Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1890-05-29
A Cornburner's Questions.

A Cornburner, writing from ST
John, Kas., asks for Information which
| the Republic is fortunately in a posi-.
ton to supply fully and reliably. He
says:
What | wish to know is, if protective
tariff on imported manufactured articles he
same which are manufactured in America,
builds up strong manufacturing industry,
| why will not tariff upon imported agricul-
| tural products build up strong agricultur-
al industry? Surely if tariff has made the
| East what ii Is too day, it will in time, If ap -
| piled TO farm products, make the West what
| it should be. And again, if the tariff has al
WAYS been an obstruction to the prosperity
of the farmer, why at times in the year does
wheat rise TO a dollar or more a bushel?-i,
e., if the tariff tends to keep down the price
of corn and wheat, why does it so happen
that when the bulk of these cereals is out Of
the farmers bins into the elevators of grain
gamblers they immediately demand high
price? Is this due to the tariff, or rise in
the foreign market?
All these things are well worth
knowing, and every Cornburner ought
to know them regardless of what tick
ct he votes.
Imprimis, a tariff on wheat does not
raise the price of wheat in this mark ct
because We raise more wheat than we
consume.
Every Cornburner should get this
sentence by heart: "a tariff on inn
ports never raises the price of any arti-
Gle the home supply of which ia in ex-
cess of the home demandn
This rule is as invariable as the rule
that twice two is four. There is no
theory about it. 1t is a mathematical
law. AS we raise more wheat, more
corn, and other agricultural staples
than we can consume tariff tax
against imports cannot raise the prices
OF these articles, because there would
would he no imports without the tax.
No one would be fool enough to shin
grain here to an Overstocked market
when there are other markets not over-
stocked. Our surplus of agricultural
products is bar To competing imports.
When they are burning surplus corn
in Kansas we never ship corn from St.
Louis 70 Kansas, though there is no
tariff wall between.
These in brief are the three general
laws Of the effects of restrictive or pro-
hibitive taxes such as are levied in the
tariff:
First-Whe there is no home sup
ply, the tariff increases prices up to or
above the full amount of the duty.
Second-W hen the home supply is
equal to the home demand. the tariff
duty has 40 effect in increasing prices.
Third-When the home supply is in
excess of the home demand, prices will
be lower here than iD markets where
the demand is greater than the supply,
no matter what the amount of the tar
iff duty levied against the importation
of the article in question.
There is an apparent exception to
the second law, when, in a tarIff-con-
trolled market, "combinesn take ad-
vantage OF the prohibition of imports
to Put up prices; bu. it is only appar-
ent, for they are only able to put up
prices by restricting supply. This the
tariff enables them to do in many lines
OF trade, and this is one of its great
These generally aud invariabIe
truths answer the concluding question
of why the prices of cereals often io-
crease after the grain is out of the farm
er's bin. 1t is simply because it is out
of his bin. Some of IL has been con-
sumed at home, some of it shipped
a broad. The crop has moved. The
market has been relieved in whole or
part of the burden of the surplus
which kept down prices. In our opin-
ion "grain gambling" had nothing to
do with it. All the betting on the
price of wheat that was ever done new
ar led to the consumption of bushel
more than would have been consumed
otherwise. 1t is consumption that
makes wheat high. Men pay for
wheat because they need it-because
hey are hungry. The human stom-
sch and its condition sets the price OF
dds high for it. English stomachs
)ld higher than ours because it in
carcer there. So we send our surplus
o England and sell it there a a higher
,rice than we could get at home. AS
We are not allowed to bring back goods
n exchange for 1t, our surplus wheat
Jays carriage both ways-that is, it
Jays ocean freight enough to cover the
eturn of the vessel. AS this extra
cean freight and all other charges are
urdens on trade, they keep the sur
'lus from moving out rapidly, and SO
dvancing prices while some part Of
he crop is still in the farmers bins.
has the tariff, operating to prevent
he free outward movement of our
arm staples, keeps our home market
ver-ioaded, and so keeps down their
rices. And as it prevents the free in
,ard movement of manufactured
Gods. it keeps up their prices in exact
ccordance with the three laws We
ave given above.
If our corn burning friends will cut
ut these laws and learn the facts in
ny given state of the market in any
rtic!e they will find that the applca-
on of these laws will afford them a
Ill and satisfactory explanation. If
ley find they do not it will be because
1ey need more fact-not more truth
'r this is general statement OF the
hole truth of the effects of our tariff,
r of any form ofrestrictive taxation.-
'epublic.