Union County courier. [volume] (Elk Point, Union County, D.T. [S.D.]) 187?-1913, 1892-02-26

s3Is2 ff /
cs5 ~ 6sisy
1oeh. AS1neA VII IL -
NU1poAl ~ pfOvaded, tha DeparSmont
u 94Aea E6aoWod - etruede On behatf
~ AHnefisad producess, and this time
nccea1tully, - 4yerybody knows.
~ u eraettying 10 - able 70 point 10
IfeD0IutIone adopted on many occasions
at important representative gatherings
Of representative farmers. ell concur
ring III cOuamendatiOn or the work done
for the fasnsef under the present ad-
minIstration, work which. while mainly
inspired and carried on by the secretary
! OF Agriculture himself, has met at al
times with the hearticst cooperation on
the part OF the President Of the United
States, the secretary Of state, and his
other colleagues in the cabinet.
why Agricultural implsmsats Are Not
Taxsd
When the free trade Performer tells
the farmers wife that her calico dress
10 taxed 8 cents q yard che eau effective
y squelch him BY producing the bill
from the village merchant and pointing
out the fact that it's entire cost was only
~ cents 1 yard. But when the same
"reformer" buttonholes the farmer
himself and tells him that his plows and
c~ultivators are taxed As per cent. the
demonstration OF the dishonesty Of his
statement Is not 80 easily effected,
though the tax here is ~ purely imag-
mary ~ In The former case. When the
price Of the calico 10 lower than the a.
legged tax we see at once the absurdity
OF the tax theory. But this v oc-
cura except where the duty IL specific.
No matter how low the price falls. an
ad valorem duty Of any rate below. 100
per cent. must necessarily be less than
the price. SO the farmer 10 debarred
from using his wife's formula on the
free trader. But he has at hand anoth.
or equally effective argument.
He can show that unless the tariff
stands between him and cheaper imple-
ments which he might buy from foreign
countries II 1t ere abolished, then it
cannot tax him. The tariff "reformer"
appeal to TACT and prove that there il
not on earth q country where farmers
buy 90 serviceable and cheap farm ma
chinery a. that bought by American
farmers. Ii the tariff were abolished
Tomorrow not . piece Of foreign agri.
cultural machinery could find sale in
this country. In the words of Consul
Dunlap, who describes . great exhibi-
ton Of the cream Of foreign implements
held in Breslan, Germany, mo Ameri-
can farmer would take y single one Of
the plows on exhibition ~ q gilt; he
would be ashamed to be seen in its COM
pany." He comments further ~ fol-
lows:
have not a table Of prices OF American
machinery and tools from which 1 can
make comparisons, but | desire to say this,
that the agricultural machinery on exhibi-
ton at tins exposition, ii . fair sample
and have every reason to believe ii is
would, with the exception OF the steam en-
gines t1cne OF which are self-prOpelling)
meet with nothing but expressions of dis
gust from American farmers. 1t is not
equal in finish to the machinery in COM
mon use In the United States thirty years
ago. 1t IS heavy, coarse. rough and wholly
unsuited to work in any but q sandy or
gravelly soil. The prices given are. there
fore, with the exceptions OF the American
made machines on exhibition. not to be
compared with American high finished,
light and easy-wOrking machines and inn
PIGMENTS, but with what might be called
second or third-class machines made by
some amateur wOrkmen in = backwoods
country shop thirty or forty years ago.
IL II reasonable that American farm
ers are waiting for the abolition of the
tariff to rush out after these crude inn
plementsp Ii not, then the tax theory
must fail here, as in the case of the
calico dress, and the free trader is again
covered with confusion.-New York