The Valley Virginian. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1865-1895, 1888-03-08
Our Washington Letter.
ON THE FARMERS. MAIL CONTRACTS
IN THE 10TH DIsTRICT.-MlNoR ITEMS.

|i1o
ON THE FARMERS. MAIL CONTRACTS
IN THE 10TH DIsTRICT.-MlNoR ITEMS.
Especial Correspondence of the VIRGINIAN.l
After three months Incubation, the ban
taEl of the Democratic part OF the ways
and means committe has come to life.
The administration tariff bill is ready
And such bill. Instead of being COM
promise measure as promised, it is nothing
more or less that the initial step to free
trade, pure and simple. hear the Presi-
dent is delighted with 1t. And well he
may be. 1t follows near,y III the pathway
laid out by his EXcellency in that remark
able message of his, and is equally as un-
American. Like that message, too. it
will be hailed with peans of praise across
the waters, whilst in this country it will
crafty the mugwump element and GER
tain Southern contingency that remembers
only the haicyon days when free-trade and
slavery flourished side by SIDE The
startling part about the bill is that it
strikes at every agricultural product. and
yet claims to be in the interest of the
farmers. Wool is put upon the tree list,
as are vegetables, flax, lumber, milk and
farm products generally. The effect Of
such a policy may be shown by the cita-
tion of but few articles. For the year
ending Dec. 81, 1887. the total imports OF
wool were los. 139. 657 lbs. under duty of
10 and II cents per pound. Cut The duty
off and hundreds of millions more will
come in and drive the American sheep
raiser out of the market. During the
same year So, 473 .292 worth Of vegetables
came in there being 1881 .46s bushels of
potatoes alone, which paid duty OF Is
cents per bushel. How much will come
items the farmer will be robbed Of IA mar
ket Of $20, 600, 000 Then comes nearly
- 900, 900 worth of meats and dairy pro-
ducts, all Of which are TO be free Add to
this the depreciation Of market of over
| $40, 900, 900 on lumber, and millions more
on other farm products, and something OF
the ruinous effects upon the agriculturists
of Mr.. Mills measure, may be realized.
Besides there are free cement, copper and
| tin ore all kinds of clay, including kaolin,
ocher, lumber, lumber earths, and all min
eral substances In crude state. and met
ais unwrought, not specially enumerated
or provided for. Altogether $40 900, 900
per year, will not cover the loss to the
farming community from transfers to the
| free list But the free list doesn't COM
prise all. Tobacco is cut down to 35 cts.
when last year nearly e, 000, 900 were i'm
ported under duty of nearly double that
proposed And so it runs through all the
farm products. even the duty on peanuts
being cut down SO per cent.
Pig IRON, too, suffers the common fate,
the duty being reduced from S. ~ to Sc
per ton, while some grades of iron and
steel aud cotton ties are put on sthe
free list
Not enc word is said about the reduc-
ton of the internal revenue tax on tobacco
and fruit brandies, except that a sort of
indefinite promise has been given that
the revenue question shall have attention
| hereafter
The Morrison horizontal bill was admir-
able compared with this latest product of
Democratic genius Thank heaven, there
is not the slightest possibility of its ever
becoming a law. Not only is it ridiculed
| by Republicans, but Randall and his forces
denounce it unsparingly. tits useful only
in one aspect--to show to the country
what Democracy would do were the power
given it, AS Major Mckinley truthfully
said. it is curious piece of experiment.
ing, dangerous to every industry it
touches. and certain, if it passes, to bring
| financial ruin upon manufacturers and
producers all over the country, and with
out producing any marked reduction in
the revenue either The cutting off of
1 the revenue from articles transferred to
the free list. will be practically made up
| by the increased importation of articles
upon which the duty has been so reduced
that their production in this country will
be virtually prohibited.
| If the Democratic party dare stake its
| fortunes upon such measure. the Presi-
Dental election Will result in the grandest
triumph ever achieved by the Republican
party. But it will not be victory in a
partizan sense, for thousands who never
| loved the name of Republican. will flock
| to its standard to preserve their homes
and business from ruin, and to teach i'm
practicable theorists that this land belongs
| to the American people, and is not a Brit
| ish dependency.
| In the House. on Friday Genl Lee
made a gallant fight for his bill providing
for the payment of $4,000 to the Theo
logical Seminary at Alexandria, that being
the amount owed by the government for
rents, &C., during the war. He was as
sisted by all of the Virginian members
and won.
The House has commenced war on the
Gould system of telegraph. OnSaturday,
on practically unanimous vote-there
being only four members recorded against
it-Mr Anderson's bill requiring the sub
sidized Pacific railroads to construct and
operate public telegraph lines which shall
be Independent of existing telegraph mo-
nopolies, was passed.
Among the measures of local interest
introduced during the past week by the
member from the 10th District, were
Bills for the relief of Jacob Warwick. of
Augusta; Benson H. Goodloe, of Nelson,
war claims; A. M. Cooper, pension; Citi-
zens of West Virginia protesting against
a reduction of duty on coal: citizens of
Atwood. Amherst county, asking in
creased compensation to 4th class post
masters, and petition of the letter carriers
of Stanton.
oe