The Farmington times. (Farmington, St. Francois County, Mo.) 1905-1926, 1909-05-13
TARIFF AND THEcosT oFLIvINa.

tering belief that the tariff IL local
question and that their seats are Sc
cure so long as they please their To-
cality will find out some day that the
tariff is n class question and NOR
al class question at that.
For example, in recent letter to
the Milwaukee Journal, poor wom-
an who is trying to live on less than
500 year, says:
"My husband gets Sll n week for
eleven and half hours work, where
Others get SIS for the same work.
Now, say rent is Sl3 coal S., food $2q
month, and poor God at that.
| Count In that with flvr IT six In the
| family, and where de- the doctor,
medicine, shoes, clothes, insurance
on life, water, gas meter, miikman,
furniture man, paper man, car fare,
tickets, hats, insurance on furniture,
school books and the Lord knows
what else, come from? As for
piece of candy or cake or n pie or the
theatre, when you pay your honest
debts, what can you do with 81
month";"
This is not the opinion of Il trained
political expert or even of an Office
holding statesman;it is just the bare
statement of facts from one who is
trying to live in IA country where
every article Of necessity is oppres-
sivcly taxed in order that ovcrgrown
| giants may have that protection
which was once thought necessary
for struggling infants. And when
the talk is over and done about the
tariff helping the wOrlingmcn it is
worth while for the wor<ingmcn to
stop and consider how much of this
oratory is based on truth and how
much Of it is mere clnptrap used to
obscure the real facts and to main
tain n burdcnsomc and killing tax
on the poorer classes of commune
ity.
For example, the poor woarclothes
and yet the tariff on woods is II cents
"A pound, and wooden clothing and
blankets carry tax that varies from
l4.9I ON the cheapest to A.2 on the
highest grades. We have been
nourishing and protecting our cot
ton industry for nearly n century;
yet the average tux 0a cSttOn today
Is Il. 10, and when the amount of cot
ton cloth used by the poor is con-
sdercd the weight of this tax stands
out in all its severity.
There are s0,0O0,O 900 people in the
United States and they all wear
shoes, but congress and the politi-
clans have taken small note OF this
fact from the wcarcrS standpoint,
for there has been an increase of -
per cent in womcn's shoes alone In
the ten years between $50 and 1900.
The raw material for shoes is hides
and W. l.. Douglas, the great shoe
manufactures, who was also demo-
cratic governor of Massachusetts n
few years ago, is authority for the
statement that $40 ,0O0, 900 per annum
could he saved the people Of this
country by taking the duty oil hides
but the duty stays on.
The fact that man is poor does
not make him any less DESTROYS of
living in house; yet every stick
that goes into his humble dwelling
is taxed under lumber tariff. This
means, according to the estimate OF
labor bureau at Washington, that il
would cost Ala per cent more for
material alone to build house in
1905 than il would have cost In 1900
Nor does the tariff hold its hand
with what we have enumerated,
Practically everything that is con
sumed or worn or used levies an OPP
that the government may gain some
revenue, while favored beneflciaries
amass stupendous fortunes.
The tariff tax is not only unwisc
it is unjust, and some day the peo-
pie who are bearing that burden will
find it out, and then the national
government will reduce its expenses
and change its source of revenue un-
til the cost Of living Is made to har-
monizc more nearly with the income
of the great body of the citizens.
1t was just such letters as the one
we have printed above that made the
workingmen of England rise sixty
years ago and break down the bread
monopoly Of that country. The
workingmcn of America also will
rise some day when they understand
the true inwardness of the tariff
monopoly in this country.-liich-
mond, Va, Times-Dispatch.
For burn or scald apply Chamber
lain's Salve. 1t will allay the pain
| oItnnst INSTANTLY and uIIicklV hpal