Mexico weekly ledger., 1888-08-23
Another Tariff Article.
To ,ha gditar OF the Ledger

that seem equivoeal TO Mr.. Level
lyn. ! believe farmers, as a class,
are more prosperous now than they
were during the low tariff period
prior to 1860, and that they are not
so prosperous now as they were five
years age, when the tariff was
higher. The reason for this state
of affairs is that, latter a quarter of
a century of protective tariff policy
we find that what the farmer sells
is dearer and what he buys is
cheaper than it was during any
period of free trade" Why "the
name of free trade" should sud-
denly become a ''bugaboo" to Mr..
Llewellyn, lis what no man can
find OUT My authority for the
use of the term in this connection
is Mr.. Mills. He speaks of the
t'decade from 1850 to 1860 as a free
trade period"
Of late, Democrats are very sem
sitive as to the use of the term free
trade. However, so good authority
as Mr.. Watterson, chairman of the
committee on resolutions at the last
Democratic national convention,
said: "The Presidents message
had committed the party to free
trade When the news came in
from Oregon and Senator German
convinced the committee that s'with
a positive declaration for free trade
the party could not hope to carry
New York, Connecticut and Indi-
ana,h then it was hat Mr.. Waiter
son and his friends consented to
Sacrifice doctrine to expediency,"
and the committee reported a plat
form containing the tariff plank of
1884. "The platform of 1884,"
SAID MI. PATTERSON, was proposed
and carried as a matter of expedi-
ency. 1t was sald then that the
Democrats wanted to get into
power" This platform is re-adopt-
ed that the party may retain the
power, and not because it is a dec
laration of Democratic principles.
The St. Louis convention en-
dorsed the Mills bill and the Presi-
dents message as the proper con-
struction of the platform. The
tariff plank of 1884 declared that
"the Democratic party is pledged
to revise the tariff in a spirit of
fairness to all interests ;"-''but in
making any reduction in taxes, it
is not proposed to injure any do
nestle industries; moreover,
many industries have come to rely
on legislation for successful contin-
uance, 80 that any change in law
must be at every step regardful of
the labor and capital involved"
"The necessary reduction in taxa
ton can and must be effected with
out depriving American labor ofthe
ability to compete successfully with
foreign labor, and without impos-
ing lower rates of duty than will be
ample to cover any increased cost
of production which may exist in
consequence of higher rates of
wages prevailing in this country"
The wool-growing industry has
"come to rely o legislation for a
successful continuance" The reas-
on for this is because of the Gin
creased cost of productionin conse-
quence of higher rates of wages
prevailing in this country" For
instance, the cost of a sheep-herder
in Buenos Ayres is three Spanish
dollars per month, or ten cents a
day the grass is free and lit
tie or no other feed is required.
With free grass in the most
favored regions of Texas, New
Mexico or Montana, the cost
of feed and herding sheep
is five times as great as in South
America. The freight on wool
from Montana or New Mexico to
the New York or Philadelphia
markets is three or four times
greater than from Buenos Ayres.
If Texas and the territories can
not compete successfully in wool
growing with South America how
can Missouri sheep raisers expect
to do SO without tariff protection ?
President Cleveland's Chief of Blu
reau of Statistics, Col. Switzler, is
authority for the statement that "it
is idle to talk about raising sheep
in Europe OF this country to COM
pete with South Africa, the Platte
country or Australia" therefore
wool-growers must have protection
or quit the business. Under the
pretense of relieving the people OF
taxation the Mills bill takes the
duty. off imported wool, which
amounts to s IL cents for each
man, woman and child in the coun-
try, and retains a duty on sugar
which amounts to So 2-3 cents pei
capita. To relieve the treasury Of
the surplus the Mills bill places
wool on the free list, thereby re.
ducing the revenue about s6,OOO,.
1000, and at the same time collects
nearly 6 100000 from imported
sugar. With the production af-
forded by a duty of Al per cent. on
wool, the domestic protection
doubled in the 16 years from 1861