The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1896-11-27
Gold Standard and Protection.

going from this country to Europe. A
large part of these exports is wheat but a
large part also is composed of merchan,
disc manufactured in this country. To
pay for these exports large imports of gold
are brought over. Now, let us look for
the cause of this phenomena in the opin-
ion of some persons, and not few OF
those persons are the publishers and edi-
tors of the daily press, that great teacher
so the press claims-of the public.
The price of wheat coupled with the
heavy shipments is phenomenally high as
compared with recent years, which is
readily accounted for. The wheat crop
i'll India, Russia and other wheat export
ing, silver money countries i'll the Old
World and in Argentina is failure, and
to supply the deficiency shippers are
obliged to rely on the United States. They
cannot use our silver to purchase wheat
in those countries-there is none there
American wheat.
But what of the large shipments OF
merchandise? The answer is not far to
search or hard to find. Prices in this
country under the gold standard are drop
ping as low if not lower than in Europe
where our goods are competing in the
markets with European goods, and gold
is buying in the market where the cheap
est goods are found. This is all very
natural and according to the laws of trade
But what about our manufacturers not
being able to compete with European or
English manufacturers without being
braced up by 60 per cent tariff when
they are now selling goods in competition
with them in their own markets. That
tariff argument has a very loose screw
somewhere which our farmers ought to
hunt up.
The naked truth about this protective
tariff and gold standard business is that
the tariff "barons" and the gold standard
'barons"-this is favorite epithct with
this class-are playing into each others
hands. The object of the gold bugs is to
narrow the money made by the govern
ment down to gold coin, which makes
the quantity of legal tender money so
small that they can easily corner it with
the assistance of their foreign cousins
Being able to corner the legal tender
money the banks, having entire control
of their own issues, are able to make
money scarce or plenty at their option
and control the prices of all property
They have prices now pretty near the
bottom, when the Old World is sending
their gold here to buy cheaper goods than
they have at home.
But why do the great manufacturers
want high protective" tariff under
those conditions Their newspapers say
in order to protect the wages of working
men. But they are cutting the wages of
their men, and have been for years i'm
porting labor from Europe to take the
places of Americans who want their wages
to share that protection" Now mark
these conflicting stories don't dovetail
together. There is quite another reason,
in fact two of them, for wanting high
protective tariff. The large and powerful
manufacturers want all foreign goods shut
out of the home market that can be ex-
Guided by high tariff, so as to have the
market for themselves. This point gained
they form trusts and freeze out all the
small fry manufacturers and are able to
rule the roast. The trusts set the prices
in the home market and sell their surplus
i'll European markets, meeting-and sue
cessfully too-the foreign articles in price.
This double game of monopolist gold
bugs and protection" barons is being
played successfully against the farmers
and laboring classes, including all me.
chanics. The gold standard puts the
price of every kind of property labor in
Guided, down, except money-that it puts
up-and corners the money market. The
tariff barons set the price of their goods
at paying rates, which rates may seem
comparatively low as compared with for
mer prices. They procure their raw ma,
terials at low prices and having Knocked
down the price of farm products by the
gold standard, the wages of labor are
being pressed down steadily to the living
line of the low priced food products.
These twin robbers, the gold standard
and the trusts, have the people at their
mercy, especially the farmers; the prices
of their products they first knocked down
by the decentralization of silver. And
yet we see farmers by tens of thousands
voting to continue and perfect this double
conspiracy against everything they have
and hold dear This conspiracy against
them is SO transparent they ought to see
through it at glance.