Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1894-03-08
PROTECTION FOR THE FARMER.


What s1cKinleyism Is Doing for the Az
ricuitural Class.
The American manufacturer asks for
protection from the American farmers
competition, and that the American
farmer shall be confined exclusively to
the American market for farm products;
that he shall be prevented by law from
trading his surplus for foreign manu-
factures-from importing profitable
payment The American manufacturer
has no other competitor except the
Standard Oil company, our silver kings
and our fishermen--whose competition
is too small to trouble him. No foreign
manufacturer can compete with the
American manufacturer except through
the American farmer. unless the foreign
manufacturer gives us the foreign goods
If the goods are not given to us we
must either steal them or exchange for
them surplus farm products of equal
value. We can only buy" them with
metals, oil or farm products or a promise
of them. Cash must be either prod
uct of labor or the promise of it.
Congress grants the mill owner this
protection by levy ing a tax on each ex-
change of surplus American farm prod
ucts for foreign manufactured products
This tax ranges from 40 to 225 per cent,
according to the article, and it is inn
posed upon the only party to it that
congress can get hold of-the American
farmer. 1t is levied upon the final prod
uct of his labor-our imports. 1t is not
imposed and cannot be imposed until
after the goods have been exchanged,
fnroirr ha-
the product of American labor. Not
even the pretense of tax can be
levied on the foreigners because the
constitution of the United States ex-
pressly forbids any tax on exports, and
the foreigner has his untaxed goods ex-
ported as the final result of his labor.
Protection, Ito make things even,"
offers the American farmer sawdust
protection against the mill-owner's in
vasion of the farmers home market"
The farmer does not need even genuine
protection He has his own home
market" already, and he has slice of
the ''home market" for manufactured
goods as well. Protection takes away
from him this slice of the mill-owner's
market, and. while pretending to give
him what he has already, his own
home market" tries to deprive him of
that also.
That the nill-owner may be able to
export his mill surplus, exchange his
mill products for foreign farm prod
ucts and then bring these here in COM
petition with the products of our
farms, protection pays to the mill
owner. when he exports, 80 per cent. of
any revenue taxes imposed ON imported
raw material. and then admits the for
eign farm products the mill-owner i'm
ports either free of duty or subject
only to a very low revenue duty. OF
the so leading farm products 10 are ad-
mitted free of duty, 5 are taxed only
from to per cent, on 20 it is 10 per
cent or less, on 25 it is under Is per
cent. On only 9 does it exceed 90 per
cent, and on only items-wool, hops,
rice, cane-juice and peanuts-is there
even a pretense Of sawdust protection.
Cotton is free. Wheat is taxed only IL
per cent, corn Is, cornmeal 10, rye II.
buchwheac 10, poultry 10, pork l6, beef
IA, flax :, hemp 6. milk 10, and SO on
with all general farm products. The
manufacturer is protected against the
competition of farm labor by average
taxes Of 50 per cent; the farmer is pro-
tected against mill labor competition
by average taxes OF 10 per cent.
To discourage American farming and
make it Improbable tax is levied on
every exchange of farm products for
foreign manufactures, ranging from
AZ to 2o5 per cent and averaging nearly
so per cent. On exchanges that can be
still made at a profit it averages IS per
cent; but how high it is on those that
cannot be made-and some can be and
are made on which 20S per cent tax is
paid-no man knows or can guess
Here is how it has discouraged farming
generally and how it has made wheat
farming Improbable in the central
states:
Farm PRODUCTS Brsadstufs