The Ohio Democrat. (Logan, O. [Ohio]) 1886-1906, 1902-06-26
SELL CHEAPLY ABROAD
Mr.. Patterson Shows How the
Trusts Exploit the People.
THE PROTECTIVE TARIFF sWINDLE

American Manufacturers who Sell
Their Products In European Mar
kets For Considerably Less Than
They Charge Home Consumers.
How the Farmers Are Robbed.
1t has long been known that Ameri-
can manufacturers charged higher
prices to domestic customers than to
foreign customers. The Reform club
of New York has repeatedly called at
tention to the guring discrepancy be-
tween export and domestic prices
Naturally the protectionists have de-
MED the truth of these facts and fig
ures. The Republican leaders have
come out formally and declared that
all such charges against the patriotism
of our cherished manufacturers are
false and unworthy Of belief by the
patriotic citizens of this great land of
freedom. But the fact remains that
our manufacturers continue to sell for
any price they can get abroad, while
| they exploit the consumers ut home.
Mr.. Patterson uf Tennessee in mas
terful speech in the house of repre-
sentatives showed up the great burden
and wrong Of the protective tariff sys-
TEN. Mr.. Patterson did not simply
confine himself to giving comparisons
of domestic and export prices. He
gathered quotations from many
sources, proving that it is the uni
versal practice to make domestic prices
exceed foreign prices from 10 to 100
per cent
The American Machinist of Sept 26.
1899, said:
"Just why American manufacturers
will sell machinery and other goods
from 10 to 80 per cent cheaper in Eu-
rope than they will sell them to be
used at home is rather puzzling, but
any one curious in the matter can
easily enough dnd out that many of
| them do that. 1t may be necessary to
| cut prices in order to secure trade
from abroad, but it is likely to strike
the American purchaser as being a
little rough on him."
The Engineering and Mining journal
of March 10, 1890, complained Of the
system as follows:
LAS soon as an industry has obtained
position where it can more than sup
ply our home market and has to send
its goods abroad. where they compete
with those Of foreign manufacturers,
1t is evident that they are either CIV
ing the foreigners the benefit of lower
rates than they DO our own people or
that they are al lp to get along at home
without any protection from foreign
manufacturers 1t is not fair that our
own people should be made to pay
more than foreigners for the products
OF our own land"
In letter to the Farmers Call of
Quincy, ILL.,, Mr.. a. B. Farquhar, head
of the Pennsylvania Agricultural
works, said:
'The fact is that our protective. laws
are monstrous swindle upon the ag-'
ricultural community. AS manufac-
turer / was inclined to say nothing on
the subject for the reason that it was
natural to suppose if anybody was ben
Gifted 1t was the manufacturing class,
to which I belong; but, as | have ex-
planned, the farmer is being destroyed.
We are killing the goose for the golden
egg, and l honestly believe now that it
is to the interest of the manufacturers
themselves to eliminate the protective
feature from our tariff laws.
Certainly, as our manufactures are
sold much lower abroad, we could only
need protection to get better prices
from our customers at home. We do
manufacture and sell in Canada, South
America and Europe many agricultural
implements and machines, and could
we have free raw material and the
commercial advantages which free
trade would give us America would be-
come the great manufacturing em.
porium of the world, and the farmer,
OF course, would share the prosperity,
since he would have less to pay for
everything and get better prices for
all he sold. Co on with your good
work. When the farmer begins to
think and rise up against this swindle.
1t is doomed"
The systematized plundering of the
people by the trusts has been so out
rageous that even the Republicans
have had to chide the infants. The
bureau Of statistics, department of
the government designed to manufac-
ture prosperity and show the incom-
parable beauties Of the protective sys-
TEN, has recently published some val
liable contributions. The protection
prosperity makers have had to confess
that "the progress of work on ship
building in the United States has been
retarded" because makers of steel ma
terials require higher prices from the
American consumers than from the
foreign consumers for substantially
similar products" 1t is also admitted
thot.