The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1888-11-01
THE FARMER ON THE TARIFF.

for the farmer. His long experience as +
wheat buyer gives his words some weight /
with the farmers OF this county and some /
OF them have come to believe that not |
only does the tariff furnish them better |
market for their grain, but that the tax
on foreign wheat prevents Canadian
wheat from being imported to this
country.
This is the last opportunity The Pilot
will have before the election to deal with
this subject. It is glad of the opportun-
ity to be able to use Mr.. Schuette's name
as it gives local favor to what may be
said and thus more likely attract atden-
ton.
% If the farmer does not derive some
compromising advantage from the tariff
he is injured by it as it increases the cost
of the necessaries he must purchase.
On The benefit to the manufacturer is
| direct and apparent. Self interest Will
direct him to charge ahigher price for bus
products than if trade was unrestricted.
| 81 The protectionists who compel the
farmer to pay a higher price for the
articles he purchases deprive him of a
natural right. To justify this the bur
den of proof is on them to show with
confirmation strong as proof" of enlarged
prices which he pays for necessares, that
he receives correspondingly increased
prices for his products.
In order to minimize the situation let
us present the matter with local colorlng
so that it may appeal more strongly to
our individual interests:
If farmer residing in one of the south
ern towns of this county finds that suit
of clothes which can be purchased for
SIS at the north side of the river in the
city of Manitowoc, costs S25 at the south
side he would naturally feel it was to his
interest to purchase his clothes on the
north side. If on returning by Eighth
street bridge he was compelled to pay a
tax of SO on his suit of clothes before
crossing, he would very naturally ask the
reason why If Mr.. Schuette should tell
him it was for the purpose OF protecting
the south side, the farmer would natur-
ally ask why he should pay so heavily for
the protection of the dealer in clothes. MIR.
Schuette would be compelled to furnish
that farmer facts which he could feel as
} forcibly as the vacuum in his pocket be-
} cause of the payment of that extra ten
: dollars, before he would be convinced
; that this sort of protection was beneti.
cial to him. He could readily see it was
good thing for the clothing merchant
He could see that as between the dealer
in clothes and the dealer in hardware
, neither was wronged. The hardware
dealer paid the dealer in clothes $50 for g
suit CT clothes which he could purchase
at the north side for $15 but charges the
dealer in clothes in return, $25 for q
| stove which could be purchased at the
north side for S15. One steal balanced
the other Thus far Mr.. Schuette has
t encountered no difficulty in having the
/ farmer follow his reasoning.
f To the question put by the farmer as
to how he is benefited by being com.
> PEELED to pay SO more for his clothes
and SO more for his stove than if he had
access to north side stores, Mr.. Schuette
would answer that he had home mar
! ket.
do 1 get one and two-thirds times as
much for my grain at this side of the
river as farmers are paid for it at the
other side?" asks the farmer. you don't
get one cent more" Mr.. Schuette is
, is tax of of 30 cents per bushel on
, wheat which comes to this side of the
, river from the north side. If this tax
was taken off all the farmers would rush
over here with their grain and the price
, would go down. Don't you see?"
The benighted farmer asks why 'they
, should be so anxious to rush across the
river with their grain when they could
receive no more for it than what was paid
at the other side?" Mr. Schuette is
again driven to generalties about home
market but the farmer is not convinced.
His next question is: "Where do the
wheat buyers of the south side ship the
grain which they do not use for home
consumption?
ITO Milwaukee"
where do the wheat buyers on the
other side of the river ship the grain
which they do not use for home con-
SUMPTION"
ITO Milwaukee"
do they pay the same price for the
north side grain in Milwaukee which
they do for the south side grain?"
"Just the same if the quality is as
good"
The honest granger is perplexed. What
benefit then" he asks is it to me that /
have paid so more than should for a
suit of clothes and SO more than I
should for stove if I get no more for
my wheat than [ should if I were at
liberty to trade at the north side of the
river?
my friend" Mr.. Schuette explains, sit
requires little reasoning to make this
thing clear" CThe farmer shrugs his
shoulders. His pocket, minus the $50, re-
cures no strained reasoning to bring its
depleted condition within his comprehen-
sion.)" 1t is not the grain we ship
to Milwaukee. but the grain we use
here which fixes the price," Mr.
Schuette continues. Three fourths
of the wheat you sell is consumed by the
people of this side of the river The other
fourth is shipped to Milwaukee. If we
took that tax off the clothes and off the
stove, we should be compelled to take
| the tax Off the wheat. Then all this
north side wheat would come to this side