Hopkinsville Kentuckian., 1890-10-24
MINNESOTA AND THE BILL.

Senator Drvis Favors Reciprocity and APP
proves the Irvine Trust-Insufilciency Of
Home ENTHUSIASTICALLY For Foreign
Outlet-Extortions of the binding Twine
Trust What should lie Done.
Senator Davis, of Minnesota, who is
supposed to belong to the high tariff
crowd, made speech in the Senate
few days ago in which he showed with
great clearness the burdensome effect
OF the tariff upon the farmers. He said
that he favored reciprocity, and that he
thought the pending bill should .be;
amended so as to give the faSmers ac-
cess to foreign marsssts, especially 10
the markets 9i'our neighbors north and
south of aZ There must be an outlet
for the vast surplus OF agricultural prod
Gcfs which we raise. We can not get rich
by swapping jackets with one another
Foreign trade is necessity. So, good
as he thought the Mckinley bill was as
a whole, he hoped to see it amended in
this direction.
But there were items in 1t which he
could not approve. Binding twlne, up
on which the Finance Committee of the
Senate has placed duty OF II cents
pound (the Ways and Means Committee
Of the House had fixed the duty at IL
cents should go upon the free list He
was quite clear on that point. His con-
stituents were farmers, and this sense
less and wicked tax cost them 81, 900, 900
year They could not afford to pay
it; they should not be compelled to
pay It 1t was simply tax upon the
farmers for the benefit OF gigantic and
greedy corporation. The whole busi-
ness was trusted" All tho manuiact-
urers of cordage and binding twine
were in the combination. This combl-
nation not only limited the production
OF the mapufactured article and fixed
its prices, but 1t controlled the supply
OF raw material in the places where 1t
was grown. 1t exercised its great pow
er mercilessly, and the twine' men
played right into its hands. There
were forty-two American and seven
Canadian establishments in the com BIZ
nation. Their purchases were all made
by one man, and committee OF three
fixed the prices at which they should
sell, and declared how much Of product
hey should turn out They were great
er than the Legislature; they were above
the law. Why, he asked, should we
protect these gentlemen? They could
protect themselves and were able to
''spoliate the world" Yet they wero
threaten ng to shut up these mills when
the demands were complied with.
Mr.. Davis showed by figures that the
profits on the manufacture OF binding
twine amounted to ~ per cent that is
out OF the $40, 600, 900 paid for this article
by the American farmers each year,
"a, 0OO,0 was clean profit Such was
the business that II was now proposed
to protect lie thought that it was
quite able TO stand alone.
The situation was so bad in his State
that the authorities were going to put
up machinery in t,e State prison to try
to make binding lwne out OF Minne-
sofa flax fiber. 1t Nas he said, "a
striking commentary TO protection on
that industry, that the greatest wheat
growing Stlte in the Union had been
compelled to set up in its penitentiary
a convict oppos ton to that all-compre-
hendlug, unsat!shed and extort!onate
monopoly"
But this was not all lie had said
something OF reclproclty. This idea was
popular with the people. The Amer
lean people needed other oppor-
tunities than those aifor lod by
the home market We must
have consumers. There Is general
desire that other nat ons should become
acquainted with the American flag
which used to DO known ON every sea
and undcr every sky This tariff bill
gave w the opportunity to secure great
advantages, In tho WY OF trad1 rull-
uons from other countr es
Even in regard to wool, while he DO.
heyed in fully protecting the farmers
on the kinds OF wool that they raised,
yet ~ they could not OR would not raIso
the coarse Argentine woods, he believed
In keeping the duty on those wools to
be used for trading purposes. And he
would let those woods In free ~ the coun.