Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1888-07-05
PROTECTIVE TARIFF,
And How 1T Effects the Farmer

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mend it to the farmers of Barton
county:
EDITOR Kansas Fd1mer:-In your
issue of May II, 1888, L find an article
on tariff protection, which is the inter-
est of every farmer to have answered
in candid, impartial way. Looking
over the Kansas Farmer carefully it
leaves with Inc the impression that you,
Mr.. Editor, are endeavoring land sue
ceeding in your endeavor) to make your
paper a good farmers paper, a claim
that few of our so-called farmer and
agricultural papers can justly make.
Now, sir, the question of tariff is to-day
one of vital Importance to the farmer,
above any other class of citizens. AS a
producer he is the most important, as
laborer the chief worker.
The gentleman writing the article,
MI. Henry Butler, is undoubtedly sim
cere, but he has not studied the ques-
tien. What England or any other
nation does OF wishes to do, has not
the slightest bearing on the question.
All the pauper labor countries of Eu-
rope, the countries where l have seen
the farmer perfect slave to the monied
men and industrial manufacturing
countries-Russla, France, Portugal,
Spain, Italy and Austria, are all high
tariff countries. In England, a free
trade country, the farmer is a very diff
| ferent man; whether cereal and veg
etable raiser, cattle and horse breeder,
he is generally well-to-do and comfort
able, even as tenant. This is the
truth; against this, the imagination of
our high tariff friends, not facts that
can interest the farmer.
Let me 90 further. England, says
Mr.. Blaine, in his "Twenty Years of
Congress" page 2OS, Vol. 1, did away
with protective tariff as soon as her
manufactures could take care of them
selves. Let me quote his exact words:
"When by long experiment and per-
sistent effort England had carried her
fabrics to perfection; when by the large
accumulation of wealth and the force
of reserved capital she could command
facilities which poorer nations could
not rival; when by the talent of her
inventors, developed under the stimu-
lus of large reward, she had surpassed
all other countries in the magnitude
and effectiveness of her machinery, she
proclaimed free trade and persuasively
urged it upon all lands with which she
had commercial intercourse
AS long as England was made the
lever of Mr.. Buttler's article, l feel
free to partly answer him with Eng
land. Beginning, let me say that our
machinery is as perfect as England's,
and more perfect; for, by our statistics
of exports, the farmer will see that we
have been exporting large quantities of
it to be used in English mills and fac
tories. English manufactures have no
more capital OF wealth than ours, and
the wages paid in English mills and
factories in 1867 were: Average fe-
male work, 37.6 cents per day; average
male work, 1913 cents per day. In the
United States: Average female work,
37.43 cents per day; average male work,
SS.S cents per day. The gentleman
has taken for granted what he has been
told by our protectienists, without
looking into it himself. Wages in mills
and factories in England are not lower
than in the United states. (See Gotha's
labor statistics 1887, page 91.l Let us
be candid in this matter and in far
mer's paper argue with the good of a
farmer in view. 1 feel sure, Mr.. Ed
itor, that this is your desire.
The high tariff is taxing the farmer
on everything that he uses. from his
bride for the horse to the cast-off shirt
of fiimsy material, due to protective
high tariff. He, as the principal con-
sumner of manufactured goods, pays
not only the greater part Of the S240,-
0O0, 900 that, as import duties, go into
the United States treasury, but twice
as much as that again that the manu-
facturer is enabled to put on or add to
the price of homemade goods, by vir-
tue of that tariff. Can the farmer
stand it any longer? Is it just to him?
The mills, factories and shops of the
country employ 5000, 900 people, these
are consumers of farmers products,
admitted. There are 800 900 more
employed in trade and transportation,
also consumers of farm products, ad-
mitted. But there are, every year, de-
ceived by the tariff promises to labor,
100000 immigrants coming to this