The Sauk Centre herald. (Sauk Centre, Stearns County, Minn.) 1886-current, 1911-03-16
ASTORfCiPROCITY
Some Ideas Regarding the Pro-
posed Canadian Agreement
SEVERAL SUGGESTIONS
Writer Thinks Farmer Does Not Get
Ali the Benefits lie Should
From the Tariff

Tie ''Western New Yorker" pub
lished at Warsaw, N. Y, publishes an
article on the proposed Canadian
American reciprocity proposition that
contains much food for thought. 1t
is so well written and sets forth the
matter in SO clear light, that it is
reproduced herewith. The article
follows:
A good many farmers seem badly
scared over President Taft's recipro-
city agreement with Canada, but to
the man who looks just little under
the service most of the fright is rather
amusing. If the average farmer
would take the times to follow the
course ola bushel Of wheat, or bu-
sfe Of beans, or potatoes, or a quart
o. milk from his farm to the hands
OF tie consumer and tell at just what
point in its course tariff tax began
to operate in HIS favor he might be-
gin to understand Mr.. Taft's point of
view
TIE farmer sells a quart of milk for
cents. the railroad gets about cent,
the milkman gets 81 cents and the
consumer pays cents quart for the
milk In many cases the milkman
gets 4 cents and the consumer pays 9
cents q quart for his milk. Whom
does the tariff on milk protect? Does
IL protect the farmers fundamental
cent, without which that mill will
not be produced or does it protect the
milk trust that charges IL cent for
taking the milk from the station to
the consumer. Just think minute.
The farmer sells his potatoes for SO
cents y bushel if the demand is right
and the supply not too great. The
railroad gets cents a bushel, the
middieman gets 46 cents, and the con-
suruer pays $1.OO a bushei. Whom
does the tariff on potatoes protect,
the first so cents that the farmer gets
f,,. loc ,fe.' l,a+ = IL
man gets?
The farmer Strips a load of apples to
u commission man in New York or
Pittsburgh. The farmer gets So 25
a barrel, the consumer pays S. bar
rel Whom does the tariff protect,
the farmer or the commission man?
And SO it goes, with everything the
farmer produces. 1t is not the prices
that the FARMER gets that enrages
the consuming public in the cities but
the prices that are tackled on after
the goods leave the farmers hands.
The truth in the matter is, that the
tariff does not protect the price the
farmer gets on anything he raises. to
speak of, but it does protect the out
rageous prices of which the combina-
tions rob the people. If that protec-
ton were withdrawn to some extent
and the prices to the consumer were
let down to something like what the
farmer received, the demand would
he SO much greater that the farmer
would receive more for his share. AS
it stands, commission man. with no
investment to speak of, will get more
money for handing the bill of lading
TO the retail merchant, and the retail
merchant in the large cities will get
more for handing out the goods than
the farmer gets for producing them.
The present conditions favor the mid
dleman at,the expense of the producer
and the consumer.
The farmers have heard much for
years about the tariff of 30 cents a.
bushel on wheat and some few of
them have believed it was a real favor
to them. They did not realize that it
was an empty bluff handed to them
to reconcile them to paying the fancy
prices charged by the ''Infant Indus