The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1888-09-29

ItT Gent
Manufa wooden goods 25
Manufactures ofiron and 37Sg
Remember, these are the average taxes ON some
of the necessaries of life Taking few of the indi-
yidual articles in common use, find the taxes to
be enormous. Common wooden dress goods, costing
% cents square yard in average-tax, IL per cent;
common wooden shawls-tax, 81 per cent; common
wooden cloths-tax, 19l per cent; wooden hosiery
tax 20 per cent; fannels-tax ~ per cent; cotton
bagging-tax, 81 per cent; plain earthenware-tax,
IS per cent; window glass-tax sc per cent; lumber
tax, s. per thousand feet sugar-tax, so per cent
ree--taX 1l2 per cent salt-tax, s per cent.
The demand that such taxes as these should be
reduced is just demand. No wonder the farmer is
at standstill retrogradng when compelled to pay
such tribute as this to high protection" Bringing
the question right down to business basis shOudn t
the farmer no matter what his political views on
other subjects for reduction of the cost of the
necessities of life he uses every day. rather
than support policy which proposes to remove the
recently enacted tax on bogus butter, and make
whiskey and tobacco free? Why, the question in
wolves the farmers very existence Itcomes home
10 him like an arrow from Leni Lenape bow.
The farmer raises much more than this country
can consume and he must either sell the surplus in
foreign markets at foreign prices allow it go to
waste.
The manufacturer, on the other hand, is protected
by enormous duties on his goods He remedies the
evils of oyer-production by forming with his fellow
manufacturers trust; the arbitrarily forces up
the prices reduces the force of aborers and restricts
production. The farmer has no remedy like this,
the paltry duties his cereals and provisions not
admitting of it; nor would he be justified in using
such remedy. The high tariff works disadvanta-
geously to the farmer when he comes to trade with
other nations He sells his wheat surplus abroad
say 100 bushels at a dollar bushel. He wants wool
en- clothing in return but he knows that he can buy
only Sos worth because when he enters New York
harbor he must pay duty of e. per cent. on the
clothing which takes the remaining sS5. Hence the
farmer really gets only s65-or 6o cents per bushel
for his wheat But even if he sells his wheat at
home he is robbed in exactly the same manner Say
he sells his wheat. 100 bushels, the nearby MILL
and gets one hundred dollars for it. He goes to the
city and spends his 500 for clothing Docs he get
500 worth of clothing? Mary time" He gets
about SOS or SO worth Of clothes the balance goes to
the manufacturer because the high protective tariff
enables him to charge that much above legitimate
profit This is something should all think seri-
ously about, and. no matter what our politics, we
should try to remedy it far possible The only
hope see is to support the party which offers
remedy for these evils. The Republicans certainly
offer no relic for their policythe repeal of the in
nal reyenue-would make the necessity imperative
for continuing the present high duties for number
of years to come. Every man who farmed before
the war knows that since that time crops and pro-
duce prices have taken frightful slide downward.
lis NOT necessary to quote statistics to show this
The old-time farmer knows also that there more
general prosperity among farmers in the good old.
times than now. Then 1t was an advantage for the
farmer to have big crops of everything he raised be-
cause a big crop then did not mean a glut of the
market He could trade his surplus to advantage
in foreign markets. How different now
The other day was looking over some figures by
the census statistician, Gen. +. A. Walker that al
most took my breath away. They showed me that
high tariff not only makes the farmer pay big tax
bonus to the monopost but it is robbing him of his
only hope the foreign market The exports of cot
ton declined from SIP 100000 in 1880 to s2O2 100000
in 1856 the exports of breadstu (wheat, rye. corn,
e declined from s22s 900 in 1850 to s160O00000
in 1885, provisions meat and dairy products
from sls2 TO Sl0 00O and cattle sheep and
hogs from $4,000 600 to s14000,0O0. Corresponding
with this decline in amount of exports was steady
decline in prices 1fthese the benefits (D high
taxes to farmers the sooner he votes to have them
reduced the better
cannot better conclude this talk than by quoting
from the speech of that able statesman, Speaker Car
Isle like the way he puts TINS, ior IL comes ifon
a man whom you feel knows what he is talking
about.
What the American farmer most needs is a home
market in which he can purchase his supplies as
cheaply as his competitors purchase theirs and If
ne cannot secure this then he simply asks the poor
privilege of making his purchase where he is COM
peled 10 make his sales and to be permitted TO bring
his goods home without being compelled to pay un-
reasonable taxes and fines by his government for
carrying on a harmless and legitimate business. We
warf NOT not only the home market butall the mar
kets of the world for the varied products of this
treat country. We want TO send our agricultural
Produces our cotton, and our breadstufis and our
provisions to the naked and hungry manufacturing
peoples of Europe, and our manufactured products
10 the agricultural peoples of South America, Mex
leo and Asia. We can do this when we determine
IL trade with other people upon fair terms, but we
caunot do il so long protect England and other
fanfaeturing countries in the great markets of the
World llpor the pretense of protecting ourselves in
our own Let us diminish the cos. Of production
IN olr agricultural and manufacturing industries,
not By diminishing fhe wages OF labor PIT oy re-
dneiIir taxation upon the neccssar1es OF nie ana
non fhe materials which constitute the basis Of our
nshed products, aud by removing, as FAR as we can
the restrictions which enbarrass our people IN Their
efforts TO exchange the fruits Of their own toll which
they do not need for the commodities OF othercoun-
tries which they do noed.