The Montgomery tribune. (Montgomery City, Mo.) 1892-1910, 1907-03-29
THE FARMERS LARGE SHARE.
Remarkable Rise In Value OF Aaricuh
turai Products In Ten Years.

have long had to combat the absurd
but obstinate assumption that the
farmers of the country are benefited
in q purely inconsequential way Sy
the imposition of tariffs on foreign
manufactures and produce. 1t Is sim
gular that wen to this day, In the
face of such conclusive proof to the
contrary, there should be found those
ready to take the affirmative side Of
this free trade proposition, made ride
ulous as it has been by the history
Of our own times. True, less is heard
Of 1t than in former years, but so
long as prejudice and ignorance en-
dure its abandonment may not be
looked for.
The department of agriculture has
recently thrown some light on the
level of prices obtaining under a tariff
designed for evenue only" and a
genuinely protective tariff. For the
purpose of making a comparison
which will be valuable for illustrative
purposes. The Capital takes the fig
ures just issued by the department
duu DulS lItlll lux ny oluV w thS
Orange Judd Farmer live stock cen
sus' of a decade ago. The results are
startling. For instance:
January 1, 1897 (under the Wilson
German Democratic tariff) the average
value of horses in the United States
was 1856 per head. To-day, If the
department of agriculture Is rightly
informed, that value is $S3.51. Under
the Dingley tariff the American horse
has more than doubled in value.
Isn't this worth something to the
farmer, especially when it Is consid-
cred that there are nearly 100000 900
horses in the country, worth almost
two billions of dollars?
Secretary Wilson's boys say that
the value of the American mich COW
has increased during the past ten or
IL years SO per cent. The average
heifer sold for $21 and $22 a head I'M
der our last tariff tinkering expert
ment. Now the average price is $31
per head, and the mich COW of the
country are worth a hundred millions
of dollars more than those we had
during low tariff times. Does this in
crease mean anything to the farmer,
or is it a purely benevolent SUPPOSE
ton?
Again, in January, 1896, in the very
heyday of Wilson-Gorman, sheep were
going begging at s1.6O a head. Now,
under a protective tariff which docs
not benefit the farmer" the average
price of sheep is 1884. At least that
is what the agricultural department
says. If anybody wants to quarrel
with the figures as indicative Of too
great prosperity for the farmers who
are being numerically robbed by the
tariff, let him go to headquarters.
The contrast in the price Of hogs
for 1897 and 1907 makes mighty inter.
esting reading for the tariff student
too. January 1, 1897, the average
porker sold for Sab. Secretary VIII
son says that the average price on
the first of last January was $7.62,
and it is higher to-day than it was
a month and a half ago. In the past
ten years the American hog has al
most doubled in value. The increase
has come under protection and as q
direct result of protection. 1t means
millions to the farmer. It means col
lege educations, pianos and furnaces
and two-seated surveys and gasoline
engines and electric lights and hot
and cold water and bath rooms
every convenience and comfort and
luxury for the farmer and his family
All this under the Dingley law, which
operates to enrich the few anG
makes the farmer pay tribute to the
monopolist." Bah!
The farmer who keeps his milk ant
butter checks and his hog and steer
receipts is not fooled. A ten-yeal
memory is a good thing to have abou
the place, too.-Des Moines Capital.