The weekly register. [volume] (Point Pleasant, Va. [W. Va.]) 1862-1909, 1891-01-21
THE FARMERS.
a Newspaper Correspondent's
Talk About Taxes, Tariflsandl
Other Beauties Of Republi-
can Policy.


IDENTITY does good deal of thinking
writes his home paper the Parkers-
burg Sentinel a letter which we
quote below:
IL is the most familiar lesson of
history that nations which avow
one form of government frequently
drift by practice into something
radically different. ~
Farmers Alliance, National Farm
ers Alliance and Co operative Uni
on, National Farmers Industrial
Union, Farmers Institute, Changers
Agricultural wheel-what are they
all and what do they mean2 Evil
IDENTIFY the farmers are waking up
and propose to take hand in the
game of government. What is the
the trouble? / hear one say bad
financial system; another discrimi-
nation in freight rates; another,
speculation in futures; but over them
all lies the baleful shadow of the
tax eating monster. 1t is not so
much the amount of taxes the farm
er pays, but rather the injurious eff
feet which our present unjust tax
ing methods have upon his particu-
lar industry. Farmers study the
tax question, it covers a multitude
ofwrongs.
The Republican congress thought
they were throwing an effective sop
to the farmers in raising the tariff
duties on grain and meats. But the
result of the late election indicates
that the farmers are not so ignorant
as some politicians seem to think.
as we export over five hundred mil.
lion dollars worth of such products
and import none to speak of, tariff
duties cannot help the farmer. The
price of their products are fixed by
the demand in foreign markets and
the same Legislation that prevents
the foreigner from selling his pro-
ducts to them also prevents him
from buying their products for him
self. Hence, tariff taxes lower the
price of what the farmer has to sell
at the same time that they increase
the price of what he has to buy.
The farmer needs less taxes and
more markets, not more taxes and
less markets.
How in the world protection ever
came to be denominated the Amer
lean system" is hard for one to learn
from the history of tariff taxation.
1t prevailed in England nearly two
hundred years before the date of
our separation from the mother
country. Protection was not over
thrown in England until 1916, from
which time dates her greatest pros
perity.
But what is the meaning of pro-
lection? 1t means an additional six
pence for each loaf, that is the Irish
of it. If he had no protection the
loaf would sell for shilling, but if
he has protection it will sell for one
and sixpence. Protection is the
English for one and sixpence, and
what is more it is the English for
an extorted sixpence. Tho real
meaning of protection, therefore, is
robbery, robbery of the poor by the
rich. (From speech by Daniel
O'Connell, Sept. %, 1S43.)
Secretary Window asked con
gress short time ago, for S25, 900
with which to pay duties on import
ed goods used in equipment of light
houses. Under the old law the
government paid no duty on. goods
imported for its use. With utter
disregard for his claim that the for
eigncr pays the tariff, Mr.. Mckinley
explained in the house on May 7th
tina under the new law ''the gov
crnment will pay the Same duties
which its citizens generally are re-
quired to pay" Speaking of the
articles used in lighthouses Score
tary Window wrote Dec. IL:
The duty on the parts which are
mostly of glass is sixty per cent.
and on the parts made mostly of
mcsal forty per cent The
fourth-order apparatus costs, say
10000 francs in France, or, say ST.
600. the duty on which will be, say
half that amount.
SD Secretary Window wants $685.
600 to pay duties on lighthouse APP
paratus imported by the govern
ment. 1t seems in this case that
the miserable foreigner won't pay
the tariff, and so the Secretary has
to call on Uncle Sam for the money.
This is decidedly rich.
In Pennsylvania, Massachusetts
and Ohio a Republican has three
times the voting power of Demo.
crat. In Michigan the Republican
advantage is still greater, being four
toone. This gerrymandering hich
prevails throughout the Republican
States of the north is more polite
method of suppressing votes than
the shot gun or the tissue ballot.
TO illustrate, taking the vote of 1888
as u basis: In Illinois 348,37l Dem.
ocratic votes elect seven represen.
tatives, while 37O,475 Republicans
elect thirteen Representatives. Az
erage number of voters to the Dem
orcatic Representative, 40, 767; Re.
publican %, 49S; difference in favor
of Republican voters, 2I,26O. In
) Iowa it takes 1857 Democrats Ia
elect one Representative, while
, 211 sos Republicans elect ten Rep
rcsentatives. In Michigan 2l3. 46s
Democrats elect two Representatives
while 266,3S7 Republicans elect
-. III