The Forrest City times., 1892-02-05
S'rosE we don't "traipse" tlis
What Keeps the South Poor. Memphis Appeal ul-Avalanche


 What Keeps the South Poor.
 Memphis Appcal-Avalanche.
 The Appeal -Ayalanohe has of late called attention to the fact that the South was kept poor very largely by the enormous sums paid for pensions anu to uphold the war tariff. The Chatta- nooga Time takes issue with us upon this point and declares that we are mistaken The Times goes on to say:
 There's no tay on wheat, corn, hay, coffee, tea and lumber; we make our selves and ship away hundreds of millions of feet of the latter. No tax on sugar (the South gets Sl0,0O0, ,00O bounty out of thatl, no tax on any thing We use except woolen goods. We get cottons as cleaply as they are retailed anywhere in the world"
 We are astoDished at the Times. The Mckinley bill raised the tariff on wheat from 20 to p cents a bushel, on corn from 10 to l5 cents bushel, and on hay from S2 to S4 ton. The Appeal A Avalanche claimed that near ly everything the farmer eats, drinks, wears and works with is taxed to death. The Times says there is mo tax on any thing we use except wooden goods We are prepared to show from the Mckinley bill that our statement was no idle one, and that the Times is in error. Under the schedule of the Mc- Kinley bill relating to cotton manu. factures we find that cotton thread. yarn and warps pay duty of 10 cents on every pound valued at p cents; that spooi.thread of cotton pays duty of : cents per dozen spools; that cotton cloth is taxed , cents, 23 cents and 1 cents square yard according as it is un- bleached, beached or dyed; that ''cloth- ing ready made and articles of wear ing apparel of every description, hand kerclliefs, and neckties composed of cotton ur other vegetable fiber" etc., pay a duty of 50 per cent ad yalorem; that chenille curtains and table covers pay 60 per cent ad yalOrem, stockings and hose B per cent, plnshes, velyets, velveteens and 0orGuroys 2Q per cent ad valorem and 10 cents per square yard, cotton coids, briads, boots, shoe and corset lacing B cents per pound and cotton damask 40 per cent ad valorem. the schedule devoted to flax, hemp and jute we select only d few manu- factured articles which are taxed, to wit: hemp and jute carpets 6 cent per square yard, cotton bagging a fraction over cent per square yard. oil cloths 10 per cent ad valorem, collars and cuffs 35 and 40 per cent ad valOrem, laces, edgings, embroideries, ruchings, etc. 60 per cent ad valo- rem. It is not necessary to quote from the wool schedule, as everything we wear which is made of wool contains a tax of some kind. But there are duties on silks, on buttons. on leather, and the various other articles which go to make up the apparel of Iasn and women. There are duties on horses, cattle, hogs, sheep and all other live animals. There are duties on barley, corn or maize, cOrnmeal, oats, oatmeal, rice, rye, rye flour, wheat and wheat flour. There are duties on butter, cheese, milk, beans, peas, mushrooms, broom-corn, cabbage, cider, hay, eggs, honey. hops, onions, plants of all kinds, potatoes, seeds of all kinds, fish of all kinds, fruits and nuts, with some exceptions, bacon, hams, beef, lard, poultry, tallow, choc- Olate, salt, starch, mustard, spices, vim egar and wines. The Times is in er- TOT regarding lumber also. There is a duty of ten per cent on timber, hewn and sawed. and corresponding duties on sawed boards, blanks, cedar poles, clapboards, laths, shingles, casks and barrels, chair cane and house or cab met furniture. The tariff on tin, it is costs the people of the United States about Sl5, ,000, ,0G0 a year, and as tin enters into the composition of many necessary utensils, of course the South pays it's pro rata of the tax. The duties on iron ore, and the manu- factured articles of iron and steel bear upon the hoop iron with which the farmer binds his cotton. the barbed wire with which he builds his fence, the nails, spikes and Jacks which he uses in his work, the needles with which the wife Sews, tile knife he uses, the cutlery upon his table, the tools be uses and every agricultural implement he purchases from hoe to cotton gin. There is duty on the paint he puts on his house, duty on the pen he uses, the ink he writes with and the paper he writes on. In short there is hardly single necessary of life to be found upon the free list. Of course the tariff is not in all cases tax, but the fact that it is imposed so univers- ally shows that it is imposed for the purpose of securing an advance in the price of articles generally; and if a duty should be imposed upon raw cot ton it would be imposed with the view to raise the price of cotton. It is there fore safe to assume that in the great majority of dutiable articles, the tar if has the effect of raising the price, and is therefore tax. The Times says ws get cottons as cheaply as they are retailed anywhere in the world. If so, why is the tariff on cottons main tained? Is it not more reasonable to suppose that if these duties were taken of, the people would get their cotton goods cheaper? We believe that we have shown that our Chattanooga contemporary was completely in error, but our object in doing so has been rather to call the wandering attention of the farmer to the fact that he will never gain relief until he has crushed the iniquitous ana burdepsome tariff.
 But She Will Cousin Jack.
 Pretty Young Aunt lreprovingly)- No, Harold, dear, you are getting too