Alpena weekly argus. [volume] (Alpena, Mich.) 1871-1893, 1890-10-15
The Tariff is a Tax and the Farmers
and Laborers Pay it.

The protective tariff is a tax which
was imposed for the purpose of pre-
venting competition between Ameri-
can manufacturers and foreign manu-
facturers in regard to supplying the
American people with various articles
that are necessity in every house
hold. The protective system thus en-
ables the capitalist, who has invested
his wealth in manufacturers here, to
charge the American people higher
prices for the goods he manufacturers
and which they are compelled to buy
of him. The people must buy of him
and pay the high prices demanded.
The result of this system of taxing
the people for the benefit of the pro-
tected industries, has resulted in those
industries being exceedingly prosper.
Gus, and thousands of millionaires
have been thus created by compelling
the millions of toilers to pay them a
bonus. This system compels the
farming industry to bear a large part
of the burdens of the protected in
dustries. 1t robs the farmers and
laborers for the benefit of the capital
lists. The law is but a legalized rob-
berry which compels the poor man to
give large part of his earnings to the
capitalist, and for which the laborer
receives nothing in return. Thou
sands of millions of dollars are thus
stolen every year by this infamous
protection law from poor men who
can not afford to thus have their
wages stolen from them and handed
to the rich. 1t deprives the laborer
of many needed comforts. 1t causes
much of his home comforts to vanish.
1t makes the poor poorer and the rich
richer.
The old tariff law demanded too
high tax on the farmer and laborer
for the sole benefit of the manufacture
err. 1t should haye been greatly de-
creased, so that the burdens Of the
people might have been lightened.
The new tariff tax law, known as the
Mckinley bill, recently passed by the
Republicans, makes the burdens of
the people still higher on many of
the necessities of life. The people
will soon find that on clothing, stoves.
tinware and many other needed
articles, that the tax they will be
made to pay has been greatly increas-
ed, and thus the laborer will find that
the dollar he earns has a less purcbas-
ing power. The raise oil blankets,
wooden clothing, carpets, cloaks,
glassware has been large. Forillustra-
ton, dealers in cloaks, such as are
used by persons of moderate means,
say that cloak which cost SO under
the old tariff will now cost $40 under
the new Republican tariff bill. That
means a direct steal Of one dollar
from every person who buys a cloak,
and the mean theft is for the benefit
of the eastern capitalists.
The Republican Mckinley bill tax
will remove the tariff tax on certain
grades o. sugar, but the reduction is
made of no benefit, for the reason that
the people who buy sugar are compell-
ed to pay a bonus tax of Il cents per
pound to the persons who raise sugar.
Consequently when a farmer or labor
err buys pound of sugar, he not only
pays the cost of growing it, but also
pays Il cents per pound tax. The
professcd object of the bonus is to en-
courage the sugar growing business.
AS near as can be ascertained, the
amount of sugar used by the Ameri-
can people in one year is little over
5000, 100000 pounds. If the bonus
should cause all the sugar needed in
this country to be grown here, then
the tax to be paid by the American
people on sugar at l : cents per pound,
will amount to over $50, 100000 per
year, so we can not see where the
peoples burdens will be lessened by
the Republican sugar bonus plan.
! The persons who will reap immense