Crawford avalanche. (Grayling, Mich.) 1879-19??, 1897-04-01
THE NEW TARIFF BILL
HOW IT AFFECTS THE FARMERS
OF THE COUNTRY.
Compared with the Mckinley and Will
SON Laws-Ampie Protection for the
Farmer aud Reasonable Rates Upon
the Articles Which He Must Inn port.


bill introduced in the House of Rep
resentatives upon articles in which the
farmers are especially interested. This
relates both to the articles which they
produce and which they want thor
oughly protected, and also to the arti-
ces which they use in considerable
quantities and regarding which they
are equally interested as TO the rates
OF duty fixed by the new bill.
The Republicans in the House of
Representatives have broken the rec
ord in the matter of promptness touch
ing the new tariff bill. Congress met in
special session ten days after Presi-
dent Mckinley was inaugurated and
within three hours the House had or
ganized by the election of officers;
rules had been adopted; the Ways and
Means Committee had been appointed,
the tariff bill had been presented in
complete form and had been regularly
referred to its proper committee, with
the understanding that ii would be re-
ported back to the House before the
end Of the week, and passed that body
within fortnight.
The provisions of the new bill are
extremely satisfactory to members of
Congress representing the agricultural
districts and agricultural interests. All
of them who have had an opportunity
to examine 1t speak in the highest
terms in regard to it. No man in Con-
gross is better able to judge of the bill
and nf ifc two tl,a, Co,,
lGrosvesor, of Ohio, who, as member
OF the committee, has studied every ar
ticle and item carefully, guarded the
interests of the farmers closely and
consulted with the farmers of his agIi-
cultural districts regarding the import
iant features of the bill which affected
not only their own interests but those
of farmers generally. Speaking of this
feature of the bill he said:
"The farmer will find, first, general
protection of his products in the form
of tariff duties levied upon articles of
impOrta ti0n of every character such as
he produces in the United States. Thus,
the development of the sheep industry
we have taken up and resumed at the
point where the Wilson bill destroyed
it, with the hope, first, of profitable
industry directly, and, second, with the
hope Of diverting a vast amount of the
agricultural lands of the Middle West,
the West and the Northwest from the
productions of agricultural grains, veg
etablGs and fruits, to the production of
sheep, and, secondly, in the same direc-
tions stands the protection to sugar. So
far as the wool features OF this bill are
concerned, the protection is very much
better for the sheep grower than was
the Mckinley law, because of one great
feature, the removal of the possibility
of fraud by the importation of carpet
woods, which at once, on their release
from the customs house, became cloth
ing woods"
The following statement gives in the
first column the rates of duty proposed
by the new bill; in the second column
the rates showing the present Wilson
tariff law, and in the third column
those of the Mckinley law. 1t will be
seen that in almost every case the
rates are much more advantageous to
the farmers than those of the present
law and, in many respects, superior to
those of the Mckinley law. This is
especially true with reference to wool,
the explanation of which is found in
the remarks of Gen. Grosvenor quoted
above. These should be examined care
fully. His statement upon that sub
ject is important because without it the
reader not skilled in the detail of the
tariff matter would not understand the
advantages given to the farmer by that
feature Of the bill which prohibits the
classification of coarse clothing woods
under the carpet wool schedule, by
which under the Mckinley law enor-
nous quantities of wool used in cloth
ing came into the country at very low
rates. 1t was this feature of the wool
schedule of the Mckinley law which
proved damaging to the wool producing
interests of the United States, but the
Ways and Means Committee has taken
advantage of the experience thus gain
ed to make their classification such
that this will be prevented in the fu-
ture. Thus. while the tariff rates on
wool under the proposed bill appear
the same to the Impractical eye as
those Of the Mckinley law, they are
very much more favorable to the wool
producers; so much so that no doubt is
entertained Of the prosperity of the
wool producers as well as Of the farm
ers generally under the new bill when
it becomes a law and has had time to
adjust itself to conditions.
The rates named by the new bill,
compared with those of the Wilson and
Mckinley laws, upon articles in which
the farmers are interested are as fol-
lows:
Cattle valued at not
more than $50
head, IL one year
old and over, per -
Cattle attic less than one Wv
year. per head. 81 20 pc. $40
Cattle valued at
more than $50 per
n assd -. 49,, 80 SIS. P.s 20 pc. i.So
Horses and mules.
valued at 500 or
less, per head.... $50 $3.50. $500.
Ali horses q mules ...... 20 pc. $50
$50 and over
shall pay duty
of ...... 1900. 30 Pc
or over ......... $3.50 20 pc. $3.50
Less than one year
old. ....... -. 75c. 20 pc. Toe.
vided for :.;.. 20 Pc. 20 pc. 20 Pc.
Barley. per bushel 30c. 40 pc. Doc.
Barley malt per bu 45c. 40 pc. 45c.
B ley, pearled.