New-York tribune., 1904-09-12

o'o~SS oi our people Is benefited
by the protective tariff During the LAST 80
years the merchant has seen The .xn,-.
OF this country grow faster than ave. 4, -
previous history. The manufactures c,ula -.
keep his factory running If IT were nor for a..
protective tariff. The wage worker wou;s =.
wen TO remember that II protection ia ~roh
berry, and is to be punished accord,n,sv =.
viii be the first to pay the penalty; for sttbsr
he will be turned adrift entirely or his VAR.
will be cut down to the starvation point a,
conclusively shown by the bulletins Of tha
bureau OF LABOR, the purchasing power OF ths
average wage received by the wage vork.r
has grown faster than the cost of living sra
this in spite of the continual shortening ~
working hours. The accumulated saving. of
the workingmen OF the country. as shown Nv
the deposits in the savings banks have Increased
by leaps and bounds At no tine In tha hf.
tory OF this or any other country has thers
been an era so productive OF material benens
alike to workfngmen and employer as during
the seven years that have Just passed
FARM AND FACTORY INTERDEPENDENr
The farmer has benefited quite as much as
the manufacturer. the merchant and the wage
worker. The most welcome and impressive fact
established by the last census Is the wide and
even distribution Of wealth among all classes q,
our countrymen The chief agencies IN produc-
ing this distribution shown by the census
to be the development OF manufactures and the
application of new inventions 10 universal use
The result has been an increasing interdepend-
enee Of agriculture and manufactures Agricult-
ure is now. as 1t always has been. the basis Of
civilization The six million farms OF the Unit.d
States. operated by men who as a class are
steadfast, single minded and Industrious, form
the basis OF all the other achievements of tha
American people and are more fruitful than an
their other resources. The men on those six
million farms receive from the protective tariff
what they most need, and that is the best Of
all possible markets. All other classes deuend
upon the farmer. but the farmer in turn ds-
pends upon the market they furnish him for
his produce The annual output OF our agricuIt-
ural products is nearly S4.000O00OO0 Thar
increase in value has been prodigtous. although
agriculture has ianguished IN most other coun-
tries; and the main factor in this Increase is
the corresponding increase of our manufaetur-
ing industries. American farmers have pros
pered because the growth OF their market has
kept pace with the growth Of their farms The
additional market continually furnished for ag-
ricultural products by domestic manufacturers
has been far in excess OF the outlet to other
lands. An export trade in farm products Is
necessary to dispose OF our surplus, and the ex-
port trade Of our farmers both in animal prod
ucts and in plant products. has very largely In
creased. Without the enlarged home market to
keep this surplus down we should have to re-
duce production else feed the world at less
than the cost OF production. In the forty years
ending in 1900 the total value OF farm property
increased 12.5O0O0O,OOO. the farmer gaining
even more during this period than the manu-
facturer.
DEVELOPMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Long ago overproducsion would have cs.ecked
the marvellous development OF our national ag-
riculture. but for the steadily increasing demand
OF American manufacturers for farm products
required as raw materials for steadily expand
mg industries The farmer has becons depend
ent upon the manufacturer TO utilize that por-
tion OF his produce which does not go directly
to food supply. In 1900 80 per cent. or a little
over half. OF the total value OF the farm prod
ucts of the nation was consumed In Elanufactur-
ing industries as the raw materials OF the fac
tories Evidently the manufactures Is the farm
er's best and most direct customer. Moreover.
the American manufacturer purchases his farm
supplies almost exclusively in his own country
Njne-tenthS Of all the materials Of every
kind and description consumed in American
manufactures are OF American production The
manufacturing establishments tend steadily too
migrate into the heart OF the great agricultural
dustry In 1900 was near the middle OF Ohio. and
It is moving westward at the rate OF about
thirty miles IN every decade: and this move
ment Is invariably accompanied By marked In
crease In the value OF farm lands. Local causes.
notably the competition between new farm lands
and old farm lands. tend here and there to OBJ
scure what Is happening. but II Is as certain as
the operation OF any economic law that in
the country as whole farm values will con-
tinus to increase the partnership between
manufacturer and farmer grows more ntimats
through further advance OF Industrial science.
The American manufacturer never could have
placed this nation at the mead OF the rnanufact-
uring nations CT the world IL he had not had
behind him. securing him every variety OF raw
material the exhaustisss resources OF the Amer
lean farm developed by the skill and the enter
prise of intelligent and educated American farm
ers On the other hand. the debt OF the farmers
to the manufacturers IS equally heavy. and the
future OF American agricuiture Is bound up IN
the future OF American manufactures. The two
industries have become. under the economic poll
icy Of our government. so closely interviewer. 50
mutually tnterdependent. that neither can hope
to maintain itself at the high water mark Of
progress without the other Whatever makes
10 the advantage Of one is equally 70 the advan-
tage OF the other.
So II is as between the capitalist and the wage
worker Here and there there may be an IN
equal sharing as between the two in the DEMENT'S
that have come by protection, but benefits have
come to both and reversal IN policy would
mean damage 10 both. and. while the damage
would be heavy to all. Il would be heaviest. and
Il would fall soonest, upon those who are paid
IN the form or wages each week or each month
COR that weeks or that months work
arsA Tha law r4fI