The Yakima herald. [volume] (North Yakima, W.T. [Wash.]) 1889-1914, 1911-04-05

The following open letter addressed
to the honorable senators and repre-
sentatives has been received and is
deemed worthy of publication for re-
lection:
Honorable Senators and Represen-
tative of Washington:
1 am reliably informed that with
all President Taft's influence conferred
in its favor. and a practically united
democratic support, the Canadian
Reciprocity bill is almost certain to
pass during the extra session.
therefore appeal to you, in the name
of the farmers of this state, to use
all your influence to secure for the
farmers and the consumers " of @ the
country at least some measure of fair
treatment, by the enactment OF COM
pensatory legislation placing manu-
featured articles on the free list.
The farmers of this state are united
in their opposition to reciprocity as
it stands The Canadian reciprocity
treaty, negotiated and approved by
President Taft, is not honest recip-
rocity. 1t is plain unadulterated free
trade for the farmer on all he pro-
duces, and high protection on all he
has to buy High protection for the
trust manufacturers in order that
| they may continue to gouge the con-
sumers-the farmers included-and
absolute free trade for the farmers
on all they produce, is outrageously
unjust to both farmer and the con-
| sumner. If it was honestly intended
| to benefit the consumer it would not
| have stopped at placing the raw pro-
| 1ucts of the farm on the free list, but
| would have placed the manufactured
products vitality affecting the cost Of
| living, also on the fire list.
We demand square deal The
Grange motto is Tariff for one, tar
| iff for all.'-Free trade for one, free
| rade for all. Then if farm products
| are to be placed on the free list, We
demand that what the farmer must
| buy shall also be placed on the free
| list.
| The Grange has long demanded
that all manufactured products sold
bi DAD cheaper than at home, should
be placed on the free list. We have
long demanded a revision Of the tariff
| downward in the interest of the con-
sumner Instead of this, at one extra
session our sense of justice is out
ragged by a tariff revision in the in
terests of the trusts, and now a sec
ond extra session to force the far
mer to free trade basis on all he
has to sell while adding insult to in
jury by continuing the monopoly tar
ifs on all he has to buy.
| The Canadian farmer is the only
| ival the American farmer had to
fear in invading his home market. If
we are to have free trade in farm
products with Canada, it Is a farce to
continue to maintain a tariff on farm
products frim other countries. AS a
matter of common decency. there
fore, we demand that as soon as the
Canadian Reciprocity bill is passed,
that general bill placing farm pro-
ducts on the free list should also be
enacted, and that congress at once
place flour, meats of all kinds, sugar,
farm machinery, clothing, finished
lumber, burlap, cotton ties coal and
metal ores and steel mill products on
the free list, and reduce all tariffs to
purely revenue basis.
! Any legislation less thorough than
this is a rank injustice to the farmer.
Free trade in farm products, free
| trade in ALL" The farmers of Wash
| ington appeal to the farmers all over
the land to stand together on this
platform. We are not opposed to
equitable reciprocity, or honest tariff
| reduction, or even honest free trade,
but we desire congress to know that
If we are to have free trade in farm
products we shall appeal to all far
mers to up and at it to level the en-
tire tariff wall to where the president
and congress have placed ours.
Shoulder to shoulder we can win VIC
tory. Tariff for one, tariff for ali
Free trade for farmers products,
then free trade for the manufacturer.
Very truly yours,
c. B. KEGLEf,
Master Washington State Grange.
Palouse, Wash, March 80, 1911. Z