Maryland independent. [volume] (Port Tobacco, Md.) 1874-current, 1888-09-07
Protection and Farming.

ing testimony given September Nj
1888, by an intelligent farmer bebr
the Senate Committee on Education IN
Labor. Senator Call Of Florida aske
the witues.:
"Will you tell us how a protect,
policy makes a man a good armcrg
The answer wa:
1T helps to make him a proftabI
farmer, aud he cannot be a good farmc
unless he is aproftable farmer. Their,
fore | say protective policy does ten
to make him a good farmer hay
looked into the matter ofmy own invest
ment Of capital in my farming and al
satisfied that ! am correct about il.
IL own farm Of 700 acres, $40 acre
Of il in forest and 400 acres under cult
walton On these latter 400 acre.
raise wheat, rye, oats, corn, hay, app ~
watermelons, pumpkins, green corn
crgs, pork, and good many othei
things. put to myself the question
whether it is better for me as a farmer
that VIC should have Protective polict
in this country or Free Trade, and
considered it aud counted it up in dol.
lars and cents. / said, what have in.
vested here in this farm? First, therH.
the land; next what implements and aids
do | require to work my farm success
fully? The first thing find is that
have seven horses for use on the farm.
| put that item down, estimating VIA
those horses are worth Then | 6nlI
base seven sets Of harness and a. : =
set. and put those down at their val
| have three lumber wagons, and YI
them down at cost. Then have tire
yoke Of oxen and 50 many carts, andl
put them down at what they cost; tho
| look at my plows and harrows, aud
put them down, and also my mo S1
machines and reapng machines anl
Whatever other machinery or implemeHs
| have, | put them all down and sum Up
their total cost, and opposite to that | st
down the increased cost of those things
to me, over and above what they would
cost me if | had the privilege of buying
them free in the markets of the world
under the Free Trade policy,-I say,
this is what these things have actually
cost me, and that is what they would
cost if | we're free to buy every one If
them in the cheapest market in the world,
and the difference is the increased cost
which | have to pay because of the tariff. /
Then begin again with the list and |
ask, would | buy these horses in Eng
land or in any foreign eountryf And
the answer is, | raise them myself and
would raise them in any event, and if |
did not raise them | certainly would not
90 so far from home to buy them, SO
that free trade in horses would be of no
benefit to me, | ask the same questiOp
about my oxen, and the answer is TIE
same. Then ! come to my moving I'll
chine aud my wagons, and iud
The cheapest and bsst-wagos
world are made here in America,
the sameis true Of thesmewiag aiaehit
and the other machinery and implement
use; and | find on the whole that Ii
margin | would save as farmer, IN tbe]e
things, if we had Free Trade, would be
of very small benefit to me.
Then | pass to the things which J.
would or might buy abroad. | might
buy my harness cheaper in a foreign
country than at home; but every good
citizen has an interest in seeing his neigh
Dor thrive, and if | do pay little more
for my harness at the corner Of the cross
roads than | would have to pay for it
abroad. | have the satisfaction of see;
ing NY neighbor, the harness maker, do
ing well and of seeing his wife aud chill.
dren better fed, better clad, better edu.
Gated, and provided for in every way,
from the products ofhis labor, than PEG.
pie in that line of life are provided for
in any other country in the world
"Oue fmy farms is III Duchess Coun-
ty, five miles north of Wappingers Falls
and six miles south of oughkeepsie.-
That little stream, Wappinger river.
rolled on for ages, no man knows how
long until under the influence of the Proz
tectiye policy dam was erected, facto-
ries and mills were bcilt, and a popula-
ton grew up around those factories and
mills. In the same way in Poughkeep-
sic a blast furnace was erected and that,
drew an additional population; and so |.
find that my 400 acres of land between
these two places, while as farm it ma,
pay me only ) per cent on the capital in.
vested, has actually increased 100 PEI
cent in its value as real estate, owing to
the establishment of these industries At
these points and the home markets they
create Thai is the general advantage
| derive from Protection
Let me illustrate now the advantage
of this home market in The profitable
management of my farm; One of nv
men comes in and says, | want SO