Devils Lake inter-ocean. (Devils Lake, Ramsey Co., Dakota [N.D.]) 1884-1905, 1888-09-15
POLITICAL DISHONESTY.

meSOI 00ASoy tu0 u0W 0OAVOS vi tAA0
Turtle Mountain Times, devotes con.
adorable space in his first number to
old Democratic chestnuts on the tariff.
In one place he says:
You pay $l2 for a suit Of clothes now.
which under q Democratic tariff would
cost you only Is.
This is founded upon the Cleveland
theory that the amount of the duty ID
added to the cost of an article-atheory
which is as dishonest a. it is untrue;
a theory which has been exploded time
and time aigain. What ID meant by "a
Democratic tariff is free trade; that ID
to say, remove the tariff from wool and
the competition that would follow from
English manufactures would bring the
price Of a suit of clothes down to hall
the present price. That is the Demo.
cratic free trade theory. The fact is,
clothing is as cheap here today as it ID
in England. This has been demon.
strated and is not denied by any Demo.
crat who cares TO preserve whatever
reputation he may have for veracity.
The reason for it is that close compe.
tition and improved machinery at home
have cheapened the price Of all articles.
How would "a Democratic tariff" re.
duce the price of a 4l2 suit Of clothes Ia
$6 without reducing the price Of the
labor required to make that suit ia
exactly one.half the present rate oi
labor? The weight Of the wool in the
average suit Of clothing is four pounds
The duty on wool is IS cents pei
pound-$1.40 duty on a whole suit. Il
it were true that the duty On an article
is added to the cost of that article, the
S12 suit would be worth 5000 undel
ga Democratic tariff'-that is under
free trade-instead of 46 as claimed BY
the new editor Of the Times, who draws
his inspiration from Cleveland's mes
sage; but while it is not true that the
duty on an article 10 80 much added tt
the cost of that article, it is true thai
the demand for wool grown by the
American farmer is diminished by thu
exact amount of wool imported from
abroad to be manufactured into cloth
ing.
&.
Now who is the friend Of the Ameri
can farmer-the political party which
has put wool on the free list, with
out any guaranty of cheapening wooler
manufactures, or the party which insist
upon protecting the sheep raiser at hom'
by maintaining q home market for hi
fleeces and does guarantee that tn
price of clothing made from thos,
feeoes shall not exceed the price Of
similar article made from wool grown il
a foreign country and brought to thi
country free Of duty?
So muchfor the Democratic free trad,
cry about protected robberies" and y
suits of clothing under "a Democratic
tariff" If the editor Of the Times ant
his free trade co.laborers who ar,
working for the success Of a party
which has proven itself unequal Il
the emergency Of making laws 70
the government Of a progressive pee
pie, were honestly striving to benefit tn
American farmer, they would advocat
the encouragement of a home marke
for every class Of produce raised upoI
American farms. But they are not hon
estly striving for anything of the kind
They are striving for spoils and politics
power at the expense Of the workin
people, and they have given Great Brit
ain a first mortgage upon tho industrie
Of this country to accomplish their pur
pose.
Stripped Of all subterfuge and exposes
to the sunlight Of truth, the Democrat
position is this: "You pay 912 for abo
no,o, Which under a Democratic tariff w0ul
cost you only S."