Fayetteville observer. [volume] (Fayetteville, Tenn.) 1850-1966, 1873-05-29
Thursday Morning, May 20, 1873
The Protective System.

We find from our Western ex-
changes that the farmers through
out the great West and North
west are organizing, through the
instumentality of societies called
Oranges" the object of which is
TO bring the power of combination
and co operation to bear against
the evils of the protective sys.
TEN, which it appears they have
discovered, (better lale than
never, to be the true cause of the
depressed condition of those whose
dependence for a livelihoodis upon
the fruits of agriculture. 1t would
seem as if the farmers of the West
had determined to be no longer
the dupes of the political buck.
sters in our National and State
Legislatures, who are the paid a.
gents of Northern capitalists.
Recently Ex-Governor Donnel-
ly, of Minnesota, took occasion in
addressing a Farmers Grange at
Hastings, to impress upon his hear.
ers the tact that the burdens of
the protective system were bear
ing down upon them more than
railroad discrimination or extor-
ton. His speech has been wide
ly circulated and is opening the
eyes of many who have heretofore
been bind to their own interests.
Governor DOnnelly submitted
facts and figures that show how
this jaw by which few are au-
thorized to plumber the many, op.
crates:
He told them truths which
ought to be known and understood
of all men who are going daily
lower on the downhill-side of
prosperity, as the victims of laws
made to enrich and protect" pi,
rates and piracy. He read pa
per signed by the principal mer
chants in Hastings, in which they
state that "the amount of pur-
chase made by farmers has fallen
off during the last five years one
third to one. half; that is to say the
farmers are evidently economic.
ing in every way, making smaller
bills, and buying only the neces-
saries of lite" This, of course, is
one of the proofs and Consequence
of steadily declining prosperity
What is the cause Off? The speak
er said, with no less truth than
force, "Unjust laws have driven
the farmers of the whole country
to the wall, and diminished their
means Of existence one-thirG or
one half. This of course signifies
a shrinkage of the entire business
of the country to the same extent.
The laws of the country and the
monopoly power they create and
protect" have been bent to i'm
poverish the people, and now they
have skilled the goose that laid
the golden eggs"
When will our farmers begin
to consider the operation of these
new slave laws? Here are a few
significant facts:
A sewing machine costs for
work and material Sl2. We pay
$40 for it. The same machines
are exported to Europe and sold
for $50, after paying freight over
the Atlantic. I found in the Bel
fast Ne1rS of Dec. 4, 1872, the
advertisement of the "Singer"
sewing machine for 96 los, about
$3.50 of our money. We pay
the difference of nearly $40, under
our patent, for being the most pa
tient and gullible fools that ever
pretended to a capacity for self
government.
Mccormick gave evidence in a
law suit recently that reapers cost
$50 to manufacture. We pay
nearly $500 for them.
The threshing machines for
which we pay 500, could, am
Informed, be built for 500. And
50 of all other implements.
In part, this is the effect of our
unjust patent laws; in part, it is
the effect of the purchasing power
If wealth amassed by means of |
those laws upon venal Congress-
men; and in part, it is the effect Of
that robber-device called a pro-
tective tariff. The Englishman
has free trade; he, therefore, can
buy an American made sewing ma
chine for $50; for which the A
merican, living next door to the
protected" manufacturer, must
paw more than double that sum. |
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