Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1888-05-04

| prove, TO q greater or less extent with
the increase OF population and wealth,
The extension of the use of machinery,
which reduces the cost of production,
| and the multiplication of facilities for
| communication and transportation, which
! reduces the cost of distribution. But
| how long Mr.. Chairman, are our farm
| erS, to De compelled TO pay tribute TO
| other industries and wait for the crea-
t0n Of d home market that Will take
Ill their own products at fair prices
Among our greatest Agricultural products
| are wheat and cotton. They constitute
the main reliance of millions of our peo-
| pie for profitable use OF their lands,
and many hundred millions of dollars
are invested in the soil and buildings
and machinery devoted to their produc-
lon. Taking the average crop OF wheat
| IN this country for several years past
and assuming that there shall be no
increase whatever in Production and that
the domestic consumption per capita
shall remain just at what it now is
there would still be no sufficient home
| market Tor this great agricultural staple
until our population had reached neas,',
one hundred million
OCR COTTON PRooUs4-
The official statistics of tho domestic
products. expectation and home con-
sumption of raw cotton show that ID
would require three times as much ma
| chlnery and three times as manv oper-
atlVeS as wo now have to convert this
material into commercial fabrics hero
al nome IN other words, we are now COM
PEELED to EXPORT two-thirds of our pro
Duct TO be manufactured III foreignlcoun-
trles while one third only is manufactured
at home by all the machinery and labor
now employed. In 1880 there were S2l o,
100000 invested in cotton manufactures.
and there were employed in that industry
l'2; 554 hands. To work I'D our present
production of raw cotton would require
an 1nvestemnt in this manufacture OF
S66o.OOO.000 and the endowment of
81 1852 hands. II we have been m0rs
than one hundred years. part Of the time
under verv high tariffs, In SO developing
them to take one-third of our product al
our cotton manufactures as to enable
European prices. how many more centuris
Will be required to enable them to con-
sumo the whole product at prices fixed
bv competition here at home Great ap-
pIausell. When gentlemen have solved
this problem to the satisfaction of the
American cotton-grower. he may be abls
TO listen with patience to the arguments
BY which they ATTEMPT to convince him
OF the immense advantages OF home mar
ket that will never exist. What is TO
be done with these agricultural products,
and with MANY others which are now
exported. while the farmers ARE waiting
Tor the home market which the advocates
1s1ng them for SO manv wears? Are the
farmers and planters Of the North ard
South. to abandon their wheat and cot
| ton lands. or cultivate crops not suited
to their soil or climate. while gentlemen
| are making experiments to ascertain
| whether or not home market may not
be created bv legislation? No. sir. No
matter what gentlemen NAV predict or
| what they NAV promiSe. these great in
dustries must go on. and the American
farmer must sell his products in any mar
ket he can reach and at anv price he
an get. iADplausel.
The gentleman from Maine Mr. Ding
lew. while appearing to admit that the
| prices of our exporta BILE agricultural pro-
| duets are fixed in the foreign markets
| IN Which they are sold. endeavors to
| avoid the force of the admission bv oon-
tending that the prices in the foreign
market are regulated by the amount Of
production here. Now. Mr.. Chairman.
undou btedlv the amount Of production
here has some influence upon the prices
abroad hut the controlling elements
| are the worlds supply and the worlds
demands. Our farmers do not compete
among themselves alone in the provision
market of EuroDc. Our wheat-growers.
Tor lstance. compete with the wheatgrow-
ers Of England. France. Germany. Rus
sla. Hungary. India and all the other
grain-growers OF EuroDe and Asia. and
their products meet in the open and free
markets of the world the products OF
the poorest 20, labor on the faes Of the earth.
The lately emancipated serfs OF
Russia, the oppressed peasant OF Hun
gary, the ryot of India, who lives on
mlllet and rice, wears no garment eX-
cept q coarse cotton shirt and sleeps en-
the door Of q bamboo hut~-aQ pour the
products of their labor into the freq
markets. Of Europe to be sold in comre-
| tition with the grain from our Western
States and Territories. Sir, our agri-
cultural constituents are not ignorant
OF the true situation. They know very
well that as to ell the articles which We
are capable of exporting and are actually
exporting-and this includes all the prin-
cipal productions of their industry-tha
| foreign market is just as valuable to
them as the home market, for the OBJ
vious reason that the prices are fixed
abroad, and they receive here only what
| they could receive there, after deduct
| ing the cost OF transportation. ZAP
| plause.)
What the American farmer most needs
| Is home market in which he can pur-
| chase his supplies as cheaply as his COM
| petitors purchase theirs tapplausel, and
| If he can not secure this, then he simply
| asks the poor privilege of making his
purchases where he is compelled to make
| his sales, and to be permitted to bring
| his goods home without being compelled
| the Governments for carrying on harm
less and legitimate business. tApplause)
Mr.. Chairman, we want not only the
| home market but all the markets Of
| the world for the varied products Of this
great country. tApplause.) We want
| to send our agricultural products, our
cotton, and our breadstuffs, and our pro
visions to the naked and hungry manu-
| featuring peoples of Europe, and our
manufactured products to the agricul-
tural people sof South America, Mexico
and Asia. We can do this when we de-
! termine to trade with other people upon
| fair terms, but we can not do it so long
! as we protect England and other manu-
| featuring countries in the great markets
| of the world upon the pretense OF pro-
| tecting ourselves in our own. Let Us
diminish the cost Of production In our
| agricultural and manufacturing indus
tries, not by diminishing the wages 81
| labor. but by reducing taxation upon
the necessaries of life and upon tho ma
| terials which constitute the basis Of our
! finished products, and by removing, ~
| far as we can, the restrictions which en-
barrass our people in their efforts to ex-
| change the fruits Of their own toll which
| they do not need for the commodities OF
| other countries which they do need.
| Great applause, loud and prclongedl
TO FRANCES CLEVELAND.