Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1891-04-18

Farmer.
A year ago we were in the midst of the
tariff excitement growing out of the Nc
| kinley bill. Committees of manufact-
urers were rushing back and forth in
| Washington, some pleading for duties to
protect them from ruin, others pleading
against proposed duties, likewise to avoid
ruin.
France Is now going through precisely
the same experience, commission hay
ing been appointed last year to revise
the tariff. The French had caught the
tariff grippe from US, and with them
also to revise means to revise upward.
This commission has been at work for
months, and only recently it has brought
in its reports. Discussion has begun in
the chamber of deputies and will con-
t1nue till next fall. The tariff is to be
ready TO go into operation next Febru-
airy.
The chairman of the tariff commission
is NJ. Meline, who may be called the
French Mckinley. He honors the ideas
OF our Mckinley and parades them be-
fore the chamber of deputies in the garb
OF patriotism, much after the manner of
our lord high tariff maker. He appeals
to the example set by the United States
as sufficient reason why France should
revise her tariff upward.
When our exports to France, there
fore; are cut down by the new French
duties, our farmers must thank William
Mckinley, of Ohio, for having narrowed
their foreign market. This NJ. Meline
Is thoroughly saturated with Mckinley
ideas. Here Is sentence from his re-
port: The best system for country Is
that which secures for it the greatest
amount of labor" Most people Of ordi-
nary common sense think that the best
system is that which secures the great
est amount Of commodities. are quite
content to save their labor, and will even
invent curious and cunning machinery
to save labor. But Mckinley and Ne
line think that it is labor that we need
more and more labor
But Mckinleyism is stirring up a storm
of opposition in France Last wear. when
we were about TO pass the Mckinley
bill with very heavy duties on French
products, the French made haste to put
duty of fifteen cents a bushel on our
corn. The result of this, along with the
rise i'll the price of corn. has been to
close up number of large distlleries in
Bordeaux, Marseilles and other places.
which were running mainly on corn i'm
ported from the United States The
great distillery at Marseilles has been
closed up, and the stockholders decided
to put it into liquidation. 1t used about
5000 bushels of corn per day.
1t is pointed out by French journal
that the disulleries of that country using
corn had capital of $4,000, 900, that
they were in most hourishing condi-
ton a year ago, but that after eight
months of duties on foreign corn the dis
tilleries are ruined. In view Of these
facts what a piece of grim hamor for
NJ. Meline to say in his report. The
producer does not ask for any privil eye.
he asks for only one thing, and that is
justice!''
But the distillers are not the only peo-
pie in France who have been stirred up
by the tariff builders. In Calais. lust
across the Strait of Dover from England,
the principal industry is the making of
cotton laces and MEETINGS, the annual
production of which amounts to S14,-
100000. The industry gives employment
to $4,000 persons. Now, these laces are
mace of kind of thread produced only
in Nottingham, England. The spinners
Of France do not produce the thread at
all, but NJ. Meline wants to make them
spin that grade in order to make more
labor Accordingly he puts a duty of
from thirty-seven to forty-six cents a
pound on it.
But this is not all; the lace industry
must bear still greater burden. Its
lace looms are not made in France at
all, but NJ. Meline wants to create more
labor for the French people. He does
not want the French lace makers to use
English looms, and so he performs a
great feat of McKinleyism and raises the
duty on lace looms. now $3.50 each, to
$3.50.
Of course the lace makers protest Wig
orously against these burdens upon their
industry. They point ont that the ex-
isting duties on cotton thread have Grip
pied the industry, 1000 of the weavers
having emigrated to foreign countries to
carry with them the secrets of their
trade.
Besides these cases the silk industries
of Lyons, Saint Etienne and other places
have protested against the proposed duty
on raw silk, and the commission aban-
doned the proposal But when the com
mission wanted to vote a duty upon silk
goods, and when the great silk manu-
facturers of Lyons objected. the commits
sion went ahead and voted the duty
thus protecting the manufacturers IN
spite of themselves.
meeting of the paper, book and
printing trade of Paris, too, was held
to protest against the duties which
would prove burdensome to their In
dustry. The manufacturers of linen
underwear, with an annual production
of S4O,0OO,O00, protested against the
enormous duties on their material.
which womb +b11S no rnada RI coc+ frDv,,