The Democratic press. [volume] (Ravenna, O. [Ohio]) 1868-1901, 1888-09-06
TIMELY rARtrr rALKa
A. tho system applies to Us.

l.
and thought would pre-
pare a little synopsis of the same for
5he intelligent readers of your valuable
paper. I am glad that some of the
more thoughtful farmers, irrespective
of party politics, are studying the ef-
fects and workings of this system that
is making some men 80 very rich at
the expense of the masses. He says:
/" am farmer, the son of farmer,
and the father of farmers though one
of my sons is lawyer in the city OF
Cleveland. am the owner of farm
of 160 acres of land, in the Hooking
valley, which is as well watered, nice
~ timbered, fertile land as most any |
mans in Ohio. have raised, and in |
way, educated, three sons and one
daughter. Caring for and educating |
my children has kept me poor, but 1
have kept out of debt. / am getting
old and my farm must soon go. This
is, in short, my history. My neighbor
Smiths history is quite different. He
sold his farm, moved to the county
seat. put his money in government
bonds and went to banking. His res
idence Is palatial, he drives his elegant
turnout and is considered rich. 1
bought my land when / was young,
and it was cheap; worked hard and
cleared 1t up, and paid for 1t. Thirty
years ago it was said to be worth $75 to
500 an acre today it would not bring
near SO much. My SON in Cleveland
helps me when am in need. and he
sends me books to read. In one of
them I read that history teaches us
that slavery and serfdom was only pos
sible among tillers of the soil. My
form is bent, my hands are hard, and
my eyes are growing dim, 80 I cannot
work so hard as used to, and it gives
me much time to read and think. I
see that in Europe the lowest form OF
pauper labor is farm labor that such
laborers are housed like cattle, work cd
like mules, and fed like dogs, and that
in the regions of the Baltic, they gel
Sl8 and sheepskin coat at the end o
the year for their work and in Indis
they get six cents o day for farm
work. They live ON rice, and theil
clothing consists of q cotton gown, ol
shirt. Mechanics, or what they cal
skilled labor. gets q good price. am
thinking that we have been saved
from this condition by the quantity ol
our cheap land. look back quarter
of a century and I see that our farm
produce, even our wheat and wool
have shrunk at least thirty per cent
on q gold basis. OF course, during tn,
, war, everything was on false values
but before the war had no trouble Il
get 81 to 81 20 r wheat, and from A
to 60c. for my wool. Now I get 60c
for wheat and 32c. for wool; at this rat,
how long before US farmers will b.
working for the $l8 and sheepskin Goa
year? And see that as our agri
cultural interests are going downwar,
, other interests are going upward tn
D coal mine owner, the iron elter an,
r the manufacturer, with q few thou
8 sands to start with. are getting rich
n some of them have even gathered il
their millions of dollars. I am told
:, and I see it is true, that they hav
formed pools. syndicates and trusts
through which they can and do con
troll every article and the price thereo
y in the markets of the country. L se
8 these sharks U call them sharks be
!? cause know they could not work an
It harder than have, and 1 know the
e have never earned their millions @
q dollars, and so of course they have 20
. what others have earned as much O
though they had stolen it, though the
say they have gotten it under the law
1 see they are all 'whooping her ar
= for high tariff 1 am very suspicious
yes, l am certain, that tariff has bee
- the great key to their wonderful accu
mutation of wealth, and have bee
closely looking to see how I, farmer
have been benefited by that protectfv
tariff. was q WING, and am reput
lican, but am having serious scruplt
about that tariff doing me any good
:. 1 cannot see that am doing any bel
ter now than before the tariff was en-
. acted, No sir, am not doing any
where near as well as before 1t was th
;, law. am of the opinion that the Cal
4 negies, Vanderbilts, Goulds, and othe
9 millionaires, are. by the aid of the tarii
9 carrying the money and prospt rity {
+, this country in their breeches pockets
g and would like to know just no,
4 much of my hard earnings they hav
! in some manner got hold OF. I hav
to purchase considerable for my famil
r and my farm, and begin to zee ths
0 under pretense of q big tariff tax
e support the government. these Gun
ming devils have in q great measur
J. made it tariff to support and enric
8 themselves at the expense Of the farm
er. I have been carefully and seriousl
/, studying this subject, which Is no cas-
I matter, but it can be done by an
: farmer. My new house u frame on.
cost 81 800, and by figuring out all th
duties on lumber, nails, glass, and th
+ extra cost of laborers, which was o
! tools. clothes and living. and cost ther
! about one third of their wages, and
| find that about $500 of the 81 800 ws
for tariff. On my barn, the tariff o
lumber and nails was over 500, and G
on with everything purchase. NJ
three plows cost $50, of which $l2
: tariff. L tell you I am waking VI
How is this tariff helping nae? OnI
> to skin me for the benefit of the lun
ber, iron and other trusts. 1t ia q
wonder to me that Carnegie could wit
his four in hand, 60 rolling James G
5 Blaine around over England and Scot
land he was only paying Blaine fe,
dollars on the million, that he owe
him and his high tariff associates fo
working through the tariff laws, b
the aid of which he aud other million
aires have become so wealthy at othe