The weekly north Iowa times. [volume] (McGregor, Iowa) 1857-1867, 1867-02-20
The Tariff.

~ may cuTpilSc uiOet VI OuI EcoucTS W
learn that the article below is from the
columns of the Chicago Daily Tribune of
Saturday, Feb. 10th, 1867. The Tribune
as an advocate of Western commercial in
terests, has recently discovered that New
England and the other manufacturing
states of the eastern and middle portions
of the Union are disposed to make the farm
lnborers Of this country mere scrfs and
Notwithstanding every concession has been
made them in the shape of an increase of
duties at every session Of Congress, yet,
like the horse-leech of Scripture, they still
continue to cry ''Give!" ''Give !"
Wealmost hope thatthe editor who is hon
est and capable enough to write and print
the tcrse and convincing article which fol-
lows may ere long bid goodbye to many
other New England fallacies, which, un-
der the plea of conscience, have already
well-nigh destroyed our country. Let the
farmer who reads this give it the most
careful thought and decide who has been
his friend in the past. The Tribune virtu-
ally says the protective policy advocated
by its party friends is nothing but down
right robbery. We believed it years ago.
THE "HoxE MARKET" rALLAcY.
The advocates Of a 20 per cent tax upon
the industry of the country, as proposed in
the pending Tariff Bill, having been driv-
on in the argument from one position to
another, and knocked from pillar to post,
have taken refuge at last in what we may
call the Home Market subterfuge. Stated
briefly, their argument is that the farmer
is SO much interested in creating home
market for agricultural products that he
can well afford to pay seventeen dollars for
ten dollars worth of goods until that year
of jubilee shall roll in. A short answer to
this argument would lie that it is the same
as saying that it will be profitable in the
end for the farmer to raise corn and hire
somebodyeito eat it, because ultimately
these parties will eat his corn for nothing.
It makes no difference, practically, wheth.
er the farmer sells his corn for seventy pei
cent less than its value, or whether he pays
for his goods seventy per cent more than itt
their value. In either easel raises his corr
and hires somebody to eat it.
But there is broader answer than this
Whensa man has thing to sell, he desires
the largest possible number of customers
for his article. When he engages in bust.
ness his first inquiry is, Glow many peo.
pie will buy my products?' He prefers
to have ten customers rather than one, and
hundred rather than ten. The home
market fallacy proceeds upon the assump.
ton that it is better to have one customer
than ten. Worse than this it assumes
that, having one customer sure, it is best
to drive the other nine away with club.
The American market is tOlerably we'll &C.
cured to the Amer lean farmer, and he is
now advised to drive away, in round num-
bers, about one thousand millions Of peo-
pie, in all parts of the world, who might
otherwise be bidding against each other
for the surplus. The mode Of driving
them away two-fold. By fixing our laws
so that we cannot import anything, VIC
prevent ourselves from exporting any.
thing. Foreign nations cannot take oui
products unless we take theirs in exchange
''But they can pay us in gold" says some
body. No, they cannot. A clipper shir
loaded with grain for foreign port, can
not come back loaded with gold. There
is no profit in that. Having no return
cargo, the ship remains in the foreign port
and engages in commerce between coun
tries which have commercial relations
And when our foreign market has beer
wilfully destroyed by the penal Legislation
Of Congress, we hear people dcnouncin,
foreign nations because they will not buy
our grain.
Again, the home market sophistry re
I'D sk.to IF sr,I
prices, which renders it difficult or impos
with farmers in other countries in raisin,
grain, notwithstanding nature has givel
him very great advantages over othc
countries in producing grain-so great. il
fact, that not even the penal legislation o
Congress can prevent US from raising ,
surplus Of agricultural products. Thi
surplus, be it great or small, fixes tn
price Of the whole crop, and always will
The price Of the whole crop rises and fall
according as the foreign market rises ant
falls. L has always done so and always
will. The great graudsons Of the farmer
Of Illinois viii not live long enough to sex
this state Of things reversed, no matter how
!. high tariff may be enacted. Keeping
this fact in view, and bearing in mind the
other undisputed fact that manufactures
are actually declining and diminishing I'M
der fifty eight per cent tariff, although
they 6onrished and Increased under 4 tif
teen per cent tariff, the American farmer
can form an estimate of the length Of tim'
he will be required to hire people to 60
: his corn, and the probable rate of wage'
be will have to pay them for service.
: The House Committee have reported il
favor of 81 SOC. 300 to improve the naviga-