Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1902-05-08
THE WEST AND The TARIFF
Shall the Duty on Foodstuffs be
Removed 4?
Word OF Caution Regarding the
Proposition-The Meat and Corn Pro-
c.cers, Not the "Barons." Would
suffer From Such Action.

News comes from sem-official sources
ihat the national democracy. after long
und patient quest for an issue large ana
,iial enough to bear the strain of a cam
,,,!gn before the people, has hit upon it at
last says William II. Lighton IN the los
ton Transcript. The cry Is to be Tor taVlIi
reduction. To be sure, this Is not new
cry. democracy has almost always STOOD
I'm the popular mind for opposition 10 the
theory Of protection. 1t is the particular
,nplication Of the fBcc trade argument 10
Present conditions that Is relied upon 10
make it effective. The promise rs made
;hat spirited fight will be waged for an
. rolition of import duties on the staple
i'Od-stuffs.
such promise is certainly well timed
',ha life of the wase-earncr has been an
unusually Crevous struggle for many
" onths past. because of the extraordinary
cost of the bare necesSarieS for his tablc'
w has been forced to look on In bitterness
e heart while his family was making the
lost shift II could with u mcaGre diet Inc
meat markets are selling the coarscst or
hc,r "trimn,ngs'' and scraps for the con-
,e:mption of families who year ago were
J.uying rump. round and lon. The same
coalition obtains in all the provision
markets The hardship of it is undeniabe;
FL the mouth of a reckless demaCoGue IT
will make ideal mat cIial for stormy APP
peal to prejudice and passion. coupled as
II Is with the current agitation concerning
trusts and monopolies. He must be a
conservative indeed who Is able to keep
his head while the stump Orator Is growing
;popletic with denuncation of system
which gives to the children of the lahorer
n diet of dog 's-meat and bran. There can
he no doubt that such cutlery will nave
sympathetic listeners in no small number
amongst the men who have felt the pinch
without understanding tho cause
But the plan of campaign thus outlined
raises some large questions, both in prac-
teal politics and in economies; questions
which every citizen is in duty bound TO
canvass carefully. 1t is a matter that Of
fers unprecedented opportunities for action
whose effects would bc most disastrous.
and the action once taken, in the nature of
hings it could not he corrected Immediate
IL when the had results were felt. Should
a great party ally itself firmly with the
rrinciple Of tariff reduction as applied ia
food staples. it would be slow to confess
itSclf in the wrong however apparent the
wrong might become; several years would
he required for restoring things to the old
basis by Il change of popular sentiment;
and in the meantime want of the grimmCs st
sort would very likely aftiict us-want be-
side which the present hardship would APP
rear quite toerable. II becomes us all tC
look at tho matter not as followers of one
or another political cult, but in our larger
capacity. Democrats and republicans alike
have felt this stress both are anxious fol
a restoration Of plenty; neither can afforG
to be hasty or blind in endeavoring to en-
compass it.
All readers must have been struck by
the fact that for many days past the bold
est and blacklist of the newspaper head
lines have related to these important com
modities-beef. corn. wheat. sugar These
four comprise by far the greater part Of
She food of the masses of our people: it Is
aganst them that the batteries OF democ
1acy are to be trained.
In former articles have again and
again called attention TO the fact that in
recent years the production of the nations
food has become more and more closely
identified with the industrial life of thu
West. and less related to the industrial
activitv of the East. This point canro
lie insisted upon too strongly; it is thu
very foundation of a Just understanding
of our common national destiny. If th'
narts Of the nation are to share togethe
,D a future estate of well-being they mus
re serve toward one another the utmos
measure of good faith in all matters o
common concern. In the past there ma
been too great an inclination to think o
North and South. East and West as hos
tile In interest: and this has entailed IA
more than a good natured rivalry. Wit
every year that passes it is becoming NOR
9pparent that States and regions canno
'rosper separately, or as antagonists. A
the development of the country goes or
each section is discovering that it has 1t
own special and particular part to play i
the big game of industry, and these part
are not interchangeable For an indennt
time to come the Eastern States will domi
nate in manufactures ana in all the largo
aspects of trade relations with the world
the South will contribute a mighty shar
~ the raw materials for manufacture; tn
West will feed the people. This Is n natu
raj dispensaton; the soundest considera
tons Of economies must so regard H.
II to the four articles named above--.nea
corn, wheat and sugar with their y-prot
ucts, there be addc1 one more-wool the
we have an accurate index to the activitit
by which the West is sustained. The PROD
nets of the mines of the mountain regio
are OF course of great importance. but the
do not enter into this discussion. The pra
ries, the plains and the inter fountain va
leYs are linked Is the pursuits of agricu
ture, and to them alone; they can do VIII;
the East or the South could not possibl
do. Deprived of opportunities for the pro
table exercise of agricultural industr
they could command no other resourc
and must become once more a waste Ian
It seems that the East needs to be T,
minded again and again that the subiug;
ton of those vast Western fields has brt
q continual struggle against adversely Ii
doubtedly Nature has been from the fir
kindly disposed. but man had first to lean
I read her signs Alright. 1t was like lear
lux II new language, lot winch he nG
neither dictionary nor grammar; it was
slow process, attended by many sorrowf
failures. Nor was his trouble ended whe
Mt last he found the proper boundaries
his Cornllelds and ranges. lie had st
ahead of him long struggle for entran,
TO tho markets IT is rather vain boa
10 say without qualification that the We
tan produce corn and cattle on so large
scale and at a cost so low as to precluc
competition from the East. 1t Is real
worse than useless for prairie State
spend It's strength for a year raising
quarter Of a billion bushels of corn or tv
million head of cattle, II at the years 81
the products are to have no outlet. r.
measure Of that States usefulness al
prosperity is not in its ability to produ
cheaply, hut in its power to get its produc
10 market at profit to itself. If 1t cam
do that, then its abundance is but a del
sion, positive hardship.
So far as the cornfield and the herd we
concerned, the West solved the probe
when 1t learned to combine It's corn and
range steer in one product-table beef.
any ordinary year competition with {
prairies on that commodity is out of [
question. The result is benefit to t
nation. The trouble seems to be that 9th
States, unsuccessful competitors feel a
Erieved and are ready to cry "monopoly
in year like the present, when a sire
Of bad luck overtakes the successful or
diminishing the volume of output n
sending prices skyward former compe
goo all manner Of evil undarl,ip,