The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1890-04-09

The New York TribHas says that a free
trade Newspaper rs,e atty called ths McKin-
ley oil the farmers tariff BILL and the
Tribune assumes thst more appropriate
name for 1t could not BE- fond The TTib-
,sne Is very careful, however, not 70 give
TIE name Of the ALLEGED free trade HevSpa-
per. Its failure y do 50 justlfss the sasDi-
cion that the newspaper 70 which it prs-
tended ID alluds has no existence. or that IL
there Is such newspaper its sanding Is
such that the Tribune does not thiak tia.
the case II wishes TO make out would be
helped b. giving its name.
The Tribune would ike 70 have il ganer-
ally understood that the Mckinley bll Is a
''farmsrs' tariff bill. but Is matter OF
fact, Is IL The Tribune publishes rather
ingenious article u prove that it is, but thu
article IS one that will no. bear critical
examination. For Instance, the Tribune
says that the value Of farm products i'm
ported into this country last year was many
millions OF dollars That is true. but the
Tribune fails 70 point out that If sugar,
rice, hides and wool were excluded from the
list Of imported farm products. the value of
But how does the Mckinley bill treat
sugar and ricel Does it help the sugar and
rice farmers by giving them greater pro-
lection than they now havei Not az all.
1t reduces the duty on sugar nearly 81 per
cent. and lowers the duty on rice quarter
Of a cent q pound. So FAR as sugar and rice
are concerned, therefore. the Mex nley bill
cannot be called farmers tariff bill. -
The bill makes hides and carpet WOODS duti-
able, but would the farmers be benefited
by having them made dutiablei Compare
lively fey farmers raise sheep, and the per
csntage Of them that would be halped by a
tax on hides is very small Indeed,
it is doubtful if they would be
benefited in the least. The greater part,
if not all, Of the benefit would be received
by the great beef packing hOuses. The in
finitesimal benefit that the farmers might
receive would be much more than counter
balanced by the greater cost of shoes. which
are necessity in every farmers family.
The Mckinley bill needs boIstsring up,
but it is very doubtful if it Will receive the
support Of the farmers They are becom-
ing greatly enlightened relative to the
effects Of the tariff upoa their interests.
The more they study the tariff policy of the
Republican party the less they sss in it that
is helpful to them.
They have been told from tins immamo-
rial about the benefits of the hons market,
and yet 200 farms were sold in one county
in New Jersey the other day to meet the
demands of the mortgages. Nav Jersey Is
one Of the greatest manufacturing st ltes in
the union, aud if the farmers OF any state
are assisted by the manufacturing interests
those of New Jersey are. The unhappy
condition of the farmers of New jersey,
however, is a pretty strong Argument
against the policy Of placing burdensome
taxes upon the farmers to build up factories
with the view of creating a home market
for farm products The Tribune will have
to hunt up stronger arguments than it has
yet presented to make the farmers believe
that the Mckinley bill is framei in their
interest.