Pawtucket tribune. (Pawtucket, R.I.) 1890-189?, 1892-09-13
THE HOME MARKET.

One OF the much vaunted objects of
protection Is 20 provide home market
for our farm products. Let us impose
high duty on all foreign goods. say
the pr0tottionists, and men win engage
in manufactures here, will give em-
ployment 90 a large number Of laborers,
and thus great home market will be
built up and our farmers will sell all
their produce at home. On this basis
they seek support for the protective sys-
tenn among the farmers, claiming that
the advantage Of this home market
more than repays the farmers for any
increased cost of manufactured goods.
This attempt ut building up home
market has now been going on for many
years, and il is time for the farmers 10
demand of the protectionists what prog
ress they have made in their vast under
taking Fortunately that progress can
be measuresprettya accurately.
The proportion Of our population en-
gagged In protected industries can DO
stated at about per cent? result
reached by averaging the computations
made by three distinguished officials of
the government during President Cleve-
lands administration. These were
WorthingtOn &. Ford, chief of the bu-
reau Of statistics OF the state department;
Professor Simon Newcomb, superintend-
ent Of "The Nautical Almanac, navy de-
partment, and f. B Elliott, the United
States government actuary.
These three authorities reached slight
~ different results. According tO Ford,
the number of persons subject to foreign
competition s. 470 per cent; according
to Elliott, 4.15 per cent, and according
20 Nowc0mb, 5.20 per cent For our
purposes here let us take per cent. as
the average, The population Of the
United State during the year 1891 may
DE stated AZ GJ,OO0,000, per cent. Of
which would give $3.50, 900 ~ the mum.
Ger of persons dependent upon protected
industries.
Takiugnow the single article Of wheat
and dt,,Im'ring the position Of last
years crop consumed by the protected
classes, We can arrive at fairly correct
idea of the value OF the farmers home
market. rhe agricultural department
at Washington estimates that the aver
age per capita consumption Of wheat Is
425 bushels At this rate of consump-
tion our pr,tected classes took only 49,
100000 bushels Of the wheat crop of
1891. But tlat crop amounted to 6l2,-
900, 900 bushels The entire home de-
mand w0s as follows:
N,uvryt..f..I .l,.... O,an 900
Protected home market ............... 6,3O0O
fof rfed ........................... O0.HOCD
Total l.......................... .Sj.lu9e0
Our exEort- amounted TO 5000, 900,
leaving thus . surplus or about "a, 900, 900
20 go over into this years supply.
From the above figures the success Of
the protecdonists in building up home
market IL seen 70 b. pitiably insignif-
cant. We exported during the fiscal
year ended June 30, 1892, fourteen times
as much wheat as our protected home
market c0nspme$ In order 10 carry
out their cherished idea OF consuming
all our farm products at home, our pro-
tectiouists ought to have increased our
protected home market 20 over $1,000
GOO instead Of the $3.50, 600 which we
now have
Our farmers must see how small a
factor the protected home market Is Il,
determining the price of their wheat.
The Is, 566 coo bushels consumed by that
market was ouly one-fortie.h OF our last
years crop. lf even this market were
entirely wiped out--which nobody pro-
poses--the difference in the price Of
wheat would hardly be noticed.
And what are the people paying for
.nis market? 1t was shown by Senator
Carlisle that On The single item of woolen
goods we paid duties for the first nine
months If the Mckinley law amounting
.o &lS, ,lg3 83S. This sum was more than
the value Of all tho wheat consumed last
year by the protected classes, and even
hen this takes no account Of the in
creased cost Of domestic woolens by rea-
son Of the tariff.
These figures are sufficient to show
what an absurdly high price our farm
ers are asked to pay for their home mar
ket. They show, too what miserable
fraud upon the farmer Republican pro
lection g.