The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1888-08-04

this is not true, but that, on the contrary,
labor in the English cotton mills costs more
than IL does In New England, How then
does the protection they enjoy work ?
Why this way: All the cotton mills OF
the country are combined in trust; !"
goods that England could bring here and
sell, but for the tariff, for cents the trust,
having As per cent protection, put up to s
cents. That this price may not be dis
tur5ed by competition among themselves,
they limit the amount of production, 80
that the market 10 never ovsrstocked,
Then the full measure of the As per cent.
protection they enjoy is to the cotton man
ufacturers clear profit. No wonder that the
average profits Of the great Now England
cotton mills, lin prosperous times" are 22
per cent!
The New England wooden manufactur
ers are 10 the same happy situation. The
recent report Of Consul Schsenhot 70 our
state department shows that With free
wool, chemicals and mordants, (such as the
Mills bill would give them), the American
wool manufacturer can produce for $63 81
exactly the same goods that 10 England
cost $1,000 to produce. Yet our wool man
ufacturers do not want free wool. why
Because at present they are combined In a
huge trust. They have As TO 70 per cent
protection" On the class Of goods they
manufacture they put up the price just
high enough to keep out English and
French goods, limit the production to the
demands of the home market, and there
fore "have dead sure thing" Of profit
of from 40 to so per cent. on all the goods
they make. Not being able 10 makea GER
tain class of fine cloths at all, for want of
cheap Australian and South American
woods, they let England and France supply
US annually with $5OOOO,00O worth of such
goods, which they themselves with free
wool ought to make, and for which we pay
$50, 100000 year in tariff duties that help
nobody.
And so we can 60 through the whole
list OF down East industries: the boot
and shoe men, the India rubber trust, the
leather trust, the plate glass trust, the iron
and steel trust, &c, &c. All are reaping
vast profits by reason Of the tariff. leading
to com bina ion, Limitation Of production and
the extinction Of competition; while with
but . moderate reduction of duties they
would be compelled to enter into competi-
ton with European manufacturers, and
this the statistics show they are not only
able to do to the extent Of
keeping thej foreign products out of our
own country, but of competing with Eu
rope In the markets of the world, at the
same time cheapening the goods TO our
own people and vastly enlarglng our home
labor market.
But by the present arrangement all the
Eastern manufacturers, who are milking
the COW, are growing fat and sleek-roll
Ing In wealth and luxury, while the farm
ers Of the West, who are feeding the COW.
are growing poorer and poorer. Statistics
show that within the last 25 years agri.
cultural values have shrunk 40 per cent,
and this while every other sort Of property
has been on the rise. Twenty-Five years
ago wheat averaged, year by year, $1.40 to
$l.60; last year 1t brought 80 and this year
will perhaps bring ~ cents. Pork, beef,
corn, &c, show the same decadence. At
this rate, how long will 1t be before our
farmers, like those of Europe, are little
better than serfs?
And what In return for the millions on
millions year it costs the western farm.
ers TO feed the COW, do they get In return
They are promised home market. The
high taritfites have been getting ready to
provide that home market tor many years,
but II doesn't come. Prices TOR farm pro.
ducs are running lower and lower, and
more must be exported each year to find a
market elsewhere. Meanwhile the farmer
Is permitted to pay high prices for protect
cd goods, and to sell his grain and meat at
prices fixed for him In Liverpool. 1t Is
pleasant enough, no doubt, for the manu-.
facturers to have home market which IL
at their mercy. But combina-
ton among the farmers is out of the ques
hon. 80 they must sell their crops for
what they can get, and pay for their cloth
Ing, farm implements and other necessary
articles the prices fixed by trusts, combina
tons and protected monopolies of every
name and grade. How long-oh, how
long?