Shepherdstown register. [volume] (Shepherdstown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1849-1955, 1888-05-25
THE TARIFF AND THE FARMER.

Hon. VIM. l.. Scott, who comes
from the high-tariff State of Pennsyl-
vania, spoke in favor of the Mills tar
iff bill in Congress last week, and
among other things said
Let us suppose case in my own
State: Let us take, say, the Edgar
Thompson Steel Works, located at
Braddock, on the Pennsylvania rail
road, ten miles east from Pittsburg
and 47S miles from Chicago, employ
ing large number of men. Contigu-
Gus to these works lives an industri-
ous farmer with hundred acres OF
land His products consist of wheat,
corn, oats, hay, hogs and cattle. His
proximity to these extensive works,
where his surplus products can be de-
livered in an hour, and where thous
ands of hungry mouths are ready to
consume it, surely gives him an ad-
vantageous market, according to the
protectionist's theory. But let us see,
let us take one of the products Of the
farm as an example of the others, for
they all come under the same law of
supply and demand and price. The
man in the iron works cannot eat
wheat: it must first be reduced TO
flour; so the farmer takes load of
33I bushels of wheat, just one ton, to
the miller, who is also on the railroad
and near the steel works.
Now, let us see what controls the
miller in making a price TO the farm
er: first. self-interest, TO purchase it
as cheap as he can; second, TO buy
the farmers wheat at q price which
after being ground into flour will en-
able him TO sell it to the mill men in
competition with -four sold by the
grocery man at the corner, which has
been manufactured at st. Paul or
Minneapolis Minnesota, leaving him
(the miller a margin of profit for
grinding and his labor Surely the
miller cannot pay the farmer any
more for his wheat because it was
raised on land adjoining the steel
works; he can only pay what he
would pay for the same quality OF
wheat in the Chicago market, plus
the cost of transportation to his mill.
The miller explains the situation TO
the farmer and gets his wheat for
that price, or probably less, because
the farmers market is restricted prac-
tically TO the local mill. But where
does Chicago wheat come from?
Where is it grown and what law of
values determines its selling price?
1t comes from the great regions OF
the Northwest; Is grown upon the
rich and fertile prairies Of that see
ton, upon land that can be had for
the asking, or at most at Il cost OF
from 50 to S15 per acre. upon land re-
ouiring no barnyard 10 make crop,
and where the straw is burned in the
fields "a the easiest and cheapest way
of getting rid of it. The price in the
Chicago market is determined day by
dav. if there is not a corner" in
wheat, by the price at Mark Lane,
London.
The farmer at Braddock, after sell
ing his wheat. returns to his home
and family. He had bought his farm
at q cost of 800 per acre, made pay
ment in cash upon ii, from the saw
ings of years of toll and labor, secured
the deferred payments by mortgage,
hoping that by his labor and industry
upon his farm and its favorable loca-
ton he would make money enough to
meet the interest and pay of his
mortgage at maturity. He has sold
his wheat at 80 cents per bushel,
grown upon land which cost him 800
per acre, sown and harvested this
wheat by labor for which be had to
pay from SIS TO s1S per month and
board, and after the taxes upon the
land and his help are paid, and other
debts connected with the raising OF
his crop are settled, he finds that both
ends will not meet; that the price he