Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1888-08-15
NOT PROSPERING.
Farmers in Free Trade England Having
Hard Times.
From the Milwaukee wisconsin.

From the Milwaukee Wisconsin.
A great effort is to be made in the
present presidential campaign to win
over the farmers to the support of
| Cleveland and free trade. Generally
the rural districts are strongly Repub-
lican, and they are relied upon to coun-
teract the unwholesome political infu-
| ences that are engendered in large
towns and cities. Horace Greeley once
said that if the Republicans of the state
OF New York were not cheated by the
Tammany Hall repeaters and ballot-box
suffers in the city of New York more
than $4,000 votes, the Republicans could
easily carry the state. The outlying
counties could always be relied upon
to overmatch any ordinary amount of
fraud in the great city, but sometimes
the "ine work" of the Tammany lead
ers was too much for the conservative
and honest element of the country.
Never before was there so strong an
appeal made to the agriculturist to help
the Democracy down" protection as
there is to-day. The present low price
of nearly all farm products is pointed to
as one of the legitimate results of high
tariff, and the farmer is made to believe
that everybody is protected but him.
OC4I. A1C 10 CO1Ot C11dO UCluS 1dISt COII-
sumer of manufactured goods, he ought
to be allowed to buy where he can buy
the cheapest, and that free trade would
reduce the price of nearly everything
which the farmer has to purchase.
But, somehow. no advocate of free
trade ever refers the farmers of America
to the prosperous condition of the farm
ers of England. where they have had
comparative free trade for long time.
They can tell what grand thing the
English theory that Mr.. Cleveland adj
vocates would be for the farmers of the
United States, but they do not back
their arguments by pointing to the
prosperity of English and Irish agricul-
it because they cannot. The truth is
that English farming is very much de-
pressed and it is admitted and be-
moaned by the English newspapers.
An English paper gives a sad IL
lustration of the depression that
exists over there by an exam
pie afforded from Heckington. Two
farmers were summoned before
the local magistrate for not contributing
to the support of their parents. Both
were single men and lived together.
They owned about eight acres of land.
which, however, was mortgaged for con-
CAUC1oO4C AuOlC Ihd1I III WOuIQ 1CtCO III
the market. In addition to this, they
rent about twenty acres of glebe land.
They were unable to pay the interest on
the mortgage money, or the rent of the
glebe land. They stated that they
worked early and late, and were only
just able to get bare living, and never
knew what it was to have fresh meat in
the house. They were unable to earn
more than a shilling day, and had not
sufficient clothes. They were anxious to
contribute to their parents main
tenance, but from poverty were unable
to do SO. The magistrates refused to
make an order, not being satisfied as to
the means of defendants.
Never knew what it was to have
fresh meat in the house; they earned
but shilling day, and they had not
sufficient clothes"
The simple truth is that the American
workingman. the farmer included, is bet
ter paid, better fed, better clothed and
better housed than any similar class III
any other country under heaven.