Martinsburg statesman. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1869-1906, 1904-09-23
FARMERS AND PROTECTION.
Unlike the Trusts, the Farmers Can
not Raise Prices.

The Society of Equity, the head
quarters OF which are IN indianapolis,
is advising the farmers 10 hold their
wheat fer S1.2U a bushel.
Last year the same association OF
farmers recommended their brother
farmers to sell for not less than 81 q
bUshel, and quite IL number held out
for that price and got it. There is
no reason why the farmers should not
combine and demand 81 a busilel for
wheat and 81 Il bushel for corn. 1t is
true there is law upon the Fed
erai statute books known us the anti
trust law, which makes il Il criminal
offense to combine in restraint OF trade
that is, combine to raise prices. That
is lust what the beef trust, the coal
trust, the Standard Oil trust and the
steel trust have been doing, out the
law has not been enforced against
these combinations, unless the injunc-
ton against the packers combine
might be called enforcing the law.
But the beef packers are still running
their combination in spite of the ardu-
Gus efforts of President Roosevelt and
his Attorney General to convict them;
SO the farmers need have no fear they,
will be molested.
This is the age of trusts, and the
farmers can hardly be blamed for con-
spring to raise prices on their prod
ucts, us they see being done all around
them. But the trusts that plumber the
farmers by combining to raise the price
OF trust products are protected III doing
so, the tariff preventing competition
unless the trusts raise their prices be-
yond fifty to 100 per cent, which the
Jaw allows them TO charge. If they go
beyond that, foreign prouuctS would be
imported and force the price down
again. With the farmers it is differ
ent the tariff on wheat and other
farm products does not protect them
so that they can raise prices, unless
there should be such a shortage of any
farm product-Wheat, for instance
that there would not be enough raised
III the United States to supply the
home demand. The trouble with the
farmers is that they always have
surplus that must be sold abroad, an0
have TO take the price fixed III the
markets of the world. Therefore, M
farm products are imported into the
United States unless there is Il failure
of some particular crop, like the failure
of the potato crop i'll parts OF the
United States in 1892. Even that ex-
traordinary shortage of potatoes did
not help the farmer, for those in the
East did not have many or any pota-
toes to sell and the freight rates on
those grown in the West We're too
high to permit them to be carried at
Il profit to the Eastern cities. The
tariff of twenty-five cents a bushel Oh
potatoes did not prevent the importa-
ton of what We're needed from foreign
countries and resulted in increasing the
price that much TO the people in the
cities without protecting the farmers.
The high protective tariff allows the
trusts to plumber the farmers as well
as other consumers, but does not pro-
tect the farmers i'll getting a better
price for what they produce. Th'
farmer that votes to continue the Re
publican program of the protectiv
tariff is only robbing himself withon
any corresponding benefit.