Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1889-09-19
= FARMERS ARGUMENT.

A FARMERS ARGUMENT.
81 the High Tariff
Farmer Smalley. of Caledonia.
Mimi. writes in recent letter to the
New York Evening Post as follows:
SIR: Betsey an hev been to town
to-day, Mister Editor, t get load OF
bindin' twine for my harvest and
sugar for her presarvin', an, as Susan
that's our oldest girl that's to hum
lis goin' to be married this fall after
huskin'. the old lady insists on the
house helm painted ag'i in. an so
bought lot o. paint; the gracious
knows. don't see how we can afford
it. While in town, our editor-he's
a tariff reformer, an has got me to be
u sight more OF one than was when
quit the fact'ry down in Connecticut
an came West to farmin give me
a copy of your paper. an have been
readin, since got hum those letters
from farmers from everywhere. It's
pow'fu refreshin', as passon says, to
see how many other farmers all over
this big land o. ourn is gettin' the fact
into their heads that down under all
these things that trouble US farmers so,
as the cause of them all, lies that dod-
rotted (scuse the cussin' but I'm get
tin mad) perfected tariff. We've been
allowin' that the reason why we had
so little money in our pockets when
every thin was paid for was because
the railroads robbed us, an because
the Government didn't print money
enough, an because the elevator men
beat us on grades and weight, an be-
cause some one they call big Four"
down to Shecawgo sent meat ready
dressed to our cities. an all that. An
we've been runnin' the Legislatures,
an passin' all sorts of laws that some
teller that wanted to go to the Legis-
lature said would just fix the thing all
right An SO fur from gettin' better,
8 fer as can see. it's getting worse.
You see. us farmers don't spend much
time cipherin' on such matters The
war. with its big prices, sent us along
a boomin', an since the bottom
dropped out we've had just all we
could do to keep our heads out of
water. an while we felt that some
thin was out O. kilter. we couldn't
spend time to study it out for our
selves. It is as clear as day to me.
an jedge from the letters that it is
getting a heap clearer to lots of others.
that we won't get any help that will
do us any lastin' good until we can
buy just egsactly as we sell. under a
competition as wide as the world.
But didn't start in fur to tell you
what you know sight better than l
can tell it. but to tell you about our
shoppin' to-day, an what dose of
this pertective got. I s'pose
you've hearn tell of the Irvine trust.
hewitt you, Mr.. Editor? Well. the
difference 'twixt you an me is that
I've hearn of it and felt it-felt it in
my pocket, sir-an' that's bein' teched
that way so often nowadays that it is
gettin' mighty sensitive. Two years
ago paid fourteen cents pound for
the best manila Irvine. That was be-
fore the farmers had said that they
didn't want free Irvine, and before
these pesky trusts had got to be such
private affairs that what they did
wasn't any concern of yours or mine
or the Presidents. you know. To-day
1 paid eighteen cents a pound for just
the same kind of Irvine. l saw a letter
from the secretary of this trust in
had riz. Wages isn't raw material,
is they? Well, on to-day's deal that
ittle'rise of the Irvine trust jest lifted
Sc out O. my pocket slick an clean.
Then, only last year. when Betsy
wanted to put up her preserves, we
got fourteen pounds of sugar for 81.
This year the sugar trust have run it
up-or down-sO we get nine pounds
for 81. That made jest twenty-five
pounds less sugar for five-dollar
bill, you see, and at last years prices
that is $1.7S more than I have
trusted" Then, on the paint an
oil, as near as I can fgger it out, the
Whitehead trust and the linseed-oil
trust borrowed a couple dollars more
to be paid back to me in home
market, posserbly. It all makes So. "a
taken jest for nothin'.
Now, let's see what that means from
my point. My COWS average me a pound
of butter day, an I'm gettin' shil-
ling a pound for it. 1t will take one COW
seventy-eight days to earn what these
trusts took out of me, to say nothin'
of the feed and work; or they've come
and taken a Northumberland fifty
pound pig out of my pen, or they've
took an acre of good corn. or they've
taken all the profit there is in an acre
of my winter wheat, leavin' me the
cost about paid. Now. when this sort
of thing is goin' on all round the ring,
Is it any wonder that all farmers feel
that somethin' is hurtin' them mighty
bad, and that some of US, who can see
what it is, get so alfred mad? Their
was a Teller onct down in your city
who imperdently asked folks: ''What
are you goin' to do about it?" when
they limited that he was a-stealin' too
much, an the trusts are stickin' their
thumbs in their arm-holes and cockin'
their eyes at us an askin' us the same
question. Well, Tweed found his
answer. and they'll find theirs.
Meantime we can only growl and save