Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1903-06-18


speeches last July. 1t Is up TO you.
Since the return of the President
to his little cheese box Office he has
had several interviews with his
Postmaster General and he has told
him to get of the lid and let the
stink come out. The latter il going
out Of town and allowing his subor-
dinates.to stand the stencil. 1t is
well known that Mr. Payne suffers
with acute indigestion and his
stomach is not strong enough to
stand this thing any longer. Those
ofus whoarecompelled tolive in close
proximity to the rottenness and cor
ruption emanating from the Post
Office Department do not blame him.
The investigation goes "bravely
on. SD it is said. but il is remark
ed here that after all the replies to
Mr.. Tulloch's charges are boiled
down to the last analysis the only
way in which they have refuted
anything he las charged has been
by calling him another. =
Ii is q notoworthy fact 70 be borne
in mind that all the replies to Dir.
Tulloch' s charges have been given
to the public with the exception OF
the reply of Mr. Bristow, the
Fourth Assistant Postmaster Gener-
al. The reason, il is believed here,
is because Mr.. Bristow has cor
roborated Mr.. Tulloch's charges in
almost every important particular.
1t will take a democratic spade TO
get to bottom of this muck heap.
4 $50
! The American Society of Equity
of Indianapolis has issued bulletin
to the farmers of the United States
demanding an increase in the price
of wheat, aruguing that the mini
mum price of wheat should be 81 a
bushel and urging the farmers not
TO sell for less than IL. The Society
was organized a year ago, with that
city as national headquarters, TO
maintain higher prices for farm
products by cooperation of the
farmers of the country, and this is
the first formal demand for increase
in prices. The bulletin reasons
that because of the low visible sup
ply of wheat and the high cost of
production owing to high prices for
most other commodities, 81 at
Chicago is only an equitable price
for wheat.
1t may be heresy, but | would
like to suggest to the Equity Society
| that there is another and easier and
q more certain way for the farmers
to accomplish the result aimed at,
and it does not involve the risk and
almost certain failure of attempting
to initiate the manufacturing trust.
In the first place the price of wheat
is fixed in Liverpool and not in
Chicago, and if we ceased entirely
! to export the chances are that the
price in Chicago would not go to
one dollar. There are too many
farmers and they are too widely scat
tered to form trust, and even if
they were not they arc not protected
by the tariff rates, as are the manu-
facturers. The latter can get to-
gether, form a trust and force the
prices as high as the tariff wall at
any time they choose. The farmers
can do no such thing. The manu-
facturers have thus forced up the
prices that the farmer must pay for
manufactured goods an average of
about 40 per cent. since the Dingley
tariff bill became a law. The prices
of many articles, such as barb wire,
wire nails, tin plate, window glass,
etc, have been forced up 100, 200
or 300 per cent. in our markets,
though sold at very low prices to
foreigners.
If tariff duties on trust products
were taken off, manufactured goods
which now sell for 81 would sell for
go cents. The farmer could then
buy as much with his bushel of
wheat selling at IS cents in Chicago
as he would get If he could force the
price Of wheat up to 81 while paying
the present high trust prices for his
goods.
1t is entirely feasible for the far
mers, by voting for no tariff on
trusts goods, to reduce the cost OF
what they have to buy. 1t is not
ut all feasible for them to get to-
gether long enough to artifcially |
raise the price of wheat 30 or 40 per |
cent. The farmers arethe backboue
of protection in this country, al |
though, as a leading republican
the late Ben Butterworth-said in
1890: THE manufacturers and the
trusts get the protection and the
profits of the tariff; the farmer gets
the husks and the humbug." How
much longer will the farmer co,,