Between 1899 and 1911 the value of an average acres output of such crops increased 70 per cent. while its power to purchase the things the farmer buys was greater by 42 per cent. There has been a general upheaval of price. to be sure. but the price of farm produce has risen much faster and further than the price of other commodities. This is " the high cost of living." and it Is immigration that has made this imp shoot up faster in the United States than anywhere else. As long as good land lasted our Government stimulated agriculture by presenting a quarter section to whoever would undertake to farm wild land. This bounty overdid farming. until. In the middle of the nineties. the cost of living had reached a minimum. With the ending of free land. the upward turn was bound to come. but the change was made more dramatic by the inpouring of 10.000.000 of immigrants without the knowledge. the means. or the inclination to engage in farming. Among us there is 1 American white farmer for 14 American whites. 1 Scandinavian farmer for 8 Scandinavians. 1 German farmer for 11 Germans. 1 Irish farmer for 40 Irish. but It takes 130 Poles. langarians. or Italians In this country to furnish 1 farmer. Failing to contribute their due quota to the production of food. these late comers have ruptured the equilibrium between field and mill and made the high cost of living a burning question.
Identified stereotypes
Generalization that late-coming immigrants lack the knowledge, means, or inclination to engage in farming, thus rupturing the equilibrium between field and mill and making the high cost of living a burning question.