Southern standard. (McMinnville, Tenn.) 1879-current, 1891-07-18
HOW FARMERS SUFFER.
The Tariff Levies a Tax on Them fol
the Benefit of Others.

Inc Iarln heVleS q lax Oh 1ueIu IOI
the Benefit of Others.
Ex-Governor Boies of Iowa at a Re-
form ClublDinner: fthe farmers and
laborers of this country are required
to contribute from their earnings to
build up lines of industry in which
they are not engaged, it is absolutely
certain that those who give must be-
come poorer thereby, while those
who receive will grow rich from the
avails of labor they do not perform,
and it requires no stretch Of the i'm
agination to foresee that under such a
system time alone is neededt to divide
these classes in this the proudest re-
public on the globe, as the human
family is already divided in the most
aristocratic monarchies of the old
world. 1t is infinitely better that
this nation should remain poor with
its property, such as it has, distribut~
ed among all its classes, than become
the richest on the globe with its
wealth concentrated in the hands of
a faw.
No:dream of a theorist could con-
ceive .of a condition more perfect
than one which would divide and
could maintain, with equal effort on
the part Of individuals, an equal dis
tribution of a nations wealth among
all its citizens. This is impracticable,
but what can be said in favor of a
system that strikes the very root OF
this equality; that aids by artificial
means in!preventing the nearest APP
proach to such equality that the hui
man family is capable of attaining.
Certainly nothing if men are just. II
this is the result of a protective tariff
the argument is ended.
Let us consider further its effect
upon the farmers of this country. II
is a self-evident proposition that a
tariff levied upon products which a
nation produces largely in excess Of
its own wants, which it is constantly
sending abroad because its own mar.
kets will not take or use them, can
have no possible effect upon the price
of such commodities, and hence il
follows that so long as we are pro-
ducing annually hundreds of millions
in value of agricultural products in
excess Of our own wants, no tariff
levied upon like products can benefit
the farmer. Legislators may spread
such laws upon the statute books, but
they should be as powerless to de
ceive as they are to benefit the parties
in whose favor they are professedly
made. 1t is equally apparent, as has
been demonstrated so many times
that a tariff upon manufacturer
goods increases their cost and tn,
cost of like goods produced at home
because of such goods we produc
less than we use, and hence mus
supply our wants in part by importa
tions from other countries.
But this increased cost is not tn
farmers chief ground of complain
against a protective tariff. He mus
have market for his surplus produC
tions in foreign lands. Unlike tn
manufacturer, he produces largel.
more than the home market ca
: take. The most important questio
therefore for him to consider is hoy
to extend the markets for his pre-
ducts, Nothing is more plain tina
the fact that if we sell to foreign nG
tons we must buy of them, No ms
ton could long pay in gold for an
considerable amount of imports an
escape bankruptcy. 1t follows il
} resistibly that tariff that keeps tn
, products of any foreign nation out {
our markets must TO a considerabI
extent keep ours out of its marke
. and inasmuch as the farmers of I'll
country supply three-fourths of a
: our exports, they are the chief su
n ferers from any policy that accom-
2 plisheS such a result.