The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1890-01-28

of our agricultural prOuuCts Oh On0
farms in 1880, and considerably less
than II per cent. of the value OF such
products exported and sold abroad
that year.
WHAT WE PAY FOR PROTECTION.
ain order to protect the steel rail
industry the people have been taxed
$l88, 5i4,oo in twelve years; out OF
which the government received for
public purposes 29,2ol, 1873, and the
manufacturers of steel rails received
for their private use the sum OF $685.
3I2,2l6.
"This is a typical case OF the work
ing of protection.
The farmers are more interested
than any other class of people in the
cheap construction and operation OF
railroads, for they greatly outnumber
any other class, and furnish much the
largest amount of freight to be car
ried. The whole cost of transporta-
tion is dedu ;ted from the prices of
their products, whether sold at home
or abroad; and besides, they are fire.
quently compelled by county taxation
to aid in the construction OF the roads.
The cost of the railroads constructed
and repaired in this country during a
period of twelve years vas only in
creased $l88, 5l4, oo4, by reason OF the
protective tariff on steel rails, and it
has increased by many millions of dol
lars by the same policy in other
periods. This was not only an unjust
and oppressive tax in the beginning,
but it constitutes a permanent charge
upon the people, because the farmers
and others who travel and shipfreight
on these roads must continue to pay
such rates as will enable the companies
to pay interest upon their bonds and
declare dividends to their stockholders.
H FARMERS STRUGGLE.
"The American farmer, although
he cultivates the most fertile soil in
the world, and ought to be the most
prosperous member of the community,
is constantly engaged in a hard strug-
gle to secure a comfortable support
for his family and a moderate educa-
ton for his children, and to pay his
taxes and keep out of debt. This is
all he can reasonably hope to accomp-
lish; in a large majority of cases he
feels even to do this, and sooner or
later is compelled to sell or mortgage
his land and reduce his expenditures
to the lowest possible figure. He has
a paternal government which has de-
termined that certain classes of indus
try ought to be maintained at the
public expense, and for thirty years
he has been taxed for their support;
and now after these favored industries
have become rich and powerful they
combine and confederate Under the
name Of trusts, syndicates and pools,
and dictate the terms upon which the
people may procure the necessaries of
life and carry on their business. I'm
der our system of taxation, the farmer
is almost without the semblance of
power to protect his own interests. He
cannot control the price of the pro-
OuCbS Lie 0O41S III VIC u4d1 NUS VI LIS
own country because the demand is
not equal to supply, and he must take
what he can get; and he cannot con-
troll the price of the articles he buys
here, but must pay whatever is asked.
"The manufacturers can foresee
with almost absolute certainty what
the quantity of their product will be
upon the employment of any given
number of hands, and, therefore, they
can combine whenever they choose to
limit production and. increase prices;
but the farmers crop depends almost
entirely upon the character of the
season he may have, and he cannot
decide in advance how much he must
plant in order to furnish a supply that
will not be in excess of the demand.
If they had been exempt from this
heavy taxation and permitted to ex-
pend their money for the improvement
of their own property and the educa
ton of their children, there would be
fewer mortgages upon their land, and
a greater degree of comfort and pros
perity among the farmers and country
people. "-AHantG Journal.