The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1892-02-12
GLADSTONE ON AGRICULTURE.

of the bad effects of free trade in Eng
land upon the agricultural interests
of that country, particularly the adj
mission of Lord Salisbury, the Lord
} premier and highest official Of the
realm under the queen three times
during the month of November last
once in his speech at the Lord Mayor
of London's annual banquet, and once
at a meeting and banquet Of the manu-
facturers of Lancaster. In his speech
made on each occasion he stated that
the repeal of the corn laws and free
trade in England, after more than
forty years trial had proved injurious
to the agricultural interests of the
country, and admitted that the free
trade in bread stuffs in England was
adopted mainly for the benefit of the
manufacturers rather than the agri-
culturalists, because opening the Eng
liSh market to the bread Stuffs of
other countries letting their corn into
the English market in free cOmpeti-
tion with British products would tend
to keep the price down to the lowest
possible point and the cheaper their
laborers could be fed the cheaper they
could be hired, and the cheaper their
manufactured goods could be made
and sent into other countries to COM
pete with the manufacturers of other
nations.
Wages in any branch of industry
could not be brought down to the
British standard, and with our miner
al resources but partially developed,
England has very largely the advan-
| tage of the American manufacturer.
The third time the noble Earl let his
views out on this question the same
month, and then when letter, was
written by a British manufacturer
asking him if his speeches were to be
taken as an indication Of an intention
on the part of the government to re-
turn to protection.
He replied by saying, that while
there was no doubt but what the re-
peal of the duties had injured the
agricultural interests of England and
prevented the cultivation of a large
amount of land, yet there was no
present intention on the part of the
government to change the present law.
OF course not. The premier admits it
has been of vast advantage to the
wealthy manufacturers. Laborers
are abundant and cheap, and whether
they starye or die some other way is of
little account to the upper millions.
But, now within the last few days
the 'Grand old man" came on to the
stand and adds his testimony to the
deteriOrated condition of British agri-
culture. A new journal the Weekly
Star has been started and claims to be
in the interest of the laboring men,
and it's publishers have secured for
its first number an article from the
pen of Mr.. Gladstone. The paper
claims to be devoted to the interests
of the agricultural laborers of both
England and Scotland. In his article
he states that free tradehas not PROV
en- beneficial to the tillers Of the soil,
but was an immense advantage to the
manufacturing population for it
cheapens the employees cost of
living and at the same time
enables him, if necessary to pay bet
ter wages. But, asks Mr.. Gladstone,
did the double benefits of cheapened
and heightened labor rain down upon
the agriculturist as it did upon the
working men of the populous towns
and manufacturing districts?
To this he answers noon the con-
trary, it is one of the pulling facts of
our economic experience that rela-
lively high wages in large towns for
long time act on the value Of agricul-
tural labor only within the very mar
rowest circles around them. But Mr..
Gladstone is something of traveller
and an observer, and he lets quite
flood of light in on this subject, far
from favorable to free trade, in the
following contrast between agricul-
turists of England and those of pro-
tected France and Germany:
at must be patent to Scotchmen
and Englishmen of the wealthy class
es, when they travel on the continent
of Europe, to see in most countries
plain signs that the cultivators of
the soil have much more access to,
and use of it for their own direct adyan
tage, than they can be said to enjoy
in this free and in so many ways ia
vored country"
MI. Gladstone's testimony on this
matter ought not to be questioned.
1t is English, you KNOW" and second
only to the Lord Premier. But the
noble Lord might have mentioned an.
other cause the wealthy travellers find,
ii so disposed he might have noticed
the fact that his particular friend
and confidant, John Morley's statis-
tics show that As per cent. of all men
10, L