The Bennington banner. [volume] (Bennington, Vt.) 1858-1894, 1889-10-24
f.ANkRE FARMERs ANp rHE rARIFF.

The efforts which are being made to
induce immigrants to settle on some of
the abandoned farms in Vermont and
New Hampshire have elected some
rather overwise comments from free
traders and superficial people generally.
Democratic papers. notably organs OF
the stamp OF the New York Post, have
iutimated that farming is in danger of
becoming lost art in New England-a
result which of course they have hast
ened to attribute to the protectice tariff.
IL is pity that Democratic editors do
not stray out of their dens occasionally
and take broad look over rural New
England. They would speedily discover
that although some of the least desirable
or accessible farms have been deserted by
their former occupants, great many
busy farms and prosperous farmers still
remain, and that the farmers are about
as dead-set against the Democratic tariff
policy as ever. The Yankee agricultu-
rist is pretty numerous yet, and he con-
tinues to be a formidable stumbling
block 10 the schemes of imported Demo-
cratic editors and politicians.
We are inclined TO think, however,
that those people are not altogether
astray who claim O connection between
the abandonment of our least productive
farms and the workings of the protective
tariff. In fact, we hold that such con.
nection can be traced very easily. The
tariff is accountable for the desertion OF
the farms in this way, that it has built
up in New England vast network oil
diversified industries unknown before
the war, and given good employment
and comfortable homes in the towns and
villages to farmers and their boys who
otherwise might be grubbing away fol
bar e existence in the thin and rocky
roll of sume New England hillside. The
tariff has had mighty share in creating
the new West by orea ing profitable
markets for its products, and the restless
and adventurous epirit which all true
Yankee farmers sons possess has driver
them out there by the thousands. They
went not so much because they could
not earn their livelihood at home as b
cause they could get better livelihood
or thought they could, in Illinois, Kai
sas, MINI, sofa, Dakota, California, ORE
gon or Alaska. Very likely this Yanke,
longing to migrate to new places-er
large ones HORIZON, in short, to see thu
world-would have asserted itself if tn,
Democratic free trade tariff had con
tinued. But the protective tariff, by
opening new opportunities to pluck anC
enterprise in our far Western Territory
has unquestionably acted, in the year
since the war, as mighty stimulus. 81
we think that the friends of the protec
tive system may as well plead guilty t
the accusation that the tariff has some
thing to do with the fact that there ar,
unoccupied farms in New England.
We confess that it would be better foI
New England if il could meet the drair
of the towns and villages on Its farming
population, make good the losses anC
keep the farms in cultivation. 1t would
be bet er it,, when our young and enter
prising men move Westward, there wer'
enough left to fill the vacant places
But as is the case with all other gooC
things, while the demand for Yankees
is unlimited the supply is not. In 1
word, there are not enough Yankees Il
go around. That being the case, it il
inevitable that New Englanders, wht
are only human, like everybody else
should select the places where, in Yam
kee phraseology, they can "do best" fol
themselves and leave the least desirable
places-the least productive or most iso
lated farms-to the squirrels and thu
owls and foreigners. This is how i
comes that there are unoccupied home
steads in rural Vermont and New Eng
land States, TO set free traders to random
moraizing about the protective tariff
and its "blighting" influences. -BoSto,
Journal.