Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1882-03-23
TIE FARMERS AND THE
TARIFF.
CONG FRESHMAN AINEN'S REFLEC.
TIVE AND FORCIBLE SPEECH.

In the House Of Representatives on the
9,h instant, tho Agricultural Aprropria-
ton bill being under discussion, Congress
man Aiken urged that the bill be amended
50 as to allow the commissioner Of agricul-
turc TO distribute new aud valuable seeds
and rlon's to prlciicnl isrncrs, instead Of
supplying Them to Senators and Congress
mcu for distribution lie said:
Moreover | cannot understand why it
should be the duty, the privilege, or the
pleasure Of member Of Congress to Gis"
tribute seeds OF any sort to any person.
do not doubt but that every Congressman
is sufficiently circumspcct to be fau:i!iarly
acqnaiDtcd with the most successful far
mcrs in his district, even though said dis
trict be situated in the midst OF ono of our
large cities; for who knows every man he
meets, or even thusc he mover met before,
better than member of Congress purticu.
larly when grave results nrc anticipated on
the first Tuesday in the following November?
Why, sir, these diminu,ivc little seed bags,
containing perhaps the onc-three hundred
and-scvcuty seventh pint Of some rare and
valuable seed, botanically known by some un-
pronounccsb!c name, DOUBTLESS familiar
however to the member Of Congress-, are
potent to effect results in the future They
are as ctfcativc as tho famous tissue ballots,
which after having served the term of
patented existence (sevcntcen yc,rS) in
Iaukco land, is rcpu,ed to have sought an
extension away down in Dixie.
With reference to the appropriation OF
1000 for experiments in the culture and
msnufacturc of tea, Col Aiken gave Il his
tory of The SummcrvIiie, 5 c., tea farm.
showing that the unfavorabc report of Mr
SaundcrS is "fnll Of living prciuIcc, vented
spleen gnd distorted fsc,s." lie said we
should not hesitate to appropriAtn liOcraIy
annually for the development of this new
industry, for its prospects are favorable, far
more so than was the development OF cotton
culture II century ngo. aud yet We export
annually over $500 ,OnO,Ot0 worth nf raw
cotton and consume one third as much in
our home manufactures. Col Aiken
showed the contrast between the monetary
protection given ty the government to ug-
riculturo aud commerce and said We
speak of agriculture, commerce and manu-
features rs handmsids of each other, the
three constituting symboio trinty of the
first nation in the world to day llcrcto-
fore our Government has not fostcrcd ag,i-
culture. We have protected commerce to
death, aud We havo thrown riches in the
lap OF manufacture, until this third hand
maid has become the mistress of the Ian
Why, sir, manufactures no louccr usl aid
at the hands OF tho Government; they
simply lay hold upon protection and retain
it until they exact in one sh,pe or another
hundreds Of millions of dollars annually
from the pockets Of the people Tor the
benefit of mere brigade Of men. Would
that had the time now and here to re.
view the history Of our varied manufactures.
1t would DO pleasant tor me aud profitable
for this House 1t must suffice, however,
that for few moments trace tho origin
and progress Of but a siuglc one Of them.
TO be concise | shall conino my rcn arks to
tho iron industries of tho single State Of
Pennsylvania and simply state tho facts,
ncontrovcrtiblo facts, taken chiefly from
tho statistical reports from the Census Blu
rcau Of the iron aud steel protection Of the
United States.
PENNSYLVANIA PLUMBER.
Rccaptulating the figures ho had given,
Col. Aiken said:
These figures arc startling and will bear
repetition; so allow me to rccapitulatc,
itcmizing the total product Of the United
States, the total duty, and Pennsylvania 3
share CT each. In tho United States ID