Wichita eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1886-1890, 1888-08-30
FARMERS NOT FOOLS.
a Basketful of Free Trade Chestnuts
Disposed OF.
From the Phi,ada,nh,a Press.

. | ldIueI De1nR Cd4ou ID per CeuI Ou III
flannel shirt, 81 per cent on his coat, etc
Incredible as it may seem to intelligent
people, the Democratic national commit
tee Is insulting the intelligence OF the
farmers Of this state by circulating the
explodedrelic of free trade argument.
under this tariff the farmer rises in the
morning puts on his common flannel shirt
taxed So per cent; his coat ktaxed 81 pei
cent; shoes 81 per cent; and hat taxed 9.
per cent; takes water from the bucket
taxed 35 per cent: and washes his face aud
hands in a tin bowl taxed 30 per cent:
dries them on cheap cotton towel taxed
IS per cent.
HE sits down to his humble meal and
eats from a plate taxed so per cent; with a
knife and fork taxed 35 per cent; drinks
his coffee with sugar taxed at bS per cent:
pepper taxed 81 per cent.
HE looks around on his wife and chill
dren, taxed in the same way; takes chew
of tobacco taxed 1873 per cent, or lights a
cigar lis per cent. And sir. even the SUM-
light from heaven that pOurs into his
humble dwelling must come through win
dow glass taxed SO per cent, and yet he
thinks he lives in the freest government
under heaven.
''Then he starts to work; puts bride
taxed 30 per cent on his horse, takes his
horse that has been shod-the nails used
in shoeing being taxed 50 per cent, driven
by a hammer taxed 10 per cent-and hitch
es him to pillow taxed 40 per cent, with
| chains taxed at IS per cent, and after the
days labor is closed and his family are all
gathered around, he reads a chapter from
! his Bible taxed % per cent, and kneels to
God on an humble carpet taxed 81 per
cent; and then he rests his weary limbs on
a sheet taxed As per cent, and covers him
self with a blanket that paid 1O4 per cent.
Even the broom with which his good
wife sweeps the floor is taxed 30 per cent,
and the cooking vessels used In preparing
the husbands frugal meals are taxed 42
per cent, and the soda used to Tighten his
bread taxed SO per cent. She sits down to
| her sewing machine with a needle taxed
% per cent and spool of thread taxed "a
per cent to make a calico dress taxed IS
per cent; or if she wishes to knit a warm
pair of socks to protect her husband aud
children from the bitter cold she uses yarn
| taxed 120 per cent"
| The object of this shallow circular is
to make the farmer believe the free
| trade theory enunciated by Grover
Cleveland that the price of the domestic
product is increased by exactly the
amount of the duty.
Here is the practical outcome of the
concentrated wisdom of the national
committee. A common flannel shirt
costs in England IS, cd, or 81 cents. The
cost here would therefore be nearly
double, or $1.6S. The actual price is 81.
A common suit of clothes costs in Eng
land 30s, or $3.50. The cost here, there
fore, would be $3.50. The actual cost
is $3.50, same as in England. An all
wool $40 suit such as that exhibited by
Major Mckinley, costs just So, or $40, in
London.
49, In England common boots costs Is, or
(S1.50) and fair ones los, $3.50. Instead
of costing one-third more here the price
is $1.25 for we'll made brogans and $3.50
for fair boots.
A IS. Cd ga cents hat in England can
be got here for 81, and does not cost
nearly 50, as asserted.
A tin bowl costing 10d., or 20 cents, in
England can be got here for about the
same price, or at most % cents. On the
other hand kitchen utensils as a whole
are cheaper in this country than in Eng
land, our ingenuity in making such ar
ticles being greater than in England.
A cheap cotton towel in this tax rid
den land, quality for quality. costs Jess
here than in England. The Press can
prove this to the satisfaction of all Dem
ocratic liars.
The lie about thread is a stale and I'M
profitable one. Here is what the Grafton
linnen mills, who have places on both
sides of the Atlantic, say on the subject:
1--WE sell a large proportion of the pro-
duct of our mills at Grafton, Mass, at
prices that are as low absolutely as
prices obtained in Britain for similar
qualities made at cur mills in tombstone,
Scotland Wages are 100 per cent.
higher.
All knit goods are cheaper here than
in England, especially jerseys such as
women wear. So are the commoner
grades of stockings and socks.
American farming implements Of all
kinds are exported and sold in COMPETE
ton with English. They are better,
more ingeniously made, more durable
and cheaper than the farming imple-
mentS of any country in the world.
American cutlery is imported by and |
sold in England. Does not this prove
that the price is not higher than English |
cutlery? Pottery and window glass cost
one-third what they did when we de-
pended on England to manufacture these |
articles for us. The difference in price |
today is not the duty.
Sugar is a Democratic industry and |
ricn taxed 102 per cent is carefully !
ignoree The Republicans repealed half |
the internal tax on tobacco in 1888, and |
would have repealed the balance last |
session only Speaker Carlisle refused to |
recognize Judge Kelley for this purpose.
What folly therefore. to talk about 1919 |
per cent on chewing tobacco. In free
trade England the workman pays 1000 |
per cent on his tobacco.
Blankets vary in cost here from 81 to
s. pair. The retail price in England is
practically the same, and the blankets
favorably: that is, pair of So blankets
would cost 81, its equivalent in England.
The government, in a recent purchase of
blankets made abroad. discovered that
the difference in the price was only 80
cents pair.
A calico dress can be bought in this
as low at six cents yard, a sum
equivalent to the duty. If the price is
increased by the amount of the duty,
calico dresses cost nothing In England.
Yet the people 20 ragged. The fact is
they cost more in England than here
And this is true of all staple cotton
goods. A stuff dress can be bought here
as low as ten cents and the duty is
seventeen cents. Thus on the theory
that the duty is tax" in England
these dresses are given away and seven
cents yard bonus for taking them.
An example even more astonishing is
that in the fact that while chloroform is
subject 10 duty of 80 cents a pound, the
article is selling IN this country
for 81 cents pound. or actually for -
cents pound less than the duty.
Turning RI hardware we find the pres