Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1912-08-29
Value of Competition in Meats


Mr.. Taft and Mr.. Roosevelt say that
of living. OF the two the position of
the latter is the more extreme Mr.
Taft negotiated a reciprocity agree
ment with Canada under which provis-
ions and breadstuffs could have come
in free if there were occasion for it,
and Mr. Roosevelt makes this one of
the grounds of his attack on the
President, declaring that reciprocity
would have reduced the price of
bread and meat, and therefore it
would have hurt the farmers, and the
patriot of Oyster Bay would never
permit evil to befall so large a class
of voters. Mr. Roosevelt, then, would
not reduce the duties on food.
Mr. Wilson and the Democratic par
ty say that the tariff increases the
prices Of the articles to which it is
applicable, and to that extent it in
creases the cost of living, and they
promise to reduce in some measure,
at least, the cost of living.
We are interested in finding detail
ed evidence of the soundness of this
latter view in The New York Sun,
because that papers sympathies are
with the PROFESSIONALS, and while it
often blurts out the truth, it never
fails to ridicule all tariff people and
all efforts to reduce duties. AS a wit
ness it's interests are wholly with
the other side, but it gives cOnclus-
i've evidence of the effect of the tariff
upon one of the most important items
in the cost of hving-the price of
meat.
The Sun had the prices of meat in
London telegraphed to it, and COM
pairing them with the prices in the
New York market, it says:
These two sets of figures speak
for themselves. They show that
though the shipments of American
beef and cattle to the English market
are falling off, the wholesale price on
the London market of American beef
is actually lower than in the New
York market, notwithstanding the
5000 miles of ocean transportation
and the railroad freight from Liver
pool to London. The competition of
Argentine, New Zealand, Uruguay
and Canadian beef is the only pos
sible explanation. A glance at the
figures on Argentina beef tells the
story Two weeks ago the
Master of Works of Glasgow, Scot
land, speaking of the causes of the
high cost of living in the United
States, said: The price of foreign
meat (American) is 33 per cent.
cheaper than in New York, particul-
arly due, | think to the competition
of the Argentine meat supply, which
is very large percentage of the for
eign meat supply of Glasgow. Con-
trary to the general impression, also,
wholesale prices of beef actually fell
in the London market during the de-
cade from 1900 to 1910, and this, too,
in American beef.
England admits meat free of duty
and gets the benefit of competition
from Canada, South America and
Australasia We shut out foreign
competition by a tariff, and the Beef
Trust has suppressed most of the do
nestle competition by combination.
The natural result is that American
beef is cheaper today in London than
in New York, and it is cheaper in
London now than it was ten years
ago, though in this country there has
been rapid increase during THE de-
cade.
These are the facts, shown by a
newspaper friendly to the protective
system Whiche is right-Mr Wilson,
or the two Protectionist candidates
-Phila. Record.