St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1896-01-13
FARMERS AND LEGISLATION.


watch legislation" ALREADY the
pressure from the farmers is felt in the
concessions made to wool and other
farm products in the temporary tariff
measure passed by the house. Keep
up that pressure. Do not de-
mand class legisla ton in your favor,
/ but demand that there be none to your
| damage" Bring pressure" to bear
! to get foreign wool taxed, and keep
! the pressure up SO that the tempo
rary" tax may be made higher in time,
is, in the confused mind of this ed
! itor, not "class legislation" Shepherd
Lawrence is not thus befogged. He
told Mr.. Reeds congress and the wool
en- manufacturers that if the farmers
could not have taxed wool they would
| have untaXed woolens. He knows that
it is class legislation if the editor does
not.
But question underlying all this is
whether farmers should ask for leg
! islation for their industry at all;
whether, even if congress is doing
out favors to others, they should de-
mand "a slice Of the ham," whether
their true interests do not require
that, so far from asking for anything
for themselves, they should set their
faces against all such legislation. Aside
from the barren results, the Dead sea
apples, of the legislation that has been
tossed them for thirty years, and re-
CARELESS whether there would be gain
or not in any legislation, the ques
ton is whether farmers can afford to
consent for a moment that the pow
ers of All of Us, which is what we
call the government; should be al
lowed to be used to benefit anybody
or any class If they cannot then they
should set their faces against all legis-
lation of this kind, and especially
should they not be seduced from this
position by tempting offers of legisla-
ton for themselves, no matter how
alluring. They give away their whole
case when they do.
Something is never given for moth
ing. Benefit by legislation means bur
den for some Money cannot be put
into some ones pocket without being
taken out of another's. Some one has
to pay the fiddler when people dance.
Protection means profit for some one
that all others must one way or an
other, pay. 1t cannot go ali the way
round, benefiting everybody alike, for
then there would be no profit in it.
The protectionists know this well
enough. See how they laugh at Dave
Lubin, with his proposition for boun-
ty on exports Of farm produce. How
they want "a slice of the ham," too
They call them cranks and socialists
and demagogues, who must be put
down or society will go to the ever
lasting bowwows. They know that
if everybody were, protected it would
be merely figuring oneself richer by
putting money from one pocket into
the other
Farmers canot afford to tolerate class
legislation simply because they will
get the husks while the others get the
corn. 1t has always been SO, always
will be so and cannot be Otherwise as
long as men are made As they are.
They have had taxed wool since 1867,
and what good has it done them?
| What was the price then and under
McKinleyism? Money talks" and
prices tell truer stories than theories
do. They have had taxed eggs and
potatoes and wheat and barley and
everything they make on the farm,
nothing but husks, chaff, bran. We
say it will always be so and it is
simply because the other fellows are
! sharper, keener, more active, more
adroit and smarter. They get the bet
ter of the bargain every time. Why
not? How many farmers are there
in congress? How many are in the
state legislatures? And, in the lat
ter, when a farmer gets there what
show has he? Suppose he is in the
majority he is helpless as a child
among the quicker, smoother more
alert and more practiced representa-
tives Of the classes who want Iegisla-
ton, know how to get it and what it
is worth They bamboozle the farmer
members always. If consent is given
to any legislation helpful to that
class they manage to see that it's
teeth are drawn so it cannot bite
any one. Look over the whole list
of farm laws Of this state, and see
II this is not true. Take the grain in
spection laws for sample; the rail-
way laws for another, how much have
the farmers got out of them? There
is railroad commission with Just
| powers enough to growl and not
enough to strike. The other fellows took
| good care that it should be restricted
and hampered.
The farmer always gets the short end
of the bargain. He carries the long
end of the pole. He always will as
long as he consents that legislation
shall be used to foster or sustain or
protect or uphold anybody He will
get the chaff, and the other fellows
the wheat. Pity it's, he sometimes
thinks his chaff is wheat, as in this
wool business, but the other fellows
| hot