Los Angeles herald., 1910-07-25
THE LEMON MONOPOLY

TT MAKES a difference whose OK
is gored. New York city import
Il ers are Illuminating against the
California lemon growers because the
growers got an increased duty on the
fruit in the Aldrich law and are there
by shutting out foreign lemons and
making the American people pay more
for the commodity. A member of the
New York fruit exchange has written
a letter to the chairman of the inter
state commerce commission protesting
that the Californians are deriving an
unfair advantage from the present
condition of the market. This dealer
says bluntly that they "buncoed" con-
gress in getting the duty increased,
AID adds:
The increased duty has been the
means of Curtailing shipments of
imported lemons, and the result is
the market this season is the high
est in many years. but on account
of the high cost of imported lem
ons the California growers are reap
ing a harvest and the general pub
lie suffering. In other words,
are reaping a harvest, while the
general public is paying for 1t
through having the duty increased
on imported lemons
1t will be news to California lemon
growers that they have succeeded in
shutting out competition from abroad.
There is abundant evidence that it is
not so. What our growers asked and
got was enough increase in duty to
enable them to meet the Sicilian fruit
at the New York and Philadelphia
docks on even terms, and if there is
any justification whatever for the
protective tariff they were entitled to
that.
1t may b. said that The Herald is
deal to say, and it purposes to say
more, about the robbery of the masses
through the tariff. What The Herald
is eternally against is the prostitution
of the protective principle into but
tpess for monopolistic trusts in this
country through inordinately high
schedules, against all competition. en-
abling them to pay what they please
for raw materials. give what they
choose or what may be forced out of
them by strikes and riots for wages,
fix their own prices to Americans and
sell their output in foreign countries
for less than they sell here.
That has been done in the case of
wool, steel, brass goods, shoes, type
writer's. watches, sewing machines,
sugar, tobacco, copper, glu-
cose, -four and its products and other
things too numerous by far to men,
tion. That is protection carried to the
point of robbery. 1t is protection that
doesn't raise a wage. 1t is protection
that stiles competition. 1t is protec-
ton that has raised the prices on the
of life until the people are
in rebellion.
If a tariff duty were limited to a
point that would merely insure the
American market to American prod
ucts; If the workingman got any of
the fruits of it instead of the man al
ready gorged with wealth; if produc-
tion had not fallen into the hands of
monopolists whose motto of business is
"the last red cent we can squeeze"
The Herald would have little to say
about the tariff and there wouldn't be
any tariff issue.
There are a few instances-like the
lemon industry-for which, because Of
long distance and high freight charges,
some protection is needful to keep the
American market from cheap labor
competition. Where the protection is
g, adjusted that the excessive prices
here would be at once brought down
by importations, there can be little
cause for complaint But there are
precious few such cases, and if we
read the signs of the times Alright
an aroused people who are finding it
hard TO make ends meet and we'll nigh
impossible to save a dollar are deter
mined 20 put an end to the privileges
that permit their exploitation to this
desperate point.