The French Broad hustler. [volume] (Hendersonville, N.C.) 1896-1912, 1906-09-20

UAoU SeAu uS EcIl0O upon 10 give Cl0 news
Accurately, and in a spirit of fairness,
without regard to partizan politics.
Since the tariff argument of Mr..
Britt has been published at length re-
ference should be made to the points
advanced BY the democratic candidate
on this important issue. Along the
Murphy brah hch of the Southern are
numerous tanneries, and tanic acid
plants. 1t is claimed that owing to the
high trif maintained on hides, in spite
of the opposition, of the republicans of
Massachusetts and elsewhere, who fa-
vor tariff revisionS the price of shoes
has materially incfeaed in the past
twel We months. This tariff benefits no
one, it is claimed, bat the millionaire
packers of the west. Who at all times
have a corner on the hide market.
This tariff, Mr.. Crawford contends, isl
most insideous form ofFederal taxa
tion. He uses this illustration:
There are farmers, say, in Swain
county, who DO not raise all the corn
they must have for food. There are
some who dnrLi4e enough for themse-
YES, and are able 10 sell some Of their
superhuous crops to their neigAbors.
Suppose the legislature of North Caro-
lima should impose duty OF 25>per
cent on every bushel of corn shipped
across the county lines. Then the
merchants of the county, when they
found their supply of corn running
low, would go to some of the big corn
lots. If corn was 50 cents a bushel the
tariff would add another Is cents and
then with the profit that must be add
ed to the whole, the corn would at
least come to 50 cents and this the con-
sumner would have have to pay, because
the price would be g 'verned by the
general market, with the tariff added; /;
and the local farmers, who had corn to
sell, would TX their prices accordingly
whether or not they had to pay tariff.
OF course the attempt, to thing OF this
kind would bring on rebellion, says
Mr.. Crawford, but nevertheless the peo-
pie are just as effectively and as system
atically being taxed on the necessaries
of life, such as clothing. For instance,
there is a tariff of IL cents on unwashed
wool, which is multiplied four times in
the flashed product, making, as is
shown by the Dingley law itself, ~ cents
on each pound in suit. Assuming
that each suit will weigh five pounds,
there is a wool tax of $2.4O on a suit.
If the original cost of suit is S6, then,
in addition to the wool tax, there is an
ad valorum tax of &c per cent, giving
an additional $500, which, added to
the 81 40 wool tax, or tariff makes $6.
Every customs officer is tax collector,
and when the imported clothing arrives
in New York Harbor, the price of a
suit of clothes made IN England OF
Scotland is doubled and by the time the
profit of the wholesale and retail Her.
chants is added the American citizens
pay SIS for $6 suit of clothes. In the
meantime there is tariff of only 20
cents on wheat, and this does no good as
the United States exports rather than
imports wheat. And the man who
reaps most of the advantage from this
enormous tariff on ready made clothing
is the highly protected manufacturer OF
the east, who has millions invested
while neither the man who must wear
clothes nor the small merchant, profits
anything.
Whereupon Mr.. Britt admits that he
is a standpatter" and says that the
protection afford ed the American man.
ufacturer enables him to pay higher
wages than is received by laborers else
where. And Mr. Crawford replies that
the laborer is not receiving his just
share of the profit and that it is the
manufacturer, and not the labOrer, who
is getting richer, and who is able to
dictate prices and contrib butte to the cor
ruption fund of political parties that
will maintain legislation that will con-
serve their illegitimate interests.-Ga-
zette- News.