Abilene weekly reflector. [volume] (Abilene, Kan.) 1888-1935, 1891-01-22
Eli Perkins ON the Tariff.

Ill EGIA1uS vi buC 4d44A
NJ. D. Landon, the famous humOr-
ist, better known as Eli Perkins, lee
tured in Salina a few nights ago. On
the way from Salina to Abilene an
Abilene gentleman began talking tariff
to him.
1.-THE present tariff is having a
dreadful effect" said the humorist,
with a sarcastic twinkle in his eye.
give come all the way from Pau
tuxet and Providence on the Merrimac,
through Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana,
Nebraska and Kansas and I'll tell you
about it. On the train going to Ware,
Mass, where they make jerseys and
knit goods, 1 met a Boston business
man. He was all broken up. He
fairly cried as he told what misfOT-
tune the Mckinley bill was to the
country. 1T has ruined my business
he said.
What is your business?' 1 asked.
9 L am Boston importer, SIR he
said, 'one of the largest in Boston
used to send s., ZOO, 900 a year to Chem
nitz, Germany, for jerseys and knit
goods and now our business is ruined.
We can't import those German goods
any more
We'll, what are you going to do
about it?' asked in deep sympathy.
DO he said, why 1 am going up
to Ware and I've got to make terms
with those Ware Yankees to make
these things
land you'll spend the $4,000, 900 in
this country, will you?'
Yes sir-compelled to keep 1t in
America
Well, that is terrible, l said. 1t
is an awful shame that you noble Bos-
ton and New York importers can't
send $500, 10000 every year out of
this country, but are compelled by this
miserable Mckinley bill to spend it
here and build up miserable American
manufacturers. 1t is sad and l
actually shed tears of sympathy for
this patriotic importer.
But the worst of ALL" continued
Eli, almost tearfully, 1.-THE worst of all
is the way these criminal farmers in
Kansas are making white beet sugar
and running the eastern importers.
The Christian importer used to
send out S5O,OO0,OOO to Germany
and Cuba every year for white sugar.
Now what do you think this rascally
Mckinley bill has done? Why, it let's
common black sugar come in free and
pays a bounty o. ? cents per pound for
home made Kansas white sugar, And
what is the result?
"Why bye and bye, when these
wicked Kansas farmers all get to max
ing sugar instead of wheat, why sugar
will go down and wheat will 60 up, and
Lucu IuOoG ohCCI OulIoOldu lupOllclS
who live in brown stone houses in New
York will have to handle American
products or starve. Poor importersl
What wicked, selfish American manu-
facturers and farmers they are who
want to make everything cheap in
the country, save all our own money
and starve those poor European
monarchs" and Eli groaned and wiped
his eyes with a red bandana.
but where will this all end?''
ut will end in wicked manufacturers
makers of linen, oil, wool, glass, cot
ton, silk, clay, wine and tobacco
springiug up all over the country.
The poor importer will be frozen out,
and $500, 200, OOOnow sent to Europe will
be expended here. farm products will
be eaten up here, money will be flush,
land will go up and the wicked Ameri-
can farmer and the rascally manufac-
turer will become rich, while the poor
patriotic Christian importer and his
friends, the mOnarchs will starve.
Yes Pm down on this wicked Nc
Kinley bill. You hear me?"