Daily Republican. [volume] ([Wilmington, Del.]) 1874-1890, 1890-02-04

Chief Justice Comegys made q
speech before meeting Of farmers at
Dover ON Saturday last. in which he
occupied free trade ground for the
farmer Like all otheEs Of tree trade
sentiments he has his ideas of what
would remove in part the depression
upon the agricultural interests OF the
country, which prevails to such an
extent, he says, 'as to awaken fearful
apprehension. His panacea TO relieve
the farmers 10 for Congress to reduce
the tariff on oil articles especially used
by the farmer to such point as would
allow foreign competition In the mar
keus Of this country. OF course it 10
well known what proposition Of that
kind means. The farmer needs cloth
ing, needs agricultural Implements, In
fact needs everything that anybody
else needs, and he has everything he
needs TO buy, except the food he eats
and sometimes . few articles that he
wears. These articles that be needs
and must purchase, the learned Chief
Justice would have brought into COM
petition In the mandatory of them
with foreign manufactures. II the
Chief Justice 10 averse to being called,
in modern parlance, tree trader. his
language does not show II. He would
break down the bars Of protection and
would let in foreign manufactured ar
ticles to be bartered In exchange for
the produce Of the farmer. This all
looks very plausible on paper, but
while oil this is being done, what 10 to
become Of the homo manufactures
brought into sharp competition with
foreign manufacturer
Can Il b expected that our home
manufacturers will keep on paying the
same wages to their workmen as they
paid before under protectionf What
good will 1t do to let in the goods Of
foreign countries free Of duty when
that would most certainly reduce the
wages OF American workmen to q
level with the wages Of foreign work.
menf The change would create 90
great . revolution that the field would
Be at once surrendered to foreign goods.
The Chief Justice does not seem to
have grasped xhe idea that . want oil
competitlod In manufactured products
In thaer9reatest enemy to the farmer.
~ would civest his thoughts Of the
tree trade theory which seems to cling
10 him and hamper his range OF free
thought, he would come to the con
clusion that over. production is the
principle cause OF the farmers woes
There is more breadstuf raised in THU
country, end we might say in othel
countries too, than the population car
use. That ia what is the matter
What can this country do by raising
wheat and sending it to Great Britain
say for rs cents bushel, while IL cal
be brought from India where labor |
from i've 10 eight cents day chespe
even than II can be put In the marke
from this countryf
The learned Chief Justics no dout
lets his mind run back to the time
of Clayton, when Delaware was on
of the greatest wheat producing State
I'm the Union, and with a SINGER
affection for those good old times, h
has almost forgotten that the enter
prising West has snstched away tn
glory OF the East in raising cereals an
cattle. A new departure in agricuI
ture has taken place. The agricultul
ist of years ago has become the fru
grower and trucker OF the presen. da
iu the Peninsula between the two bay
The best market for the II ioultur
and the horticulturist are the hon
markets and these are best maintaint
by busy manufactures ieeming wi,
workmen. We have no doubt wha
ever that the learned Chief Justi
desires to be the true and sincere irieI
of the farmers and he would recoi
mend nothing that he thought wou
initiate against them, and yet If !
plan recommended were carried o,
itwould most assuredly initiate agail
both farmer and manufacturer.