Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1886-10-30
THE PROTECTED AMERICAN FARMER.

1t has been usual tor the Demo
Gratis to make a big fuss abOnt the
injustice and inequalities of the pro-
tective systepl inaugurated by the
Republican party, claiming that 1t
only builds up the manufacturer
and Injuries the farmer. Before this
can be prov ed to he true it will be
necessary for the asserters of sucb
a doctrine 20 show that while the
manufactur ing interests of the cOun-
try have be en- progressing agricnl-
ture has be Ell going backward. The
statistics, however, show precisely
the reverse. Under the operations
of the Merrill tariff the manufact-
uring and agricultural industries of
the American Union have advanced
hand IN hand, and with phenOme-
nal strides. The manufactures has
increased his productions, has given
employment to n largely increased
number Of hands and the number
of factories have been INCREASED in
such great ratio that the farmer
has been furnished with home mar
kets adequate for the sale and con-
sumption of his surplus products.
Not only is this so, but competition
among the manufacturers of the
country has become so sharp that
the farmer now gets manufactured
articles at one-half, or less, what
they cost him IN 1860 under free
trade Democratic government. And
strang &c to say the reduction in the
price of manufactured articles was
not attended with similar reduc.
ton in the prices Of farm products +;
but on the contrary the farmer has
received all the years the Republi-
can tariff has been III operation,
b etter prices than be got in 1860.
The increase in the number of
farms, farm-areas and production
from 1860 to 1880 was truly astound-
ing. In 1860 the number of farms
in the United States was 20i,40,
in 1880 the number was 4,00S,907.
In 1860 the improved acres were
1853, 10, 100, while in 1880 they
amounted to 2S4,77l,0i2. 1t will
be seen that under the protective
system of the Republican party,
which the Democrats said was so
ruinous to the farmers, the number
of farms and the acres improved
about doubled in 90 years. 1t is rea-
sOnable to suppose that not so many
men would have gone into agricul-
ture if it was not good and paying
business! In 1860 eight hundred
million bushels of corn were raised
in the country, in 1880 one billion
and seven hundred millions, an in
crease of more than 100 per cent
In 1860 the production Of wheat
amounted to 173, 104,92i bushels,
and in 1880 to AS, 1883, 137 bushels,
an increase of 1G5 per cent. All the
other farm products were CORE
spondingly increased under the pro-
tective tariff of the Republican
party. The old farmers of the
county all know how much better
prices they have gotten for their
products since the protective tariff
was put in operation. Our farmer
friends also know how much cheap
er manufactured goods are. They
can buy anything that is made from
iron for one-half, or less, what it
cost them in 1860, they can get cot
ton goods and wooden goods, every
thing in fact, for much less than
they had to give in 1860.
A distinguished Democrat, who
lives in one Of the New England
States, and is opposed to free trade,
in a speech in Congress in OppOsi-
ton to the Morrison horizontal re-
duction Tariff bill made this decla-
ration; "There is not q single arti-
Gle bought in the South, from the
wagon that draws the farmers cot
ton to the markets to the pin that
his wife uses, that is not a 100 per
cent. cheaper than it was fifteen
years ago. No matter how wrong
the principles of protection may be,
that is a fact
What more can the farmers ofthe
county desire than cheap manufact-
ured articles that they have TO buy.