The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1888-01-13
NUMBER 30
THE WOOL TARIFF.

the surplus revenue. Among othe
things, he specifies first and foremos
the repeal ofall duties on importe'
woods. We should have as soon expect
ed . message advocating free trade ii
ol1omargarine. To strike deadly bio,
at one Of the most important farmin
interests in this nation, sufficiently EN-
pbasizes the Presidents contempt 70
the farmers of America. In this effor
of President Cleveland, we regret t
: see that the Pioneer Press cordially joins
The farmers OF the United States ar,
pretty well accustomed to untriendll
Legislation, but this proposition caps thu
: climax. The President, who is sports
J man, has gone cunning for the entire
45, 100000 sheep and lambs that thu
: whole country possesses. The fiocKi
are widely scattered, but the Presiden
tial gun has long range in Mr.. Cleve
lands imagination, and with the Ponce
Press to bold the game bag, he undoubt
edly expects to bring them all TO hil
ample belt.
= To the farmer, the sheep is a mort
: gage-lifter, soil-enricher, one of the
most valuable animals ever placed upor
his land. 1t has even been said to show
the value, that its hoofs are golden. Nov
we maintain that we have no Surplus
sheep to be gotten rid of. whatever 9th
er surplus may Cypress the country. Il
the whole tariff on wool were abolished
it would only reduce the revenue five
millions of dollars. The government
had better give ten millionsas bounty
than that this great and beneficent in.
dustry should be paralyzed. We gave
S56, OOO, 900 the past year as bounty to
a handful of sugar-growers, all within
the limits of single state: and vel
sheep-growing is an industry which en-.
riches every state and territory, and is a
possible product of every farm in the
United States. Look at the disparity OF
the interests involved. And vet il
seems never to have occurred to the
Presidential mind to reduce the revenue
which Expresses his soul, by taking
some of the tax from sugar.
The startling effect of this war upon
wool, if successful, will be realized by a
glance at the situation. Without, al
least, the present bounty, we are unable
to compete with the unrivaled condi'
tons of other wool-Growing countries.
The United States has to-day about
$4,000, 600 sheep; the Argentine Repub-
lie, 100000; Russia, 100000; Aus
tralia, 51,00O,O South Africa, 10000
600. The land of most ofthese competing
countries is comparatively worthless,
and their power to increase their flocks,
limitless. The labor there used, is
semi-barbaric, or peon. Free wool in
this country, would render competition
with them impossible. Our flocks would
dwindle worse than if the rot, or scab
had struck them ALL That noble IN
centive which leads to the breeding Of
splendid animals, would be gone The
flocks would degenerate into measly
lot, lily fed and lily cared for. The
glory of our sheep husbandry would
have departed.
We must remember, too, that it is the
West which possesses the sheep lands
and which would be benefited by main
tanning, extending and improving THU
industry. The East has chiefly the
manufactures the West, the
fiocks. Shall we advocate their inter
ests and abandon our own? Why
should we compel our farmers to sci
their wool products at half price, tt
further enrich the manufacturer?
The bad effect upon our own state
should not be overlooked. Minnesots
and Dakota and the entire Northwes
has vast extent of land, with grasses
and climate peculiarly adapted to thu
raising of sheep. 10 keep flocks, i
the natural right of our people; th,
farmers best inheritance. As grain ex
hausts our lands, we need the whole
some economy of sheep farming TO re
store them.
Shall we permit this Democratic Pres
ident to strike this industry down jus
, in the dawn of its development? Shal
he, as with the club of Hercules, de
stroy, or, at least paralyze that econom.
in farming which is 50 essential for fol
lowing grain growing? Wheat has mad
+ our land pale; sheep will restore it
productive power. The state censu
shows that in three decades we have in
, creased our focks from nothing to near
. ly three hundred thousand. Blu
, Earth county has / 900; we want thric
i that number speedily. But in the yer.
, moment of our development, the Presi
dent devotes wool-growing to destruC
ton. With us it is an ''infant industry;
it requires protection in the ratio othe
things receive. We want a smal
. flock of sheep on every farm in tn
! state The Pioneer Press from time +
, time eloquently advocates mikes
farming" Stock raising has been on
of its hobbies. But sheep must hence
forth be eliminated from its catalogu
of domestic animals which are to enricl
the farm. Under the policy of tn
President and the Pioneer Press, sheel
culture would prosper as under a upa
, tree.
1t is folly to say that sheep cultur
, will prosper, under existing conditions
, without reasonable measure of pro
!, lection. The farmer has the same RICH
, Ito protection on hIs product, as tn
, manufacturer on his product. Tn
!, wool, grown, is the farmers product
, It represents his money, land and labor
and when he delivers his clip, it is 70
him a completed product. The manu-
i facturer, by running it through the carr
: and loom, acquires no divine pregroga
| tive that entities him TO some royal ia
! vors denied to the labor of the farmer
: The American farmer has just as mucl
: right TO ask to be projected from TIL,
, pauper labor used in raising sheep il
: Australia and South Africa, as the man
. ufacturer has in asking protection
, against the pauper labor of Europe
} The farmer is manufacturer of wool
! If You propose TO reduce the tariff OF
! wool, then LET the manufacturer in al
: Justice share equally the burthen. Re
, duce them with an equal hand. b!
: what measure of equity does the presi
: dent push the whole burthen upon til,
3 farmer?
/, we assert that sheep culture il
? the United States has grown with on
. tariffs. That is the truth of history