The Valley Virginian. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1865-1895, 1884-05-22
IA Not DacaiYad.

cOnSLILIlLG lnaIOFIty
try, earnestly endeavoring to make them
believe that q high tariff protects thein. IN
this hope lies their only chance for vlctory-
This task of deception ought TO prove dlmcuit
one. The farmers ought to know that as they
are the consumers of nearly every article on
which tariff is laid, that ii is they who have TO
pay it; and it comes out of the farmers pocket
and goes into that of the manufacturer. There
fore, the higher the tariff the more the farmer
as to the harder ne wll nave 20 WORK
low tariff, properly adjusted, is the great need
of The farmers OF this country.-Spectator.
Last week, in pointing out the benefit OF
a protective tariff as it affects the farmer,
we Showed how our agricultural friends Of
Augusta were robbed this year of over
5000 by reduction of the duty on wool
Ia single article Of the farm product. To
day, we give some facts and statistics COM
piled from thoroughly reliable sources.
which we trust the farmers of our county
and others will carefully read and think
over. 1t is because many-nay, the major
ity-of those who are most affected by the
laws do not keep themselves posted in re-
gard to them. that gross impositions are
practiced, and political demagogues reap
the benefit whilst the people are made to
suffer. /, Every voter should feel concern
enough, in legislation to keep himself in
formed upon all subjects in which his in
terests are directly involved. It requires
bnt little time to do this. Every man who
will, and has ordinary capacity, can with
little Inconvenience ( acquire sufficient
knowledge to make up an intelligent opin-
ion upon all matters that pertain to his in
diyidual welfare. If he;would do this, and
then exercise nerve and independence
lin adhering to the dictates of his judg-
ment, the days of demagoguery would be
numbered. and the advocates of free
tradeism would be relegated to deserved
Obscurity. e. In ei5.;4tils.st3 ~ 5s55..
Every supporter of the British policy
seeks to impress the farmer wlththe belief
that protective duty robs the land to en-
rich manufacturers. that the farmers
products are IN no way enhanced in value
by the tariff. but that the custom rate inn
posed upon importatlons is just that much
added to thefllrice of the goods which the
farmer is compelled to buy. They meyer
make known the fact that the tariff laws
impose direct protective duties on nearly
every article OF agricultural production.
Let the farmers glance over the following
list and see if they too are not interested
in maintaining, the tariff. The rates of
import dutieson some of the farm products
are as f0llOWse Wheat, 20 cents per huShel
wheat flour, copper cent; corn, oats, rye
and barley, 40 cents per bushef; potatoes,
10 cents per bnshel.; wool, 10 to IL cents
per pound land but for a Democratic Con-
gress itwould have been II to 20 oents)
hay, s. per ton meat, cent per pound ;
Live stock, 30 per cent those for breeding
pnrposes are admitted free !; butter and
cheese, cents per pound. and SO on. But
THAT is not all the. iron ore with which
our lands are ulderlaid, is protected by a
duty of rs cents per ton, and but for that
duty scarcely q ton of 1T would be mined
the timber that makes up our grand
forests is protected by duty of from 20
to'35 per cent the kaolin or china clay for
4 Which, aug uptt IN Adop SHlHliiS al CIV thutC
reputation, is protected by q duty of $3
per ton, and but for that duty these de-
| posits would be left untouched the beau
tiful marble with which our hills abound
| is protected by duty of 6 cents per cubic
foot. etc. In short, nearly everything the
farmer raises nearly everything the land
produces, and nearly every treasure nature
inner muhiicence has lavished upon Vir-
ginia, is enhanced in value and walked
into activity bya Republican protective
And what has been the effect Of that
tariff on the purchasing value Of farm pro-
ducts !? Compare the prices realized for
grain, cheese, hutter, &c, now with what
they were under. free-trade, and then COM
pare the prices of the manufactured arti-
Giles which the farmers use for the same
period. The table below has been COM
piled from actual records and its figures
are indisputahle,, Column No. shows the
average prices in FIVE free-trade years end
ing in 1850; column No. 2 shows the aver
| age prices in five protective tariff. years,
ending in $780, Let the farmers read for