Freeland tribune. (Freeland, Pa.) 1888-1921, 1892-12-26
OUR FARMERS PAY THE TAX.
American Agricultural Machinery Sold
Cheaper to Foreigners.

American Agricultural Machinery Sold
Cheaper to Foreigners.
Andrew Carnegie says of agricultural
machinery in letter to the London
Times: "a leading manufacturer of this
in England told me recently that he had
closed out this business in all the colo
MES; the Americans had conquered the
field; even from the continent Of Europe
he and others were being driven, and
here at home reapers and binders of
American make were rendering bust
hess impossible"
All of which is doubtless true. But it
will puzzle the Carnegies of Europe and
America to explain in this connection
the benefit to America of the As per cent.
duty on agricultural implements. OF
course, if by America we mean the few
manufacturers of agricultural imple-
ments, the benefits are easily under
stood. The duty gives them the monop-
oily of the best market in the world at
any prices they may fix inside of GER
tain limit-about so per cent. more than
the same goods cost in foreign markets.
This, in fact, is the use made of the duty.
Our manufacturers make the best and
cheapest implements in spite of high
wages and tariff taxed materials. But
instead of selling at free competition
prices they form trusts and combines TO
sustain prices at home. Foreigners,
however not living under our beneficent
protective system, get our manufactured
products at actual cost of production
with reasonable profits added. This is
from 8 to 90 per cent. under American
prices. There can be no doubt on this
point.
Mr.. A. B. Farquhar, of York, Pa, one
of the largest manufacturers of agricul-
tural implements, does not deny it.
Certainly" he says, "our manufactures
ARE sold much lower abroad we could
only need protection to get better prices
from our customers at home" He thinks
protection is swindle upon the farmer,
but as a manufacturer he will get what
he can out of the system because it is
only in this way that he can get even
with it for the tax which it places on his
raw materials.
Secretary of Agriculture jeremiah NJ.
Rusk said in 1890: 81 had an opportu-
nifty to take some stock in the combina-
ton National Harvester trust), and l
know what inducements were offered
An investigation will show that this
same combination is now selling or offer
ing to sell machinery in Russia and
Australia and other wheat growing
countries at lower figure than they do
in this country"
Based upon this fact he gave his Re-
publican friends warning of the land
slide of 1892 in the conditionally pro-
phetic words: "This Mower and Reaper
trust will cost the Republican party
hundreds of thousands of votes at the
next presidential election unless it takes
firm stand against it and trusts in
general"
If any one still has doubts let him
write to Mr.. E. w. Stout, farmer near
Trenton, who recently visited his father
in England. While there he bought
American made plows, hayrakes, cult
vators and feed cutters because he found
that after paying all expenses of ship
ment back Gn the same packing boxes
in which they were exported) he could
save considerably more than 10 per
cent" He said: "On the plows the saw
ing will be fully 25 per cent, think,
for the prices for American made plows
on the other side are just about half the
prices charged for the same things in
this country"
When Mr.. Stout told this to his neigh
bors he had not yet received his goods
He cut short his visit to return home to
vote for a system that would protect
Americans while they are at home.