Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1890-04-03
7. II43 NUMBER 80

wholly flute, jute butts. gunnycloth
etc, and used for the purpose of bal
/ ing cotton, is Il and cents, respect
| lively per pound, and is equal to "a pei
| cent. and 40 per cent, respectively
| The duty on bags and tagging used
for grain is plain 40 per cent. The
| Treasury collected in 1856 the follow
| ing revenue.
On bags and bagging for grain. $40, -;
! On tagging and cotton. II ola
| In 1880 the homemade bags and
| baggirg amounted to S13 .22S, ,253. which
now, seven years la ter, no doubt, is al
least SIG, 1000 000.
There is, OF course, not the slightest
| doubt that on every grain bag used oy
the farmers the tax is 40 per cent. and
on the baiIng used by the planters for
haling cotton it is about 40 per cent.
Now, let me seriously ask the farmers
and planters, inasmuch as these COW
erings and bags are as essential to
their industry as the hands they en-
pioy, why in the world should these
prime necessities be taxed? First, let
rs see what the tax amounts to. Ii
there is 10000, 900 worth of this necessi-
ty us ed annua ly,and the enhancement
by dint of the tariff is only say 40 per.
cent. on an average, it follows that the
amount Of money the planter aud
f'rmer is taxed every year is about S4,-
500 900.
OF course, the prime and original
curse Of all tariff taxation is the folly
and crime of taxing raw material and
in this aforesaid product the raw ma
teriai is taxed as follows:
Flax, not hacked or dressed, $50 a
ton.
Flax tow. $40 a ton.
Hemp, $25 a ton.
Hemp tow, $40 ton.
Jute, 20 per cent.
Jute butts, s. per ton.
Ssal grass, Sl4 per ton.
Who can possibly doubt, if we were
TO give our manufacturers this raw
material free of duty, that we could
thereby benefit both the manufactures
and consumers? [ shall take every
opportunity | have in reiterating that
my advocacy is not absolute free trade
in manufactured gods. | aim and
have aimed for 20 years for simple tar
if reform, and in this very article Of
bags and hagging, not because | con-
slider any tax on these necesscries ust
or equitable tut simply because have
IA great economical objection to step
from one extreme to the other. A
manufacturers will feel that they are
anIe TO cope with foreign competition
without protection.
With these remarks, freely and hon
estIy expressed without reserve, | am
now pointing out the villanous rob
berry and oppression of our tariff sys-
tenn, ard leave it to the good sense of
the multitude to say if the exposes
and structures I make on our tariff sys-
tenn can be denied. Whether the
maintenance of this sytem is not na-
tional crime and outrage. And now
let me show the total wages, and So
cal ed arist0cratic wages, paid III
America in 1880. a year of great pros
peritv and boom for manufacturing
bagging and bags. In 1880 there were
employed in the manufacturing Ct
baggirg of all kinds, and also bags
Of iute, hemp aud flax, 2,5O5 men, 2,l29
women and ST. children; total 5,45..
In the first place We are struck by
the fact that in this industry there are
only 376 more men than women en-
ployed, and there are SIT boys below
IS Years Of age employed. The total
wages paid these 5, Isl hands was, in
1880, 81 900, ,7S5 This would give the
average wages divided as follows:
. 505 men at 81 week. .S91l $40
2129 women ut $5 a week. ......... 5t3,140
ST. boys at IS a week.............. l2b,4S2
Total. -.Sl ,ol2,o12
The farmers and planters can there
for see that they are being taxed an
nually over 81, 500, 900 on bags and bag
ging, while the whole w"ges in this
industry was only 81 ,600,0 in 1s6O,and
certainly cannot be over $4,000 600 at
the pr sent time. Now, rs there is
Prot erton Educational Company in
New York, capital unlimited. annual
revenue 800 900, Object to educate aud
clay out" would it not be as we'll to
begin by laying my facts and figures
ont? Why not try and show, for in
starce, that the farmer gets paid for
his bags when he sells the meal, or
the cotton planter gets the price OF
bogIing paid him at the value of cot
to ? Come, gentlemen OF the Laying
Out Club, try your hands at this.
Here is a chance | give you. Why
5onJt Won a ito j =. MOORE,