i. qa's.y'