Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1890-07-17
PICTURE. FOR THE FARMER.
A Russian View of the Tariff and Its
Effects.

i Effects.
A Russian reader of the Chicago
Herald addresses the editor as follows:
A Republican organ called the Inter
Ocean, having exhausted all schemes
to mislead the people. especially the
farmer, in regard to the blessing of the
protective tariff, quotes from the Brit
ash Manufacturer, that q great many
iron works in Russia have commenced
the manufacture of ploughs since the
tariff duties on machinery have been
increased; these ploughs being cheaper
at Rostov-on-D Don than those previous
ly imported from Germany. The
bove is the most shameful statement
ever made in any newspaper; it is mis-
leading, misrepresenting facts, and is
anoth er scheme to catch the farmers
vote in 1892. It's intention is to keep
the farmer in ignorance and in poverty.
In the first place the city of Rostov-on-
Don Is as far from the nearest point of
Germany as is the city of Sitka, Alas
| ka, from Chicago. If there were no
duty on ploaghs in Russia, il the
ploughs in Germany could be had for
nothing, the cost of transpor tation, no
matter what quantity, would cost
more than the cost of manufacturing
the same at Rostov-on-DoD. There
has always been tsrifftax on ploughs
and on everything else in Russia. The
tax was not increased lately except by
| accident; the Russian government de-
mands at present gold coin in payment
for tariff duties, and as that govern
ment does not circulate gold coins, a
gold coin Russia is as rare AS an honest
Republican organ in the United States.
Thus the tariff in Russia is not protec-
tive, but absolutely prohibitive. The
result of this tariff business in Russia,
as far as the farmer is concerned, is as
follows: A farmer works from I O'Clock
in the morning until o'clock in the
evening, or 16 hours out of every "a.
Not only so, but his wife and children
from about years up work the same
tiuie. "A All maui III husSia is caTl-
ing 80 copecks Us cents American
money! per day without board, and
this, too, for l6 hours labor, or less
than cent per hour. The poverty in
that as last resort farmer will COM
NIT felony for the sole purpose of be-
ing sent by the government to Siberia.
The average farmers home in prot ect
ed Russia is built like the average horse
barn in the United States-something |
like the old Fort Dearborn in Chicago, |
though but one story high. The floor |
is Of earth and every morning one may |
see a lot of poisonous mushrooms,
which have grown during the mig hit.
The top or roof of this protected home
is covered with straw. Straw has a !
commercial value in Russia, as the ,
farmer uses the same instead of mat
tresses or bed springs In this country.
Indeed, straw is used by many farm
er for covering. But there is so much
of it and no market that straw is also
used as a fuel. In this respect the
farmer in Russia is better off than his
brother farmer in this county, the
former burning straw while the latter
burns the corn. The Russian farmers
home contains but one room, one en-
trance and one small hole called u win
dow. There is little or no furniture in
the sc-called house; in many a house
there are no bedsteads; straw is laid
on the floor for sleeping purposes; part
of the straw, according to the weather,
is used as cover or quilt. In this
house is sometimes family of 10 per-
sons, and in many houses the domes-
tic animals, such as the pig, the dog,
the cat, the hens, and even the COW,
have their shelter with their owners.
[ challenge any and all the protective
organs, called newspapers.
to prove that my description of the
tariff crushed Russlsn farmers is not
true. Their condition is the direct re-
suit fprohibitory tariff, and nothing
else. Whatever name it has, the tar
Iff is tax, 1t is ridiculous to suppose
that merchant who pays tariff duty
on goods would not charge the came to
consumers. Tariff duty is disguised
and it actually means tax.
The tariff is called protection because
it protects trusts, but it lessons con-
sumption and hampers trade. With {
out it labor would be higher price, as
there would be greater demand for
the same. The farmers would not
need to mortgage their farms, as they
would not be robbed on every article
they purchased. The tariff is relic
Of barbarism, it breeds crime, it causes
poverty, it hurts prosperity and II \
ought to be abolished. r
E. M. BECKERMAN. a
Favor the Alliance Move '