The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1885-12-04
NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.
The Farmers Congress Asks for a Res
tOratiOn Of the Wool Tariff,
And FayorS the Recognition of Agricultural
Interests in the Presidents Cabinet-An
Appropriation for Preventive Measures


The Farmers National Congress met yesterday
morning in its second days session. Springer
Harbaugh, of st. Paul, offered resolution that
the next annual meeting of the congress be held
at St Paul, which was temporarily laid upon the
| table.
| The consideration of the resolutions offered by
| the committee was resumed The first of these
| was as follows:
! Resolved, That the Farmers National Congress
recommend to the Congress of the United States that
the of So 600 600 be appropriated to stamp out
contagious pleuropneumonia among cattle wherever 1T
exists That the present animal industry bill be
amended to put the execution of the bill into the
hands of competent committee of practical business
| cattlemen.
The resolution was discussed by the president,
| and by Messrs. Conner, of Indiana; Cockrell and
| Dlbbrel, of Tennessee, and others, and finally
| adopted. Like action was taken with a resolu-
| ton asking for law regulating interstate COM
| merce.
| Mayor McMaster was introduced and made
| brief and happily -worded address of welcome,
| after which Colonel N. N. Cox, of Tennessee,
delivered carefully prepared and comprehen-
sive address on Banking and Transportation"
| A long discussion, which was continued over
| to the afternoon ensued on the following resolu-
| ton:
Resolved That the Congress of the United States
be requested to restore the tariff duty upon wool to
what 1t was In the year 1880 the act then in force
I Messrs. Smith of Kentucky. Fort of Tennessee
| and Whitaker Of Kentucky spoke, opposing the
| resolution, holding that it was absurd for farm
| ers to ask protection for the product when a
large of majority of them were in favor of free
| trade on everything else
| Nv LET 60 hn
| resolution said:
81 am not in favor of high tariff, but an
equitable tariff on wool, such as is contemplated
by this resolution. If the tariff seems high
that kind of a high tariff. The adjustment
of commercial relations with other
nations must depend upon the organic
| structure of those with which such rela-
tons are to be sustained. With equal social and
political conditions of other nations with our
own, could not any reason for arbitrary
| laws interfering with the natural laws of trade
but our foreign competitors have not only dis
| turbed, but struck down natural rights in their
! organic structure, and an equal race under the
main tanned by arbitrary provisions, and hence
| tariff at all on anything. Now what l mean
by an equitable tariff is this: The larger part of
| the competition in the production of wool is
| with those countries where the iabor-a large
part of the cost Of production--is about 16s
cents per day. With the ballot in every mans
| hand, with social and educational systems.
| IN this country, we cannot employ labor at that
| price. And that we cannot is due the fact that
we have incompatible institutions-an incom-
parable country. But in countries of Europe,
with whom we have to compete, they are bur
dened with what the historian Gibbon de-
nominates the insolent prerogative of primo
eeniture, the laws of descent and entail,
tr..' which a great brood of evils flow in their
social svs- TENS In short, their landed political
| and social sys1e.os so,degrade labor as to take
from it its legitimate fruits. and so they can pro-
| duce wool with 183 cents per gay labor To COM
| pete with that unequal start In the race Of life
and trade we put a tariff on wool to restore tho
equilibrium in production and trade, and to pre-
serve our diversified industries and protect the
| dignity OF labor and American citizenship To
duction and trade between the States, because
| here all men stand equal under organic
| structure for the race of life
81 am old enough to remember when, under
certain experiment the fires went out and the
! spindles stopped their hum of industry, and
| when the court and sheriffs hands were laid
| heavily upon the industrial establishments of
this country. 1t has been said that if wool grow
| ing was not profitable our people could turn
| their attention to other pursuits. But gentle
| men, under that policy we might become the
| feeders only of the world and your rich mines,
| forests and raw products would lie idle or with
| out competition in fashioning them, you would
! pay transportation on crude products abroad
and return transportation taxes on manu-
| featured goods. Not only so, but
with no home competition, what assurance
| would you have that prices would not be greatly
| increased upon the articles we should be bound
| to buy Yes, we can turn attention to some
other pursuit If the ones desire to follow
| are Improbable, but that means national paral-
| ysls and death. Let US, in this instance demand
| the restoration of that duty which was the mar
gin of difference in the cost Of producing wool in
| Europe and America, occasoned abroad by the
| factors have mentioned"
| A member here remarked that it was nonsense
| to ask Congress to influence foreign governments
| to relieve the embargo on American pork and at
| the same time to place high tariff upon their
| WOOL
| D. L. Thomas of Indiana, said the gentleman
made the mistake of regarding the embargo
| placed by France and Germany upon American
| pork as fax. 1t was not a tax, but they dis
| eliminated against it being unhealthy.
France and Germany had no wool to sell to u.s.
| Upon the roll of States being called on the
resolution, each State represented being entitled
| to vote for each United States senator and
| member of the House of Representatives, and
| one for each agricultural college, the following
| was the result:
| yeas IA. nays 2; Iowa, yeas o. nays d; Kansas.
| yeas III; Kentucky, yeas 6, nays z; Minnesota
| yeas 8; Mississippi, yeas 9; Missouri, nays II;
New Jersey, yeas s. nays s. Tennessee, yeas g.
nays g.; Virginia, nays ID Total 169 yeas; d.
nays. The resolution was declared adopted, amid
great applause.
The question of the place of holding the next
annual meeting taken up Irus Coy, of Chi
cago presented the advantages of that city:
Colonel Beverly, of Virginia. presented the
name of Richmond; j. B. Conner, that of Indian
apolis, and j. Bookwalter, St. Paul. Mr.. Book
| walter said that the buildings of the fair ground
between Minneapolis and ST. Paul will be at the
service of the congress, and that after the meet
| ing there they would be given a opportunity,
without cent Of expense, to see the State from
St Paul to Duluth, then along the Northern
Pacific and on the st. Paul, Minneapolis & Man
itoba railroad
The last proposition was accepted, and the date
fixed Aug. 25 1885,
Fielding Beeler, of haywood, presented an in
vitation fl ON the Union Railway Company for a
trip around the Belt and visit to the Union
stockyards. The invitation was accepted, and