Courier Democrat. (Langdon, N.D.) 1891-1920, 1892-09-22
FOU RT II.
How the American Farmer Must
Compete Against European
Free Wool.

How the american Farmer Must
Compete against European
Free Wool.
There is 10 reason why an American
WOODEN manufacturer should use one
pound Of American wool unless he can
buy the American wool cheaper here
than he can buy the foreign wool
abroad. Every cent Of duty that any
American manufacturer pays Oh i'm
ported foreign WOOL is returned to him
by congress. If he pays 10 cents per
bale more for American wool than
English wool will cost him landed with
out the duty, then he buys the Ameri-
can wool at Il loss through compassion
for the American farmer.
The manufacturer is not protected
alone by a dHty Of 50 per cent. The
tariff law provides that he shall also be
protected by an additional duty of "A
cents per pound on cloth with which
to pay the duty on foreign wool i'm
ported and with which to pay the Amer
lean farmer al extra price-if he wants
to. He must pay at the custom house
the extra A cents if he uses foreign
wool; he Eeed not pay it to the Aneri
can farmer. unless he likes. if he uses
American wool. The manufacturer
can choose which he likes-tO buy the
foreign wool at the foreign price and
use the Al cents extra protection 10 pay
the duty. or to buy the American al
the foreign price and pocket the ::
cents. The farmer has TObyJn-s
choice. He must sell his vol either
here OF abroad. If he sells X here al
the foreign price he makes the freight
charge. If he sends it abroad ht NUT
lose the freight. Tie manufacturer
has him III Il wise. The manufacturer
has free foreign wool. and daes not
care whether the farmer sells al hone
or abroad. He can force the far:aer 10
send it abroad. sell it to him in tl.e tor
elgn market at the foreign ,nay.e.
price, and Sc it re-imported ni,f9:s.
cent OF duty being paid. TIE n.l.
owner does pay the duty Z. tle cIne.
but every cent is refunded u Lln zae1.
he sells his cloth With this cgnG..n,. /
staring the farmer in the face. n1w
can he pet more than the foreign ps!cs: !
But there are the +. cents eytra /.
which tie manufacturer makes # h.
buys American wool and stea!a the
money ne collects to pay the farmer for
his protection. Will he not at least
divide it with him: Why should he?
The farmer must sell to him at the
foreign price or export and lose the
freight. The farmers are competingto
sell. There are over 900, 600 of them.
thousands in need Of money, and their
cut-throat competition makes the
market price. which will be the lowest
profit point Of any one who has wool to
sell.
The trust is not competing to buy.
1t has killed competition not only in
selling cloth, but in buying wool. If
there were no trust: if manufacturers
competed in buying wool; if the gov
eminent paid them out Of the treasury
Il bounty OF Al cents per yard of cloth
made from American wool. as it Days
bounty Of two cents per pound on
sugar-cane juice, then their COMPETE
tion to buy would be pitted against the
farmers competition to sell, and the
result would be such division of the
A cents that the farmer would get a
few of them-from 2 to according to
circumstances, according to which
could bluff the harder. Without
trust there would be no A cents. The
protection could not be collected. With
the trust'there need be ITO competition
in buying, and the farmers protection
is stolen by those who collect it.
The only way in which the farmer
can be protected is to pay him from
the treasury IL cents bounty for every
pound OF grease wool he raises, exactly |
as we pay him two cents bounty for
every pound of sugar syrup, and then
tax the woollen manufacturers A cents
on every. yard OF cloth made in an
American woollen mill. Leave the
manufacturer S protection exactly what
tits now and let him do then what he |
does now collect from the people the
tax OF A cents per yard that they pay
into the treasury for the government
to repay the farmers.
This would accomplish honestly the
exact result the tariff law now pretends
to accomplish. It authorizes the WOOL
len trusts to charge the people ga cents
extra per yard on the cheapest cloth,
lining that amount any one who buys