Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1890-07-31
TARIFF TALK
Congressman Mius Talks to the
Multitude at Kansas City.
Plain Facts For Western Farmers to Con-
sider-How Prot. ction Does Not Pro-
tect the Producing Cltssrs Tho
Beauties of Reciprocity.

from all along the border of Missouri
and Kansas. When Mr.. Mills was in
troduced he said:
Ladies and Eel. ow- citizens: am standing
this evening in the presence of one of the
| most enterprising eIgetic and most pub
lie spirited communities on the face of the
| globe. In the presence of people w no in a
| few years have extended lines of ia ilroad to
every part of this vast country. In the pres
| ence of people above whose heads the
smoke of factories and chimneys and vast
| buildings float as Clouds not the clouds of
war. threatening our peace, but clouds of
| Industry and prosperity. IApplause-1 i
stand in the presence of brave men and
women. [Applause.J And when have said
! that it is needless to say that stand in the
presence of Democratic audience.
What has inspired all these lines or rail
| roads with the many elements against them
! to seek these avenues of trade? 1t is becanse
| you have addressed yourselves to the ex-
| chanEJ of surplus for surplus, and that be-
| cause in that exchange there is wealth. And
| that is the only way il the world that ,wea tn
| can be made. There would be no wealth in
| the land if only what consume were pro-
| duced. But wealth is made by sending away
/ Che surplus products which you do not wan:
! and bringin in a surplus product of another
! country in exchange tor it. God has made
| US dependent That is the reat fundamental
/ law of humanity. We are all interdepend-
! ent. Each one is dependent on another for
some article of apparel, food or shelter.
There are ladies sitting in this audience to-
night who are dependent upon some DIVER
in the distant for the pearls they are
wearing. Or for other precious products Pc
culiar to distant lands You are dependent
upon Brazil for your coffee; you are depend
ent upon China for your tea; you are de-
pendent upon the East India Isles for
your spices; you are dependent upon
France with its dry climate for the fine lus-
! ter of your imported silks that adorn the
ladies', you are dependent upon other parts
of the earth for their respective products of
whit h they make abundantly and of which
they have to spare. God has bestowed upon
us some bountiful gifts, but not all of them.
In His providence He has fairly balanced the
surplusses and necessities. We can beat the
world in the production Of wheat; we can
beat the world in the production of corn :;
we can beat the world in the production of
cotton, bacon, pork and some other articles
We have our advantages and they have
theirs. Let every man work in accordance
with the laws of God and nature to increase
his products and exchange his surplus for
that of his neighbor. 1 feel as though were
carrying Goals to Newcastle. Laughter
AS though i were advocating the peopling
of Holland by the Dutch, or that was teach
ing the laws of gravitation to learned pro
fessors of colleges.
You have demonstrated here what re-
ciprocity can do, and if you can not demon
strate it it can not be demonstrated. Who
would be able to come to you and to trade
with YOU were it not for the railroads you
have built? What would become of you if
all these avenues of trade and exchange
were closed? Why, it wouldn't be six
months until the bats would be flying
through your houses. Your success means
that you have been abe to produce the
greatest possible amount of goods in the
shortest possible time. By doing this you
not only inct ease your own wealth, but that
OF oilers as well.
Suppose that instead OF raising wheat and
corn, as in these articles you excel the
world, you undertake to raise your own COT
fee in competition with those whose lands
are particularly suited to the production of
that article. Think of the enormous ex-
pense you would have in erecting suitable
houses. in providing the necessary artificial
heat ana the other necessary elements
which God has given to the people of Brazil
free of charge.
Suppose a man in Kansas would raise ten
bags of wheat which he could exchange free
of charge for ten bags of coffee. That by
some power of his will he could transport
his own product to Brazil and have the
Brazilian product returned to him. The
matter of transportation is something we
can not prevent. 1t is in our power to re-
duce it, but we can not remove it That be-
longs to the middle man, and he is an in
dispensable factor in commerce. But to
turn to our suppositional case. When the
wheat is exchanged for the coffee each pro-
Queer has made the price of his product, less
the cost of transportation. But suppose you
put protective tariff of so per cent. on cot
fee; your wheat producer gets only half as
much for his wheat Then suppose that on
account of this failure to reciprocate the de-
mand for wheat should be reduced and the
price consequently reduced one-haf. Then
the farmer loses, not only half his coffee,
but half the price of his wheat. Applause
This system of protection is not an insttu-
tion that protects the producers, but it en-
ables the Government to gather revenues
to bestow upon it's favorites. Zap
plause.l 1 can see how a man like
Carnegie, whose wealth has been made
by a duty of 100 per cent on steel
rails, would want to shut out the out
side world until he Is worth from S25, 600, 600
to s30,0O0,OOO. But the Kansas farmer says:
somebody is going to get fooled" We have
peculiar people. There never was peo-
pie who enjoyed SO much to be fooled
the American people Laughter They
can get more solace, more solid comfort out
of a good humbug than any other people on
the face of the globe. Laughter. You all
know that story that Lincoln used to tell.
He said: You can fool part of the people
all the time; you can fool all the people a
part of the fine; but you can't fool all the
people all the time"
Our friends at Washington made us
great promises They said they would
revise the tax. Now that is an elastic word
and will stretch both ways 1t is like the
nigger'S trap. 1t is set to catch him agoin'
or acomn'. Laughter.l This revise means
to the farmers a decrease in the price of
what they have to sell and an increase in
the price of what they have to buy. 1t is
like the present speaker of the House of
Representatives He can cOuntmajorities as
well "a ty yeas as nays [Laughter.l If ever
the roll were called when every Democrat
in the House was dead he would have them
all present, though he knew at the time that
they were all in Heaven.
But want to go back to the farmers.
They are the people who, with the miners,
gather the resources of the earth. They are
the foundation of all W. alth When they
are depressed the whole land is depressed.
When they are happy and prosperous the
whole land is happy and prosperous. He
will stand moro than any other man in tie
world. He will suffer more. But when he
is pressed too hard it is possible for him to
do like Samson of old. He may put his
hands against the great pillars. lie may
draw in with the strength of his mighty arm
the supports of our institutions, and with
the crumbling ruin ne NAV drag down every
other interest Wi h him. There is not a better
illt stration of the all importance of the
rosperity 4 the farmers than to look at the
condition OF the country in tn. time If
drought; in time of grasshopper pests. Then
the wheels IF industry are stoJ ped as they
have been in the past. thousands are
thrown out of employment; not alone those
who :.i the soil. but those who are en-
ployed in mechanical pursuits. they walk
about our streets IN idicness. but as soon as
rain falls again, soon crops become
plenteous, prosperity again smiles upon the
land; The yaat products of corn, wheat,
cotton. cattle and other D oiucts have 10 be
tran ported, and this act witty gives life to
the whole system of commerce.
In 1881 we had a large product of wheat.
and in that year we had vast volume of