The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1909-06-05
Ihe Poor Man Not Considered I'm Tar.
iii Revision.

sun discusses in a practical wav the
cost OF living as affected by the tariff
Ihree distinct ends, it says, may be
served by tariff revision. These are
provision for national revenue. in
crease in economic activity and reduc-
uon on the cost Of living. These three
, thlngs, 1t was understood by the peo-
: pie OF the United States, were prom
ised in the Republican national plat
form, or at least that was understood
10 be the meaning of the promise of
tariff revision. Mr.. Taft undoubtedly
| SO understood it. But, says the Sun.
measuring by these standards the
| process now going on in Washington.
II is evident that there will be no ma
terial change in revenue, no appre
ciable stimulus to economic activity.
and no appreciable reduction in the
cost Of living"
How could the tariff be revised so
as to reduce the cost of living? The
man with an income of $1,000, it is
said, pays $3.50 year to feed his fam
lily and $3.50 to clothe them. The re-
mainder goes for house rent and in
cidentals. such as amusements, read
ing matter, tobacco, doctors bills, car
fare and so on. Such a man NAV not
feel any great interest in the tariff on
nails and lumber and building ma
terial. What he wants is reduction
in the price of food and clothes. In
the matter of food the farmer gets lit
tie or no benefit from the tariff on
agricultural products. The Beef
Trust fixes the price of the cattle it
buys as we'll as Of the meat it sells.
| and when beefsteaks are selling at 20
or 25 cents pound in market, that
Is no indication that the farmer is
getting one cent more for his cattle
than If the price of meat were Is
cents. England gets her chief meat
supply in refrigerating ships from
| Australia and South America, and
would probably have to pay the far
mer just as much for cattle as is
| now paid. In The Suns market re-
ports Saturday beef cattle were quoted
| In the Baltimore market at from 3
to a 1-2 cents. Such prices as that do
not justify the retail prices the peo-
vyh ~ 20 H. n
to pay. If the Beef Trust should offer
less for cattle than the present pre-
vailing prices, tariff or no tariff, they
could not get them. Farmers could
not afford to raise them Therefore.
to put meat on the free list would
greatly reduce the cost CT living.
| Next to meat one OF the most ex-
pensive of the necessaries OF life is
sugar. Each person in the United
States uses each year between rs and
so pounds of sugar. A man with a
wife and five children-and that is
the number of children the man with
$1,000 year usually has-must buy
probably about 500 pounds of sugar a
year. The tax on sugar is nearly 2
cents a pound. The statistics Of the
United States Department of Com
merce and Labor show that the av-
erage price Of sugar in the United
States in 1905 was 2.37 cents higher
than in Europe. If the tariff on su-
gar were abolished, the ordinary fam
lily would save some $40 a year on
that one article. Even If the duty
were not abolished but merely low
cred, the consumer would still save a
good deal on his sugar bill. Likewise
the cost of many other articles which
| are necessary could be reduced by
Congress if that well-paid body would
give some regard to the needs of the
plain people.
Our New York namesake believes
that If the farmers employed more
economical and more scientific meth
DDS the cost of the production of food
would be less and the price I'd the
consumer would be less. Less waste
full and more scientific agricultural
methods are greatly to be desired and
they would unquestionably result in
larger crops from the same acreage
But, in point of fact, under present
conditions the cost of raising agricul-
tural products has comparatively lit
tie to do with the price. The price is
fixed by the demand, and the farmer
must take what is offered He fixes
the price for nothing. The cost OF
raising the wheat which is selling to-
day at $1.30 bushel is not a penny
more than it cost to raise the wheat
some ten years ago, which sold for 40
h,,rI Il 1.