The Lexington intelligencer. [volume] (Lexington, Mo.) 1901-1949, 1902-11-08
Protection in Germany.

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To Germany beef is selling at from
IS cents to A cents per pound. &C.
cordlng to grade. With the Ger.
mans protection is very much the re.
verse Of what it is in America.
With us the abundance OF land make:
us producers OF ~breadstuffs and meat
beyond what we can consume. The
reverse is the case in Germany. With
us land is the property OF the poor OIL
the middle class. The reverse is the
case in Germany. There the land
all belongs, or nearly all, to rich
mobiles. In this country tariff duties
upon the products Of the farm would
not affect prices, unless the millions
OF farmers could form a trust, because
we raise more than we can consume
10 Germany where they cannot raise
as much Of farm products as they can
consume, such tariff affects prices to
the amount Of the tariff without any
combination upon she part Of the
farmers, or Of the great landlords. In
Germany the protective duties on
farm products are put there by the
governments 50 shat Che landlords may
exact higher rents from their tenants.
who, though they get higher prices,
make no more Roadway in the world
than formerly because Of the higher
rents; while the people who are
neither landlords nor tenauts-pro-
fessional men, wage earners, widows,
ann old people--are denied the neces-
saries Of life by the high prices Of
protected foodstufIs.
Ia Germany they tell the tenant
fa1laer that protection benefits him
by giving him higher prices for his
products, while the implements which
he has to buy cost no more. In
America they tell the farmer that
protection Of manufactures benefits
him by giving him a home market for
what he has to sell; though he could
tell from his daily paper If he would,
shat the price Of the wheat he sells
here, or Of the cotton he sells
here is determined by the price of
This country's surplus Of. these things
sold in Liverpool or other foreign
markets. If the American farmer
could not produce as much as in need
ed for consumption in America, and If
in that case higher import duties
were imposed upon the products Of
the farm, any increase in home mark
cts would benefit him by eularg!ng
the extent OF his monopoly. An H.
lustration OF the FIRST of these propo-
sitions may be taken from the recent
history Of the mule trade. OF course
we can raise more mules in America
than we can use. The price Of mules
to American purchasers is determined
BY the price Of ,our surplus
mules in foreign markets. Ten
years ago, when there was no
demand for our mules abroad, they
became very cheap here. But England
got into var with the Beers, and Rus
STA undertook the Trans-Siberian
Railway and the g%arrisoning of
Mapchuria. They needed mules.
The price to our home purchasers i'm
mediately rose TO the price OF the
surplus product IN Liverpool. If the
foTeigu demand for our surplus
mules were to cease, the home price
would quickly fan through over pro-
ductiou.
Protectionists years ago assured the
people that this would be the fnal
result Of protection Of manufacturers:
that when they grew great enough
TO supply the home demand, the home
price would be determined by the
price Of the surplus sold abroad. It
seems not to have occurred to the
people that the manufacturer of any
particular article, a few dozens or a
few hundreds, like the steel manu-.
%factnrers, could combine under the
protection Of the tariff to keep horne
prices up to the height Of the tariff
wall and sell their surplus at what
they could get for it abroad. This Is
the secret Of combination being the
"tendercy Of the times.
The farmer knows how hard it is to
borrow money at 6 per cent or 5 per
cent and ever pay it back. Yet by
law the manufacturer is guaranteed
~ average price on all he has to sell
81 40 per cent more than It would sell
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