, 1870-03-28
How Excessive Duties Affect Wc~tcrn
Wheat t:roWerAs


The price Of wheat,-thc great commercial
etarlc Of tl.is country next to cotson,-is.
equally with that Of cotton, controlled by its
ltice in European markets. Cnter whatever
..ytttm N OF domestic economy. therefore, it NAV
he produced. it mnrt lc cold, both at home and
ahluatf under conditions Of absolute and un1e-
rtric,ca free rsde,-that ia to say, 1t = prize
Which measures very nearly its coet. Now. il
We ran get for our own wheat only What il costs
rtEcr nations to produce theirs, and send It to
market, We must bc driven out OF al markets
lut cur own, ulilets We can compete with them,
in lis production and transportation, On equal
tet1ns.
The low price CT wheat now prevailing il not
owing to abundant crops Of our own, 30 much
as to the improved means OF transportation
recently introduced into the great Nhea,-srow-
ing countries OF Europe, especially in 1sussia
fnd Hungary, which enables these countnca
ret uuly to fcnd forward their produce coon
ever We ccn,e in competition with them, We
have thus rot cnly lost the advantage which
cur railroads and eAuAla-wotks in The con-
knuctian Of which We were. fora time. far in
advance Ct all other nAticns-forme1ly Sc
cured to W. hut we have now. with no Better
rivals, the disadvantage OF being
compelled to bring our grams
irtm districts situated reme 1900 miles from
the scabcul, and frum distances, inland, far
ereat.r ,l:an tEo>e with which our rivals have
10 contend. T1,ese Advantages are ay uomeans
Tic only way, therefore. In which We can re-
cover tie e,cnnd we have lost. and naintain
the position We once ertoyed, is by an impor-
tcit reelection III the cnst Of rEuauctiou and
t1sn>rcrtaticn. The "fAuper labor Of Eu-
1sre.' fF. eA from I'll burdens but cost, is too
much for that Of our farmers, loaded and
Eaurered ty charges Which excessively in
trcase tho rcet Of these products without &C.
turing to tilt m any compromising advantage
III return.
Cnoer CTR rrceent talifI the farmer in this
county rave fcr ali the implements Of agzicul-
trrc a SUN nearly twice greater than their cost
The cost Of the grades Of steel which enter
largely III The msnufactu5e of P'oNs. roape1s,
mowers. ard siulilar implements, average S7a
Ter ton, gold, or $50 cents Ter pound. The
iresent duty is 225 cents, gold, ger pound, OF
EtGiO DIR ton. The other charges oil impotta-
tion equal Sl1.in. gold. per ton. making the
excess Of prize to ur. over coes, s6l.sa, or s6
r.r cent, A similar comparison OF the cost
of ircn III this country and in England
torld show equally to our disadvantage.
In other words. the implements Of our Agri.
culture cost us nearly twice what they should
AID nearly twice what they do our foreign
competitors So in al matters Of tf1nepoEta-
tion. Iron rails cost in this country. SAY. e5i.
Ter ton. Their coet In England IS only 80
Fer ton. The excess Of cost TO us i 80 pes
cent. Steel rsils cost in England eis. so , in
The United StateA, ISL. or 20 per cent more,
1l.r cost at repairs OF locomotive engines il
t1ns county equals Is cents per mule run !; u
trgland seuts. Tho coet Of maintenance Of
Tss, ns!nains iron. equals in the State
rer nile run; ; in England IL cents. The COS,
4 o. Ie1asnE tLe railroads Of New York fol
!rSs cgnAlitd sl.C6 Per mile run by the trims
~ - 5IHsIaLa Ice cost Of the sa,ne service equal