Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1890-04-17
ROBBED BY PROTECTION.



The Farmer Betrayed by His Selfish and
Hypocritical. Friends.
The. average Republican farmer Is
opinions. but deeply infatuated with the
power and grandeur Of the grand old
party" SO infatuated that he is impa-
tient OF the least thing that would i'm
pute fallibility to such splendid or
ganization." Protection has given pros
perity to American industry and saved
the American toiler from the degrada-
ton of pauper labor in Europe. Protec-
ton has given to US farmers matchless
home market for the sale of every thing
we can produce. He will say: per
haps we pay q small tribute to protec-
ton as we'll as a small tax to the Gov
eminent, but that is but casting our
bread upon the waters, to return ere
many days to US thousand-fold in the
increase of our home market and gem
eral welfare and blessings to all the
people" Tell him that his nearest rail-
road depot is his home market; tell him
that for every thing he sells there the
price is fixed in the free-trade market
of the world, at Liverpool, Eng; that
ocean freight, railroad freight, commits
sion charges, etc, are deducted out Of
the price ruling in the free-trade mar
ket of Liverpool. The largest portion
of his sales may never smell salt water,
yet he has paid the freight to Liver
pool, or, in other words. it was
deducted from the free-trade market
price. Tell him that all imported goods
have added to the price the ocean
freight. All American goods sell for the
same price as the imported, and al
though they never smelt salt water, yet
protection enables the home market to
add the ocean freight on all American
goods. Tell him he pays all freight on
all he sells to the free trade Liverpool
market and pays all freight on all he
buys of protected American goods to
his depot home market and that the en-
tire freight business of all these great
railroads comes out of the farmers
pockets. Tell him that he pays a tribute
of about sixty per cent. to protection
and tax of the same to Government
on every thing he consumes of goods
taxed for the benefit of protection to
American industry and he stares at you
with open-eyed wonder and amazement
for there is the blessing of a home
market and the terrible image of Brit
ish free trade, that to him is some I'M
defined horror, that threatens ruin and
bankruptcy to the whole Nation. He
believes all this as he believes and has
faith in his religion. Long time ago an
old man and his son went to the woods
to hunt squirrels. The old man soon
found squirrel on the top branches of a
tall tree, aimed and fired, and when the
smoke cleared away the squirrel was still
there. He aimed and fired again; still
the squirrel remained stationary. The
son came up on hearing the report OF
shots and said: dad, let me have a
crack at him and I'll bring him down. -
The son looked tree all over but could
see no squirrel He said: dad, there
amt no squirrel on that tree. The
squirrel that's on that tree, dad. is all
in yer eye. Yer muslin git mad at a
Teller fur telling ye, dad, that 1 see a
louise in yer eye-lashes, and every time
yese looks up yese takes the crawler
fur squirrel, dad" Alas! Alas! the
splendor bestowed upon the Republican
party-Lincoln, Chase, Sumner, Seward
and Greeley-has faded away, and the
pleasing dreams to be realized to the
til1ers of the soil through protection to
American industry have all proved to
be myths, and the golden promises of a
home market for all the fruits of his in
dustry are all in their eyes The poor
homesteader of the plains of Kansas.
Nebraska and the Dakotas is still
dwelling in his dugout or sod hut,
clothed in rags; the water runs through
his broken shoes, the cold wind blows
the rain through his old hat, and his
heart is filled with sorrow for the suffer.
ing of his wife and children who freeze
for the want of clothing and coal, while
the poor miner in the coal regions suf
fers for the want of corn. The protec.
ton and Government tax on the tat
tered remnant on his body, when new.
made the cost enough for two such
suits. Oh! how protection has blessed
the til1er of the soil.-John 7. Lind.
saw, in Chicago Herald.