Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1890-09-25
MINNESOTA AND THE BILL.

proves the Irvine Trust-Insufhciencyo of
Home Market-Necessity For Foreign
Outlet-Extortions of the Binding Irvine
Trust-What should BE Done.
Senator Davis, of Minnesota, who is
supposed to belong to the high tariff
crowd, made a speech in the Senate a
few days ago in which he showed with
great clearness the burdensome effect
of the tariff upon the farmers He said
that he favored reciprocity, and that he
thought the pending bill should be
amended SO as to give the farmers &C
cess to foreign markets, especially to
the markets of our neighbors north and
south of US There must be an outlet
for the vast surplus of agricultural prod
ucts which we raise. We can not get rich
Foreign trade is a necessity. So. good
as he thought the Mckinley bill was as
a whole, he hoped to see it amended in
this direction
But there were items in it which he
could not approve. Binding Irvine. up
on which the Finance Committee of the
Senate has placed duty of IL cents a
pound fthe Ways and Means Committee
Of the House had fixed the duty at IL
cents) should go upon the free list He
stituents were farmers, and this sense
less and wicked tax cost them 81 900. 600
a year. They could not afford to pay
it; they should not be compelled to
pay it. 1t was simply tax upon the
farmers for the benefit of q gigantic and
greedy corporation. The whole bust
ness was trusted" All the manufact-
urers of cordage and binding Irvine
were in the combination This combi-
nation not only limited the production
of the manufactured article and fixed
its prices, but it controlled the supply
of raw material in the places where it
was grown 1t exercised its great pow
er mercilessly. and the Irvine men
played right into its hands There
were forty-two American and seven
Canadian establishments in the com BIZ
nation Their purchases were all made
by one man, and q committee of three
fixed the prices at which they should
sell, and declared how much of product
they should turn out They were great
er than the Legislature; they were above
the law. Why, he asked, should we
protect these gentlemen? They could
protect themselves and were able to
''spoliate the world" Yet they were
threatening to shut up these mills when
the demands were complied with
Mr.. Davis showed by figures that the
profits on the manufacture of binding
Irvine amounted to 40 per cent. that is
out of the SIC. 600. 900 paid for this article
by the American farmers each year,
"a, 600, 900 was clean profit Such was
the business that it was now proposed
to protect He thought that 1t was
quite able to stand alone.
The situation was so bad in his State
that the authorities were going to put
up machinery in the State prison to try
to make binding Irvine out OF Mime
sofa fax fiber. 1t was he said. "a
striking commentary to protection on
that industry, that the greatest wheat
growing State in the Union had been
com pelled to set up in its penitentiary
a convict opposition to that all-compre-
bending, unsatisfed and extortionate
monopoly"
But this was not all He had said
something of reciprocity. This idea was
popular with the people The Amer
lean people needed other oppof-
tunities than those afforded BY
the home market We must
have consumers There is general
desire that other nations should become
acquainted vita the American flag.
which used to be known on every sea
and under every sky. This tariff bill
gave US the opportunity to secure great
advantages. in the way OF trade rela-
tons from other countries