New-York tribune., 1910-04-03
RepreSenfGrfJe Scoff Sees
No Nysrery Abouf Their
UDsvord nOxenenf.

Washington, April 1.-Two freighters,
rusty men. smelling Of pipes and horses.
came for the bars. There were casks and
boxes al the bottom Of their loads that were
better pinched inward and frontward
toward the trucks.
The bars, with scrapers shovels and axes
and piles of tangled harness, and tents,
kettles and tin dishes, idle tools OF railroad
building. were waiting while the contractor
was away in the mountains for other work
The freighters. burly persons with muddy
boots and faces red as brickbats, would re-
turn the bars by twilight, and sonny" az
they called the boyish watcher. let them go
at that.
BY o'clock the freighters were on the
road to SocorrO, carrying the bars with
them, stuck in their wagons like broom
handles. The boy, discovering the flight and
theft that night. followed on horseback
next morning. At the first water hole.
fifteen miles from Albuquerque, he found
warm ashes. new oats where the mules had
been feeding and other signs Of camp re-
Gently broken. The freighters were cooking
their dinner at the second water hole when
the galloping boy overlook them
II have come for the bars he said. with
out dismounting. He was a quiet boy, slim
and short Of stature. but his eyes were the
color of bullets and his jaw had an ugly
angle.
You Will wait for the bars until we re-
turn TO Albuquerque" the freighters re-
piled. giving their words the tones Of
fnallty and derision.
IT have come for the bare" the boy re-
peated. and. pulling them from the loads.
he laid them across his saddle. He had
I,
can sun, and the trail. as he rode away.
began TO blur and the blazing light to Srow
uncertain.
Behind the first little hill. out OF sight Of
the frelghters. he tumbled upon the sand
and waited for the fog TO go out of his
eyes and his brain to stop its Eiddy revo-
lutions. Thus he rode and rested all the
way back. twisting the flesh of mis- legs with
his fingers, the shock seeming 10 arrest I'M
consciousness. but he had recovered the
property he had been guarding against the
day when the contractor should return
from the mountains.
The story is interesting in that It helps
20 explain Charles Frederick Scott, of lola,
Kan, a Representative in Congress.
Does the tariff duty on wheat. meat,
eggs and other agricultural products help
to make living dear in the United States?"
I asked Mr.. Scott the other day.
You have asked question: the Con-
gresham answered, that I have tried to
answer within my own mind on a good
many occasions. I thought during the wheat
corner in Chicago last year that if We We're
TO admit Canadian grain duty free. so
much would come across the border that
the spectators would be driven out OF
business. But I found that the price OF
wheat is a world price. Freight added. it
IS about the same in Liverpool and London
as in New York. Chicago and 81. Louis IN
American and Canadian cities OF relative
locaUon-Winnipeg and Duluth. for in
stance or Buffalo and Toronto-the prices
of wheat at a given time have practically
no variation.
IF we fixed the price in this country and
for this country. the tariff OF p cents a
bushel would make a costly difference to
the American consumer. But we do not
establish the price; We only help TO estab-
Iish il. together with Russia. Canada, Ar
gentina. and other large wheat growing
countries Nevertheless. along the Cana
dian border. especially from the region OF
the Great Lakes toward the East. there
are ,lThes when -four might be cheaper.
locally II wheat we're free and not taxed.
A4tt -ftil-t NthlI NC Il ucs PApDdHiJf WIN
potatoes II our own crop were short. and
With eggs when there were a large demand
aud a small supply.
Prices OF food products are Up" Mr.
Scott went on 10 say. and Ia my opinion
they will 90 higher IN the future. There IS
no mystery in tho upward movement or
values. In the first place. there has been
an enormous increase in the worlds stock
of gold. Money becomes cheap. Ike oats
and pork as the volume increases. A
cheap dollar viii not buy so much of any
thing as a dollar that is dear.
Another cause for the high prices or
food and household necessities is the in
creased cost of distribution. When / was