Freeland tribune. (Freeland, Pa.) 1888-1921, 1892-06-27
A WESTERN FARMER KICKS.
Too Much Tariff the Cause OF His Dis
satisfactlon.

have been farming for about thirty
three years and have livedjn three states.
It has been truly hard road to travel.
This Is no fancy question. The farmer
has In large measure been compelled to
eat dirt and go naked. Wealth has in
creased forty times as much in Vermont
as In Iowa during the past ten years.
Kansas farm mortgages are by the CEN
sus $285, 900, 900. ....-..
This is not simply aquestion for farm
ers, but for all business men. On ques-
tions of tariff and finance the interests
of all of the people in the west and
south and nine-tenths of the people of
the east are identical
But unfortunately for the country I'M
der radical rule about one-tenth Of the
people of one small section (the north
lation for the past thirty years.
The manufacturer and the capitalist
have readily been enabled to amass mil
lions, and millionaires are becoming
quite common in the northeast, while
the bulk of the people there, and all the
people in the west and south, save the
Office holder and pensioner, have become
"hewers of wood and drawers of water"
for the New England nabobs.
And year by year they continue (un-
wisely, think to put the screws to us
a little tighter, until they have nearly
broken the camels back; have nearly
killed the goose that lays the golden egg,
not seeming to be conscious that by
crushing agriculture and inpoverishing
whole sections of the country they de-
stroy our ability to pay and thereby re-
duce their own revenues, and eventually
will produce such revolt from their
dominion as will bring themselves down
In financial ruin. if not (which God for
bid) in open rebellion and bloodshed.
When the pendulum is forced too far
in one direction it will swing too far in
the other.
For all this and much more we have
not enumerated we hold accountable the
party of professedly high moral ideas,
which would legislate other men into
morality; "for they say and do not; for
they bind heavy burdens and grievous
to be borne, and lay them on mems
shoulders, but they themselves will not
move them with one of their fingers
the party which has lived these many
years on sectionalism, by fomenting bit
ter feelings, race prejudice and wars;
the party which rejoices in the manu-
facture or parading of tales of horror to
keep up prejudice and bitterness, whose
chief stock in trade is hate or the en-
couragement of hate; the party which
was instrumental in liberating the negro
slaves, which we confess was one good
thing they did for the white race, but
which managed by the bitterness and
prejudice engendered by the war virtual
ly to enslave nine-tenths of the white
men of the country; the party which
by long course of oppressive legisla-
tion robs and plumbers the people under
the guise of law; the party which
would, by returning boards and force
bills, endeavor to perpetuate this pillage
and tyranny on peace loving and law
abiding people.
do not mean that there are not indi-
vidual good men and many of them in
the Republican party, but l do think
that the rank and file, those who are not
getting the Doodle, allow themselves to
be wonderfully hoodwinked.
Let lis look at one prominent item of
this robbery.
The tariff has yielded revenue for
the last ten years Of from $l22 900 900 to
$159, 900, 900 per ainum. OF course this
comes off the people, but the consump-
ton of home manufactures is about five
times as much as of imported goods,
which yields bonus Of near 800, ,000, 900
annually to the manufacturers, off the
people too. But this does not go into
the treasury, but into protected pockets.
This enormous burden of $S00,0 900
annually which the people have to pay
for this radical blessing is not half of
the damage. Protection destroys our
ability to pay; it in large measure pro-
hibits exchange of our products with
foreign countries, cuts off the demand
for our surplus corn, wheat, cotton
meat, ETC., and breaks the price of oul
whole product. For instance if we raise
one-tenth more grain than we need tc
consume, that surplus on our market
will break down the price of the whole
crop, whereas If Europe could exchange
freely with us the whole crop would
bear good price. No wonder farming
and every other industry in our farming
districts is prostrated. The wonder is
the whole agricultural portion Cmost all
Of our country is not broke.-St. Louis
Republic.