Mexico weekly ledger., 1888-05-17
The Mills Bill.
To the Editor of the Ledger

MEXICO, Mo-, May 1.-The
Mills bill has arrived at a condition
beyond the power of eve, the peo-
pie, to help" or hinder. It will
stand or fall on the decision of our
representatives and those favoring
it will not be found exclusively the
Presidents friends. Protection, or
tariff for revenue only, free trade
call it what you. willis an issue
that oversteps party lines-is a
question of patriotism rather than
politics, and the men who are in
error, no matter how honestly, are
unsafe law makers. Good intentions
will not take the harm out Of their
mistakes.
The eyre of the question is,
"Shall taxes be laid on any por-
ton of Americans with the inten-
ton and with the known result of
beneftting others; will we do away
with the evil or share the spoils?'
The logic that is satisfied with
compromising duties carried to ex-
tremes will justify compromise of
felony.
Why the name of free trade
should be a bugaboo to a free peo-
pie is one of the things that emo
man can find nut, a proposition to
directly take from each farmer what
he is now contributing through the
price of what he eats, and wears
and works with, and sleeps under,
needs for restoration of lost health,
aye, even wants for the decent dis
posal of his dead body, would load
every old shot gun from Maine to
the Rio Grand, and make it APP
parent that people who loved free
speech, free schools, free press and
free religion, would not have their
freedom to buy and sell withheld.
The Mills Bill is a "step in the
right direction" because it will
make trade somewhat freer and
furnish relief first to the most OPP
pressed part of our population.
Agriculture is the employment
which has been furnishing protec-
ton so-called, and it has been
bled almost to exhaustion. Farm
ing don't pay and costs more labor
and hardship than any other way
whereby men avoid starvation.
The present duty on wheat, corn
and other agricultural products,
except wool, is a farce, for the rea-
son that none IS bought from
foreigners and never will be in an
appreciate quantity. The biure>
duces the amouRt-o protection
given te~r1othing and the other ar
fticles enumerated by Mr.. Hatha-
way, and lessons the power of the
"legalized monopolies."
tits not sectional in the sense OF
originating determinations, only
that it still tolerates some. Its
sins are those of omission and il
may fairly be called a step in the
right direction. In passing it Con-
gress at least gives us ground to
hope for still better things.
Mr.. Hathaway's censure applies
more severely to the present tariff,
and the bill Injuries the important
industries only to the extent OF
taking away part of the unfair adj
vantage they have SO long enjoyed
and it should be the prayer
of every farmer and every
merchant dependent on farmers
that the other part may follow SO
soon as possible, without bringing
on a commercial panic. It should be
fair warning to manufactures to
prepare to stand alone, after a GEN.
fury of bogus infancy that at first
was satisfied with seven per cent.
more than its share of the general
welfare and now cries out that it
can't exist on less than fifty.
Respectfully, w. LLEwELLYN.