Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1909-02-03

resentatiyes meet and trade econom-
ically.
(fo Banking facilities in all i'm
portant foreign markets.
(5) Regular and adequate ship
lines to all important markets.
If the matter should be left to me
and the American textile worker
could have the choice between these
and other advantages now held by
England (and there are many others)
and the tariff we now have, / should
promptly surrender our tariff and
take the English advantages by pref
erence.
Indeed, If we could only get the
banking facilities and ships we
would find these alone more advan-
tageous than our present tariff.
Why should we consider for mo-
ment retaining the one single item
tariff which saves us and saves every
cotton producer as we'll?
The cotton spinning industry in
the whole United States Is yet Gin
FAINT" Here in the South it scarce
ly dates back ten years. The devel-
opment of coarse goods production
in the South has driven the North
into finer goods and in this new field
the Northern industry Is only ten
years old. Therefore there Is every
justification to continue present tar
fife in thn
crease them in the higher lines of
manufacture.
If such a course led to burdening
the people with higher prices for the
things they purchase and lower or
the same prices only for things they
sell, then we should not protect
yarns and cloth. But it does the
reverse. The development Of the fac
tory system in the South has brought
better commercial and transporta-
ton facilities to the farmers. 1t has
raised the price of cotton to double
what 1t formerly was. 1t has given
values to perishable farm products
and doubled the price of land. There
Is no charge against the industry of
trust, or combinations against the
people.
Where the former value of the cot
ton crop was $30O,0OO,OOO for ten
million bales, now the value of the
same crop is $6OO,OOO,OOO. In addi-
t!cn 30 this increase there are fur
ther increases. There are perhaps
100000 worth of perishable
farm products now sold, in local mar.
kets which were formerly valueless
or impracticable to realize anything
upon. For 100000 bales Of cot
ton now manufactured in the South
the money remains at home, both
for the cotton and the cost Of manu-
facture, and SO also in the North
1t is possible and probable that in
some lines the tariff might be higher
than necessary. Where this is true,
and wher> in addition it is possible
for an industry to combine and SIM
ply tax the people to the full amount
OF the excess tariff, then in such
case, the tariff should be reduced by
the amount Of the excess.
There are some cases where the
tariff would have to be so high in
order to overcome the difference in
cost here and abroad, and auxiliary
benefit would be SO little, that it
would not pay us to try to create the
90
silk and te, Both are produced in
countries where there is unlimited
cheap labor, and our coditions are
not as favorable as those Of the
who live and produce
these articles. Raw silk might well
stand tariff for revenue only. The
variations OF merit
and demerit show that the subject is
one requiring much data and techni-
cal knowledge. 1t ought not, above
all things, to be mixed up in parti-
san politics any more than the army
md navy ought to be. Tariff rates
should be free from the possibility
If being made to pay political debts.
We all know that revenue mea-
;ures must originate in the House Of
representatives. But there IS no
'eason why every item of the tariff
should not be investigated by an in
set Of we'll qualified men as
commission. Such. commission
III fnI D11
advantages and also all direct and