The Butler weekly times., 1890-03-12
OHIO FARMERS AWAKENING.
Becoming Aroused to the Burdens Of
Protection.
A Petition From the Agriculturallsts
in Congressman Onthwaite's Dis
trict Asking For Bounty on
Wheat or the Lowering OF
the Customs Duties.

| Washington, March To-day
Congressman Cultivate of Ohio,
received a petition from his district,
asking that the government pay a
bounty on every bushel of wheat
raised in the United States. They
give as reasons for this request the
low price they receive for and the
heavy taxation on goods purchased
from home manufacturers.
They say that many industries in
this country not nearly so important
no1 so valuable to the prosperity of
the country receive an increased
price for their goods because of the
tax levied by the tariff in the way of
protection on competing goods from
foreign countries. while the farmer
is put off with mere paper duty on
foreign wheat which docs him no
good whatever.
"The duty on wheat says the Pc
tition, "does not protect him (the
farmer even in this home market,
and not at all on the surplus, and
As his surplus fixes the home
market price, the tariff duty
on wheat is of no substantial
benefit to the wheat-raisers. The
latter raises his wheat by our high
er priced labor, and is compelled to
sell it at prices fixed by markets
where the wheat raised by the cheap
est labor competes. If the manu-
factur II cannot compete with foreign
cheap labor without government as
sistance, it should not be required
of the farmer. If the farmer must
continue to pay increased prices to
the manufacturers by reason of pro-
lection extended to the latter why
should not the manufacturer con-
tribute to the farmer to secure some |
sort of increased price over the price
fixed for him by wheat raised with
the cheapest foreign labor.
The petition asks that bounty of
twenty cents bushel be paid to
the wheat raiser, the idea being to
equallze the standing of the farmer
and manufacturer It is estimated |
that this would require 80 millions,
which, the petition states, is not one
fourth us much as the increased
price the farmer now pays on home
made goods by reason of protection,
under which the manufacturer is en-
ahled to increase his price to an un
fair profit.
The petition further suggests that
Il congress does not wish to pay the
bounty, it should, in justice to the
farmer, reduce duties on manufac
tured goods to one half the present
rate. 1t also suggests that if even
The bounty is paid the duty on man
ufactured goods should be reduced
10 40 per cent. At the end Of two
years the bounty on wheat could be
reduced to Is cents a bushel and the
average duty on manufactured goods
to 80 per cent of the present rate.
Two years after that the bounty
could be made 10 cents bushel and
the duty 20 cents, the bounty on
wheat always to remain at one-half
Of the average duty on manufactur-
ed goods.
This petition is extremely signif-
can't and indicates how the princi-
pies of tariff reform are growing in
popularity in Mr.. Outhwaite's dis
Erict, in which, by the way, Colum-
bus is located. Mr.. Cultivate de-
[eated MIR. Converse for the congress
sional nomination in the democratic
Mr.. Converse repre-
sented the protective tariff idea,
while Mr.. Cultivate is a thorough
goung tariff reformer.