The Brookings register. [volume] (Brookings, Brookings County, S.D.) 1903-1971, 1905-09-28

interest Of poiiticians, then the history Of
railroad rates IN this country ~ CONF
pared with those charged anywhere else
IN the world, and the history Of rate re-
S oasaaon 4 s 11mc NJ contrns ssssshls .ime' CON
Mileage Tariff.
The government cannot discriminate
with an absolutely equal and impartial
Obliged. Sooner Or later. to ordain a strict
distance tariff; that Is. the charge ipa
carrying commodities would have to pc
apportioned r to the number of OF t miieS long N
haul would disappear. and freight would
pay a mileage tariff. Now to some nat
would make little difference; but you
here in Minnesota, in the center or ~
continent. distant from 1850 to 2OOV
miles from all the great markets, apous
whom a big circle might be described anha
coasts of the Atlantic and the Pacinc
and the gulf of Mexico-you would pc
the most heavily fairfield people in tne
world. When men ask for your supp scb
grounds as these, it will be we'll FOR you
to bring them to the challenge OF ths
facts and of common sense. ..,
buy. How are you situated there, ano
what advantage do you W to those WIZ
have settled your conditions? 1t wouia
oScLi cNIucul u IlOSl pCOpiC Sha go
tenn which permits the same article that
you must have for your household OF
your farm to be carried abroad over
thousands Of miles of ocean ana su ~
firm 5 to 80 per cent less than the price
that Is charged to you Is not In yoNr IN.
terest. 1t is because Of that system MAJ
we pay annually an unknown amount OK
ty-five billions of dollars which Is the
estimated volume of our domestic traoe;
tIat l. 49, L,,-s~r o~I III haf QOeA
on among ourselves. 1t is because or
that and in order that it may not pc
changed by the fraction Of a hair maj
now to reach sJ0.0oO.50O annually, and to
require the imposition Of other taxes
such as you have never HERETOFORE con-
sented to pay save In time OF war amo
as a part of the sacrifices that II I'M
poses. Is this to your satisfaction, ano IL
this the form Of service that VIII cal
forth your gratitude and receive your
continuing Endorsement?
Panama Canal.
Mr.. Hill took up the subject Of the Pan
anna canal. treating it at considerable
relied on to supply new markets. He cited
the opinion of an expert, Mr.. Harold
Boice of the treasury department. who
tbe sa wn,ete SIen an Ella elaos sra,ms aptie Wa, 'i ferti.
fled by statistics showing how small an
amount of our products the South Ameri,
can states could possibly use. He quoted
Mr.. Boice as saying that IL We could Sc
cure one-half the imports of Asia, that
traffic in one year would pay the cost OF
the canal and leave a balance OF $3oo,-
OOO,OOO. He expected the canal would be
made, but it would not bring market re-
suits.
Scarcity of Lands and Irrigation.
agricultural lands and the defects in our
land laws which allowed spectators and
great combinations to secure millions OF
acres, to the exclusion of farmers. He
highly commended the national irrigation
movement, saying the work now under
way would redeem 60, 1000 900 acres, and
he had no doubt in the end many times
that amount.
The final question Of all was securing
markets for our products, he said.
Our exports of commodities the product
Of agriculture for the year 1904 were
valued at $3.50. 643. O73, and were 59.4s per
cent of all our exports. Our exports Of
manufactured articles were valued at
500. ,921. or 1882 per cent Of the whole.
Inc ratio Is very nearly two to one. More
over. the tendency is for the former to
increase while the latter decreases. In
the commercial war upon us which has al
ready heard the firing of the first gun, 1t
Is the manufactured article that will be
banned by the severest prohibition. But
upon all that we have to sell the disad-
vantage will fall. Our statesmen assum-
ed that we alone could use a protective
tariff to advantage, overlooking the very
simple process Of other nations meeting
one tariff with another. The rest of the
world has been wonderfully patient. 1t
has taken no notice until we began to be
thought of not exactly as a dangerous
competitor in manufactured commodities.
for we are not yet. but as a possible
one. Then It took counsel, and the new
German tariff Is the first step in a league
where we shall find all Europe CONNER
cially banded against US; What are we
the market for the immense product Of
our soil that will continue to be our main
resource and dependence
There are enough people within direct
reach of us in Asia to require our entire
annual wheat crop If each person con-
sumed only the trihing amount Of two
that trade and prepared for it. We s'I Rave
helped to build 1t up. and put millions Of
money into the greatest STEAMSHIPS that
ever sailed the seas to serve IL. We did
these things in order that We might he
able to make a rate under which this
Oriental trade could live. For these peo-
pie cannot pay high transportation
market; and YOU cannot send wheat from
the interior of the United States across
half the continent and the whole breadth
OF the Pacific ocean Il you nave a big or
Well, We nave met with obstacles at
every step; not the obstacles that busy
men nave a right to expect and know
how to meet, such as the shrewdness OF
competitors or the difficulty of conauering
material things. but Interference with
plans and regulations and rules and or
ders that can serve no purpose except to
make impossible the maintenance of this
new market. These customers are out
ragged by a policy that insults their ma
tional dignity and their personal self
respect until they determine to buy no
more of US. These ships, instead Of meet
Ing with reasonable encouragement, are
hampered and tied down by regulations
which make 1t as costly as possible to
operate them. These rates. which ara
the essential parts of the whole affair,
are destroyed by laws that put us at the
mercy OF every foreign tramp that floats
the seas. And this, mind you. not in be-
half of any home interest that might suf-
fer, for these ocean rates do not concern
the domestic producer more than they
must be low enoug to admit him to out
side markets, but only to the ANNOYANCE
and detriment and disbursement Of
American foreign trade in the great
staples that you help to produce and that
must continue to enter increasingly into
our dealings with other peoples. The to-
tai foreign commerce of Japan and China
mounts to $3.50. OOO.OO a year in round
numbers. 1t is destined to Increase and
multiply at a rate that will astonish the
world. and We might have the lions share
of it IL we only exercised common sense
and business prudence and patriotic fore