The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1888-08-16
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FARMERS TAXED TO DEARH.
From the Boston Globe.
The protection shoe Pinehes all Round

Nv no tnat :lS OGllgeQ 10 seek us DTeau
within the heated walls and among the
dusty streets of city does not envy the
happy lot of the farmer at this season, as
:inshis rides aeross the country the eye
sweeps over the Yerdant panorama, dotted
with cosy homes and rich in thriving
fields
But what we're all the bounties of
nature to a farmer, OF any other man,
without protection? So the Republican
party, which Of course loves the farmer,
as it does the '.poor workingmau0 gener.
ally, kindly organized a system some
quarter of a century ago by which to
.prote ct this neg lected factor of the gener.
al commonwealth along with the rest of
us who labor. Itwas in times of war, Of
course, but the protectors of labor had
not the hardness of heart to withhold
their generous succor merely because
times of peace were upon us, and 80 We
still enjoy their generous protection
twenty four years beyond the times which
called for;it. And that we must pay for
what ne enjoy, to say nothing ofwbat we
do not enjoy, is as self evident as the fact
that the.tariH Acts Of 1864 imposed the
greatest measure of taxation that is re.
corded of any nation! in; history.
Behold, then, the happy farmer as he
rises in the morning and puts on his
:common4fannel shirt, taxed 95 per cent.
lis percnance cool and he puts on 9
coat, taxed s57 per cent. He cannot 60
without shoes, taxed 35 per cent, and the
hat that he puts on is taxed 65 per cent.
He draws water in q bucket taxed 30 per
cent, and washes his face aud hands in q
tin bowl taxed 35 per cent, drying them
ton q cheap cotton towel taxed 45 per
cent,
But atill. more happiness is in store.
He sits down to breakfast and eats from
q plate taxed so per. cent, with a knife
landia fork taxed 35 per cent. The sugar
he puts into his coffee is taxed 81 per
cent; and he seasons his food with salt
taxed 40 per cent. He looks fondly at
his happy wife and children who share
his protection with him, and then goes
out and fills his pipe with tobacco taxed
1872 per cent, or perhaps lights q protect
ed cigar taxed 118 per cent. Meanwhile,
ths smiling sun. streams through the
protected glass window of, his domicile on
,a.taxiof59 per cent.
The thrice happy farmer now takes old
Nell out of the stable and puts on bri-
die taxed 35 per cent. A. neighboring
smithy shoes her, using nails taxed so per
cent, driven by, hammer that is taxed
20 per cent. he then bitches her to
plough taxed As per cent, with chains
taxed 58 per cent, and proceeds to his
highly protected labor, (war taxes.
The days work being done he reads
chapter from the family Bible taxed 25
per cent, and kneels to pray on humble
carpet taxed 81 per cent. at last he
lies Gown and wraps his weary limbs in
sheet taxed As per cent, and sinks into
the arms of Morpheus under q blanket
that. is taxed s104 per cent.
Nor have his good Republican protec.
tors been 80 ungallant as to neglect his
wife and daughters. Even the broom
with which his good wife sweeps the floor
is taxed 80 per cent, and the cooking
utensils which the daughters are securing
after the frugal meal are taxed at an
average of42 per cent. The soda which
they use in tightening their daily bread
is taxed 59. per cent. Thankful to their
kind Republican protectors they all sit
down in the evening to sew with needles
taxed 25 per cent, and with thread taxed
"a per cent they make a calico dress that
is taxed So per cent. Grandma joins the
happy circle, knitting pair Of socks
with yarn taxed 120 per cent.
q Oh, the happy farmer - With the oil
.ofprotection his cup runneth over. That
he has not been killed with kindness ere
this is due to the tender mercies lof his
protectors, who here and there have di-
minished q tax. Yet, as stated and shown
by Prof. Taussig, of Harvard, in his
admirable little book, the rates on almost
all the articles with which the protective
controversy is concerned are still those of
the tariff Act of 1864, while protective
duties set down in the Revised Statuates
as having been fixed by Acts passed later
than 1864 show not a reduction, but an
increase over the rates. of the war tariff.
Who would not be happy farmer and
enjoy perpetually a war tax in time of
peace, such as no people ever endured
wvithsuch wonderful patience before, while
$3.50, 100000 Of idle surplus gluts the ma.
tional treasury. And yet, if deal ofun.
taxed light does! not illumine the Ameri.
can farmer as to how dearly he is paying
for the whistle'of over.protection before
next November, we shall be greatly mis-
taken.
Near Catarrh, in Chesterfield Coun.