Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1890-04-30
FARMERS And WAGE-EARNERS.
How High Protective Tariff Is Eating
Up the Farmers.
SPEECH

; HON. DANIEL W. VOORHEES,,
! of Indiana.
In the Senate of the United States,
Wednesday, March 10, $780,.
The resolution submitted by Mr.. VooF
HEEs on the 17th OF March was read, as fol
fows -
whereas the deep and widespread depression
and decay of the agricultural interests {
appalling amount of mortgage indebted
ness on agricultural lands, the tota
nerative prices for farm products. tn
palpable scarcity and insufficiency of none
| in circulation in the hands of the people witt
| which to transact the business of the countr.
and effect exchanges of property and labor a
fair rates. are circumstances of the most over
whelming Impotence to the safety and th
Be ii resolved. That 1t is the highest duty g
| Congress in the present crisis to lay aside al
1 discussion and consideration of mere party is
sues and to Civ prompt and immediate atten
tion to the preparation and adoption of sucl
measures as are required for the relief of th
| farmer and other @oveftaxed and underpait
laborers of the United States.
Following is the second part and con
tinuation of Senator Voorhees's speech
the publication of which was commenced
1 =
in the SPECTATOR of the 23rd of April j
Experience is teaching harsh anf
severe lesson to the American farmer, anC
the time will come, at no distant day
when he will look upon the proposition tt
tax him, his wife, aud his children for the
protection and benefit of other people
besides himself and his own as he woulG
ook upon law of Congress establishing
the army worm, the weevil, and the midge
in his wheat, iegalizipg lccusts. lice, grass
hoppers, and injecting his cattle with mur-
rain and his hogs with cholera. 1t is moi
possible that the fraudulent and monstrous
policy of taxing the farmer into poverty in
order to make another class of people
nabobs and millionaires can much longer
delude and mislead any one fit to manage
his own affairs and have the care of a
family.
From year to year the farmer has been
assured, and in certain quarters he is now
again being reminded, that protection is
extended to the products Of his labor
against the competition of similar products
imported from abroad for sale in our
markets. The protectionist who advances
this argument is either himself fool, Or an
audacious knave who assumes that the
farmers to whom it is addressed are fo lis
Do the home markets Of the United States
invite the great staples of agriculture from
foreign lands? Does the price Of wheat, OF
corn, of cotton, of pork, and of beef in our
markets. excite the oupidity Of the grain
growers and stock raisers of Europe,
Canada, Mexico, or South America? What
need is there of tariff duty to keep the
products of foreign farms away from our
shores, when in point of fact prices in
American markets for agricultural pro-
ductions pay the American farmer but little
more than neighborhood transportation n,
and nothing at all for his labor?
The farmers of the United States sell
abroad and feed the world. Every pre-
tense of protection for their home markets
is fraud; every duty laid on such articles
as wheat, corn, cattle, horses, eggs, poul-
try, and other like productions of farm-life
and farm labor is cheat and sham, and
is so intended. Under cover of deception
and pretended protection, which affords no
protection at all for anything he has to sell,
the farmer has been for years, end is now,
compelled to pay taxes on tne necessaries
of life after the following average rates !:
On wooden goods, an average of 70 per
cent; knit cotton goods, 80 per cent; cot
ton clothing, 50 per cent; cotton bagging,
A per cent; cotton ties, So per cent; tin
plate for roofing, milk pals, and kitchen
utensils, 40 per cent; earthen and stone
ware, So per cent; chains: A per cent ;
window glass, 73 per cent, and sugar, 70
per cent.
To convince the farmer that he is pro-
teeted aud benefited by such an abomina-
BILE system as this, would seem to rational
mind utterly impossible, aud yet in some
instances it has been done. l recall one
instance at this time, and l will venture to
describe it to Senators as l have once be-
fore done to a popular assemblage. During
the campaign Of 1888, in one of our beauti-
ful Indiana towns, and in a very fertile
belt of country, l witnessed Republican
procession. 1t had in it many industrial
exhibits, claiming to show the powsr and
the glory of q tariff laid for protection. As
scanned along the line of moving vehicles
I caught sight of one that riveted my gaze
and gave me much food for reflection Oh
the power to mislead and deceive which was
abroad in the land. 1t was wagon
driven By farmer and loaded with the
productions of his field. There were spsc-
mems of corn, wheat, rye, hay, and oats; of
potatoes, pumpkins, watermel and
cantaioupes; of cabbages, beans, onions,
pie plant, and tomatoes; of apples, peaches,
pears, grapes, and cultivated blackberriee,
and on each side of the wagon, in big
staring letters, l read the following =
ssThese are the fruits of protection" My
first thought was that such man would
certainly become the victim of bunkc-
steerer or a confidence swindler before he
got out of town, but in a moment l re-
fiected that he had been listening to the
eloquent advocates of the monopolists, and
had been persuaded that tariff protection
had done more for him than the sun, the
de9s, the rams, and rich and beautiful
soil. with all his own labor thrown in.
The stupendops extent Of this nnfortu-
nate mans delusion can only be estimated
| when you turn away from political parade
aud look at N while at work on his farm.
You there behold the poor, blind dupe
breaking up lis grounds, preparing them
for crops, and then planting and drilling
his corn, wheat. oats, and rye with plows,
harrows, planters, and drills on which he
has paid out of bis own pocket from 75 to
| 100 uar cent, nearly double their real
value, as tariff tax laid for the protection
and enrichment of the manufacturer of such
implements in this country. You behold
this euslaved and deuded victim of the
money-power cutting his small grain and
his hay with reaper and a mower foi
which he has paid twice what they would
cost him but for protective tariff.
He uses q double-priced hoe in his cab
bsge patch and q double-priced pitcbfork
at his hay-inow and wheat stack, in order
to enable the manufacturers of hoes and
pitohforks to avoid foreign competition and
thus get rich. He then puts q set of har.
ness on his horses, taxed from the bride
bits to the breech- -bands, and on every
buckle, link, and chain, bitches them to o
wagon taxed SIS per cent, at least. or
every bolt, spike, and tire, that holds il
together, and then, with a suit of clothe;
on his back taxed at about the same rate
and with his wife by his side, also covered
with Iaiment at two fold protected prices,
he starts TO town shouting for the Republic
can party, the sideboards of his wagon pro
claiming that the productions of his farm
are the fruits of protection.
The fruits of protection! They were
planted, nurtured, and gathered in spite o.
protection, and at double expense be
cause of such curse in the, statute books
| of hoG 10 ~