The Princeton union. [volume] (Princeton, Minn.) 1876-1976, 1892-12-29

the duty is removed Manitoba farmers
will not kick. Notwithstanding the
heavy tariff millions of bushels Of pota-
toes are shipped into the United States
annually from Canada and Europe.
Under the caption OF Zone OF Bob
Dunn's Mistakes, !" Mr.. Stivers came
back at us with this:
The latest government report Of i'm
ports we have is for. the year ending,
June &c. 1889, when the tariff on pota.
toes was less than it is under the Nc
Kinley bill, and when, if. the theory of
the protectionists is right, the imports
of potatoes ought to have been much
larger than now. In that year the i'm
ports of potatoes into the United States
from Quebec, Ontario, Manitoba and
the Northwest Territory amounted to
4S, 472 bushels, and the imports from all
the nations of the earth was ll6.62O
bushels less than one million bushels.
Those millions of bushels of potatoes
coming annually from Canada and Eu-
rope exist only in Mr.. Dunn's imagine
ton. Honest Bob Dunn, ought not
tritle in this manner with the confidence
Of his readers. "
During the ten. years ending
with June Goth, 1891, there were
imported into the United States
33,556,577 bushels of potatoes, or an
average of 1856, 657 bushels a year.
In the fiscal year 1888 alone the i'm
ports reached S,259,538 bushels-at
least as reported by the government
bureau of statistics under direction of
the secretary of the treasury. And
yet our infallible contemporary
charges that those millions of bushels
OF potatoes coming annually from
Canada and Europe exist only in Mr..
Dunn's imagination" and that E" Hon
est Bob Dunn ought not to trifle in this
manner with the confidence of his
readers"
The trouble with the Brainerd Jour-
not is that it lacks acq uaintance with
the facts. We take pleasure on this
occasion to give it an introduction.
According to its own confession it's lat
est information is nearly four years
old. Coming down to within more
nearly modern times, we present to
our contemporary, fact one, that the
imports for l889-90 were 3,415,57e
bushels; fact two, that the imports for
1S9O-91 were 5, 4O1, 9l2 bushels.
If our contemporary wishes to go
into ancient history, he finds in 1882
the imports of foreign-grown potatoes
reached $780, $3.50 bushels. If he still
retains his contempt for the farmers
protection on said vegetable, let him
reflect that, while in 1882, with duty
of Is cents per bushel on potatoes, the
imports of potatoes were $3.50, 1850
bushels; on the other hand, in 1892,
with a duty of 25 cents per bushel on
potatoes the imports fell to 1851
bushels only.
The large imports of 5,40l, 912
bushels in l89O-91 are doubtless due to
the fact that the new tariff
was not enacted until late
in the fall of 1850, after large quantities
of the 1890 foreign crop had been
shipped into American markets. The
benefit to the farmer from the increased
duty is seen in the decrease of the i'm
ports to only 1851 bushels for the
year ending last June Goth. This trif-
ling amount was about one-thirtieth
the imports of the preceding year, and
about one-twentieth the average an
nual importation of potatoes during the
past ten years.
Receiving from foreign sources
S, 400, 900 less bushels than in 189O-9l,
the American market in 1892 had
room for just that many bushels more
of the American grown article. In
stead of more potatoes and less pro-
tectiOn," as our uninformed Brainerd
friend advises, the facts show that pro-
lection, potatoes and starch factories
grow best side by side on the same soil.