The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1908-07-20
MONDAY. JULY 20, 1908.
sTR1Ix1NG ARGUMENTS FOR THE
lS3 TARIFF. -

u ! u .
jss Mr.. W. p. Field, OF Midlothian, en-
boaies in a letter to the News Leader
the most novel protectionist argument
3 az modern times. Observing in The
time Dispatch some comment on the
y act that the import tax and deforesta!-
tion combined had stirred Investigators
20 discover some substitute for wood
4 nulp. he asks: rs not this the strong
est argument in the world for Repuo-
1ican tariff" If the tariff compels
j science to utilize waste cotton and
y cornstalks, should not "the thousands
pf people who own all this stuff" open
~ come out and demand the tariff
I'm one way this argument Is char
acteristically and soundly Republican,
in that 1t Openly" asks the enrichment
s NJ the few at the expense OF the many.
Mr.. w. P. Field. we daresay, owns
! aomc cornstalks. Possibly one-twen-
tieth of the population of the country
Z nwns. or is interested in, cornstalks.
.s1f cheaper and better paper can De
made from this material than from
wood. no tax would be necessary to
protect It. The assumption hero Is
that cornstalk paper would be more
Expensive or less desirable than WOOD
PAPER untaxed. Therefore Mr.. Field
would argue that a tax on wood paper
5sperforms a great service by forcing
publishers to use the more expensive
naper. This, in turn, forces nineteen
twentieths of the population to pay
higher price for their newspapers. and
this enforced charge goes to the en-
richment OF the happy Fields who own
rornstalks.
This is the obvious comment on Mr..
4; w. p. Fields letter. Let us relieve
him, however. of the suspicion Of self
ish interest, and assume that he owns
mo cornstalks and has no ak to grind.
Now, his argument would run: "rhe
utilization Of waste Is noble work.
The Republican tariff compels the
4 utilization OF waste. Therefore, the
I Republican tariff performs noble
4 work
Here lies the interesting part OF Mr..
Fields paper pulp views. Similar cases
rise readily to the mind. Garments
can be made out of matched leaves. as
Adam and Eve proved, yet most people
prefer wool. II the sheep in America
Il should become extinct, the Republicans
{ would do q great work by putting a,
/ prohibitlve tariff on foreign wool, thus
compelling Americans to wear leaves,
which now go to waste. Grass has a
certain nutritive value. Nebuchad-
nezzar lived on it for seven years.
tariff wall around imported foods
might greatly stimulate the consump-
+ ton of grass and make Americans an
herbivorous people. Most country peo-.
sple have soxne grass. lying around. and
they could thus do pretty stroke of
business with their city friends Like
steps would compel the substitution Of
rain water for German beer, of At
lantic City gravel for diamonds from
& the Hand, and OF nOleS IN the ground
for houses of italian marble. The fact
Is that man is resourceful animal,
and has no idea Of being legislated
put OF existence. If the Republican
4 party. for the profit Of a few, cuts him
off from all his known sources Of
supplies, he will certainly fall to work
nnd evolyh Of hers
Good sometimes comes out OF evil,
but If science finds a way Of making
.serviceable paper out of cheap substi-
tutes for taxed wood pulp, 1t has no
/. cause for being grateful to the Re-
publican party If Mr.. Smith should
kick Mr.. Jones downstairs. and Mr..
& Jones should land on bag of gold
1T the bottom, he would be shallow
logician indeed il he straightway as
cended the stairs and implored Mr..
Emith to kick him down again.
s--------------------.. ~ ~ ~
SCIENTIFIC FARMING ron y1R-
IA GINA.