Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1882-04-11
are about


haul in their wheat for the goods on
corpulent old gentleman who lives across
the ocean and who has a great many
cotton factories, in which he EMPLOYS
''pauper labor" appears. ''Hi, therep
he says; 81 want some of that wheat:
have too many cotton goods and too
little wheat" and so he makes a bid
which is so much better than that which
the American cotton manufacturers Of
fered at the beginning that the American
farmers rub their hands with delight.
and nod to each other, and say that com
petition is the life of trade, and that it is
a chang up" thing for them that John
Bull wanted wheat, and good thing for
him thai they wanted cotton goods.
Finally, after some negotiation, bar.
gain is struck and John Bull agrees to
take half of the 35,O00,000 bushels of
wheat, paving therefor SIS, zoo. 900 in
cotton goods S., 800, 900 in cash. The
American cotton manufacturers say they
will take the other half, and give as
much as the farmers get from John Bull.
John brings his cotton and his cash over
here, but is met at the landing place by
a representative of Uncle Sam, who tells
him that in order that the free labor of
the United States may not be ruined by
competition with his pauper labor, he
must pay duty averaging thirty -eight
and one half per cent. on the value of his
cotton goods, and John Bull finds that
this will take precisely the cash which
be had for the American farmers. John
did not bargain for any duty on his
goods, so he tells his customers that if
he pays the duty they will be minus the
cash, and that if they pay it they will be
simply taking the money from him with
one hand to pay it to Uncle Sam with
the other. Whichever course is taken,
the farmers get from John Bull what was
$50, 200, 900 worth of goods; Uncle Sam
gets $5.600.000 in revenue. and the
goods, after they get into the United
States, are worth $21, 900, 900, because
they have cost that much. So much for
the present for the transaction with John
Bull.
The American farmers take the re-
naming half of their wheat to the
American cotton manufacturers, and get
from them precisely the quantity in
goods which they got from John Bull,
the value of which is called $21 ZOO. 900.
And as they deliver their goods to the
farmers the home manufacturers nat
their customers on the shoulder and say
''See how benefcent are the operations
of the tariff. 1t has enabled you, with.
out feeling it, to contribute nearly So
100000 to the support of the govern
ment, and it has secured good prices to
US, by which we are enabled to keep the
wheels Of industry in motion, employ
thousands of persons and maintain a
ceaseless whir of activity"
The farmers GO home and begin study
ing the question. First it occurs to them
that they received more for their wheat
because John Bull wanted it, and then
they begin to figure how they would be
affected provided there was no tariff.
Clearly they would have received the
same quantity of goods and SIS, 800 900
in cash from John Bull, and the Ameri-
can cotton manufacturers would have
had to pay them the same
price in order to get the wheat or
they would have sold it to John
Bull, who intimated that he would be
glad to take all the wheat they had on
the same terms. Now if they had OBJ
tanned the John Bull price for the entire
5000 900 bushels. they would have re-
ceived precisely the same quantity of
cotton goods as they did under the ope-
ration of the tariff, and $11, 900, 900 be-
sides. They could pay SIS, 800, 900 for the
support of the government and still be
50, 800, coo in pocket, equivalent to about
16 2-3 cents per bushel on their wheat.
The farmers lay their case before the
cotton manufacturers and want to know
why they should be deprived of this
So, 100000 "Oh," reply the cotton
manufacturers, this is for the benefit of
home industry. We pay our workmen
and workwomen such high wages
(please don't say anything about the
Pacific Mills strike and the beggarly
wages which the owners of those mills
want to cut DOWN that we have abso-
lutely no profits ourselves. If we sell
any cheaper-that is, give you any more
goods for your wheat-we shall have to
pay wages as low as those which John
Bull gives his pauper labor"
The farmers return home for further
investigation of the question. Just about
this time the census returns come out.
''Now," say they, 1--WE will see what this
wages question amounts to-" Examining
all the statements they find that the price
paid for labor in the manufacture of
$21 900. 900 worth of cotton goods is less
than $4.000,000. A light dawns upon
them. What a colossal fraud this
system of so-called protection is"
say they. eff we are permitted to buy
and sell where we can do both
to the best advantage, we can with our
$4,000, 600 bushels of wheat obtain all
the cotton goods which we do at present
pay the government the full equivalent
of the duties it now receives, pay out of
our own pockets every dollar to the
American workingmen which they now
receive for the manufacture of goods to
the value of $21 ,000,0 600 that is, we can
support them in absolute idleness at the
magnificent wages which the cotton
manufacturers pay them-and still be
$1,S00,000 ahead.f