The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1890-11-05
LET CHICKERING'S ALONE.
A Question OF Vital Interest to Farmers
and Should Be Seriously Considered.

A Question OF Vital Interest to Farmers
and Should Be Seriously Considered.
Inotice there are various ideas respect
ing the cause Of the great depression
prevalent among the farming and labor
ing classes, and various are the remedies
suggested. wish to offer an opinion as
to the cause and to suggest remedy.
The existing American system Of tariff
laws and the financial system where
by the interest of the capitalists Is
carefully guarded. and the interest OF
the poor man utterly ignored. are the
two main causes of our depression. with
most of tho responsibility lying at the
door of the farmer.
Some farmers go 50 far as to say that
we should let tariff chickering's alone.
Well, l will agree partially; that is, to
let the chickering's alone and come
squarely out and demand that our public
servants give us laws that will not favor
the few at the expense Of the many. The
present tariff is an iniquitous and high
handed piece of 70 obery, imposed on the
average farmer anil laborer, and why they
will sit still and sea suoh additional loads
ofimposition as the Mckinley bill ssddled
on to an already ground-to-the-earth
people is more than can tell. We are
the most inventive and progressive peo-
pie on the face Of tho earth, and our
capabilities seem almost unlimited; our
geographical position on the face of the
globe is the most favorable Of any coun-
try on earth for international commerce.
We have the raw material for the pro-
duction Of very nearly all the necessaries
Of life right at home, and we are pro-
ducing and can produce as much as two
countries like this consume, yet. our
protectionists say we must be q world
all to ourselves. We must eat all the
food we raise, we must buy all the man
ufactured goods we need at home, we
must buy them at honN at an advance
(because of our class fostering tariff
laws) Of Al or SO per cent. above what
they are worth in the markets Of the
world, where the price Of our farm prod
ucts is fixed.
We ought to be more cosmopolitan in
the scope of our ideas. We are making
more than we can consume, and it should
90 where it is needed. We should be
world wide in knowledge and compre-
hension of the needs Of the world. The
ocean greyhounds in great numbers are
plying constantly our waters of the north
temperate zone: the world is practically
at our doors; transportation has reached
degree of excellence and activity never
before beheld; and why should we tol-
crate the suicidal policy of bristling up
with our dog in the manger custom
houses, and try to declare to the world
that we are world within ourselves,
and need no further commercial relations
with any other country, while our farm
products are rotting on the fields in
Kansas and elsewhere and our foreign
demand is stultifed and restricted by
our tariff?
This is the effect of our American sys-
tenn. A retaliatory policy on the part Of
other countries has been gradually mar
rowing our international trade till we
find ourselves being bound tighter and
tighter, in the chains Of the grasping mo-
nopolistic class legislation Of our coun-
try with little chance at international
trade. We are sending abroad mechani-
cal products, and are making money on
them in markets where no protection is
had. yet we have to pay these grasp
ing manufacturing Shylocks every cent
that our tariff laws make it posi-
- H., Co. IN nh fNy. 0rsf7-
'cles at home. Instead Of letting these
articles and their manufacturers stand
on their merits and be ruled by the
supply and demand of the world we pro-
tect them at the rate Of AZ per cent.
average in their prices to home buyers,
while at the same time they are selling
at a discount in unprotected foreign
markets.
And all this time the poor farmer is
compelled to sell his products in the
markets Of the world, and these markets
are restricted and prejudiced against him
by our repugnant tariff system. Oh, when
will the average farmer see that the
tariff is the one or main cause Of his be-
ing in the slough Of degradation and al
most want? The farmer wants our
manufacturer placed on par with him
self. Let the manufacturer be content
with the proper and true value Of his
goods placed on it by the supply and de-
mand Of the world, as the farmer has to
do.-R. j. Tydings in Journal Of Agri-
culture.
The Principle Is Wrong.