Mexico weekly ledger., 1888-06-28
Cattle VS.. Wool.
To Editor of the Ledger.

To Editor of the Ledger.
MEXICO, Mo-, June 22.-The
attempt to convince cattle raisers
that their interest lies in paying
duty, bonus, bounty, blackmail or
tribute in any shape to the wool
interest is pretty badly mixed in
spite of the promise to adhere to
facts.
Facts are stubborn things and
will not march to the call of Mr..
Hathaway's bugle. Ifhe will ven-
ture on an ltemized statement of
either of the Jumped items going
to make up the $3.50, 100000 i'm
ported in 1887, so confident am |
that large proportion will appear
as whatathe farmer consumes and
not what he sells, that Mr.. Hatha-
way failing, I promise to hunt
them up for the benefit of my side
of this controversy. They should
have been presented at once, if
within reach. In the meantime,
like Mr.. Hathaway, fearing that
some may be misled, please quote
these extracts from Secretary Man
ning's report sent to Congress in
December, 1886: "While our war
tariff rates, prolonged after twenty
years of peace, have been choking
off our manufacturers from success
full competition in foreign markets
with the products of nations who
do not tax raw material, we have
deemed foreign markets for the
surplus product of our farms as
sure as seed time and harvest. Our
command of them we have deemed
unassailable. They are in peril"
Again, Mr.. Manning says: "It is
actually the war rates of the war
tariff of the last generation under
which we are now living. The Nor
rll tariff of 1859 to 1861 was 1884
per cent war tariff of 1862 to 1864
1885 per cent, and present tariff
46.07 per cent? Now, as to the
show farmers get of this protection,
granting all that Mr.. Hathaway
claims, and any one who has read
his article will see that the average
farmer does not profit by duties
laid Oh flax, hemp, sugar, rice, to-
bacco, ETC., for he is a consumer.
Still, without these exceptions the
exports were s666, ,OOO,CC0, four
and one-hale times as much. The
farmer is asked to submit to be
hampered and crippled in this
trade, of which Sc. per cent. is his
product and only IA per cent. man
ufacturers' in order that the manu-
facturers shall have home trade;
and in the meantime European
trade, both English and continent
al, is seeking and finding other
parts of the globe that will ex-
change wheat and beef for what
they have to dispose of, ,and Ameri-
can farmers are forbidden to take,
under penalty of fine of 46 per
cent. for the privilege oflanding in
a free country. Free, indeed, for
monopolists and schemers, and op-
pressive and tyranical to the toilers.
In these days, when money meas
ures everything, even the ability
to conduct war and the great mill
tary nation of Europe is kept at
peace simply by poverty. Farmers
must wake up to the fact that they
are furnishing, not receiving, pro-
lection +; that the money is being
drained from them and that the
manufacturing States are holding
mortgages on the Western and ag-
ricultural States; and I repeat, that
they are very stupid if they don't
think of this matter carefully and
refuse to. be persuaded to submit
to exactions for benefit of any class
Or section-by-the-way, it was the
exceptional, not the average farm
er that was first called stupid. Mr..
Hathaway gives the lie to the
stump orators, but | must accept
the situation and repeat after them,
most positively, that there is no
over-production of cattle and until
Mr.. H. shows some stronger fig
ures controverting the same, | do
not fear reasonable men being
frightened out of the business be-
cause the calves are gaining a lit
tie on the babies. Not at all doubt
ing the welcome that the babies re-
ceive, | venture the assertion that
, l.iost any farmer will be willing to
take care of ten times as many
calves as babies and not feel crowd
ed either.
The low price of cattle can be
accounted for otherwise, and it is
good logic that having found a suf-
ficient reason there is no need to
look for a second. Cattle prices
are depressed, first, by our in
ability to trade with those who want
them, except under the 46 per
cent. disadvantage; second, by the
collapse of ranch speculation with
borrowed money. The capitalists
closed in on the men who did the
work and forced them into
market in bad condition and in
much larger quantities than is
usual; and other capitalists, al
though Mr.. H. says it is absurd,
are huviny and holding for a rise