Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1913-05-13
Robert N. McWodo.

unusual honor by his party associates
and leaders Of opening the battle on
the floor Of the House, whilst that body
was in committee Of the whole consider
ing the Underwood tariff bill, and OF out
lining it's olicy and dwelling in detail
upOn the agricultural schedule. His
speech is one of the most interesting
chapters in the literature Of this country
on the much discussed tariff issues, and
one Of the most Illuminating delivered
in the House in many years. For many
years to come it will be used by orators
on both sides of the momentous question
involved as an authoritative reference,
whilst to the farmers all over the coun-
try it will be a most valuable wade
mccum at all times. Addressing the
House, he spoke as follows:
The House being in Committee of the
Whole House on the State OF the MOI
had under consideration ;:le bin gu. X.
332l) to reduce tariff duties and pro,
vide revenue for the Government, ana
Tor other purposes.
MIR. HELGESEN. Mr.. Chairman. when
q great political party has been entrust-
cd with power and has been given such
overwhelming majority as the Demo,
ratio party now has in this House, ana
when that party has adopted the pollcy
OF leHlSllllnS through llc Sct'tt "utcu'
simply bringing the results Of their
caucus actions into the House fu' ratln-
cation. | presume it is Il waste OF tln,e
and energy for a member on TINS slde
Of the House to make any Observations
on the character of the contemplated
legislation or to offer any argument
against the wisdom of any or the pro-
VISIONS of the measures thus 10 De ulS-
posed ol. Eut-a | have never been ape
to agree with the numerous tariff poll
cics advocated by the Democratic party
in the last so years. and as | nave
the honor of representing the greatest
Ggricr.tnlal district in the United states
| canntt sit quietly by and see the asrl
cultural industry, the greatest ana most
important in this country, the indus
try. ulon which every other INDUSTRY
and. in fact, the whole country, nr-
,%rin.ina;ed against as it is in TINS OH
without entering 4 vigorous protest.
so important is the agricultural in,
duStry that no nation has ever attained
its greatest possible advance that has not
carefully protected it. and no nation that
has luilcd to jealousy guard the inter,
csts Of its farmers has long maintained
its once proud position among the ma
Lions Of the world. | know ma iret,
traders are not wan to point to England
as an exception to this rule, but 1t !:
not SO certain that England will lons
escape the fate OF every other nation
that has neglected the interests of lgri.
culture, although. because of the very
limited area of fertile land in the Island
Empirc,' she is less effected hy the
steady decline in her agriculture than
would be any Of the other great nations
# the world. and but for mis- fact she
could not nave survived her present
lolicy as long as she has. But TINS Is
/; burning question in England to-day,
and IN Englishman, discussing the
ducts last March. said:
what agricultural results have ac-
crued under our fiscal system? a. We
have enormously decreased the annual
land; (2)> cast away steady employment
for more than a million men; (3) driven
these to emigrlte or migrate TO our
centers, already crowded. in se1t:a
employment at poor wages; (4) d'mh,
ishtd By one-half our race OF skilled food
producers; 60 secured dearer, 'ot
cheaper food; CO made it so that there
ed which We could not ourselves now
profitably produce at the present prices
or ut lower. y
'Duties on manufactures will be all
right for that limb Of the body polite,
but what about the other sick ont--.le
important one Of agriculture? What the
state needs is q balanced production from
land and Workshop. the restoration OF
agriculture to its pristine prosperity, to
its old position as an absorber OF labor,
is essential, and this can be done by
duties on imported farm products. " y i
The main object of every real fiscal
reform must be to increase home pro-
A%uc,ion, home employment. home
Wages..'
Mr.. Kicr Hardie. the well NOW Eng
fish Socialist. a supporter in the Drlt-
ish Parliament of the present Tree
trade" ministry, writing in the Clarion
Of January ., has this to say about the
conditions observed in the United States
under protection:
Life out there. especially III the west
has more freedom than at home. and the
very fact OF a 6 being high leads to
the greater self respect and Il higher
all around standard OF living. Men walk
with more Independence. in their gait
han they do with .us. and there are OPP
p%ortunities.t generally speaking. for get
ting on there which do not exist here
Under the exhaustive Investigations of
her tariff commission England herself is
gradually awakening to the conditions
brought upon her. The report OF her
tariff commission says that there is
"a broad contrast between the policy by
foreign countries and that adopted ny
the United Kingdom. Generally speak
ing. all foreign and European countries
accept as the basis OF their economic
policy the necessity of maintaining Il
ilourishing agriculture. This is partly
due to economic reasons. partly to con-
SiderationS of national defense and Sc
Gurity. The result. speaking generally,
is that these countries. instead OF pur-
suing exclusively manufacturing or an
exclusively agrarian policy, have endcav-
0red to maintain Il balance between agri-
culture and manufacturers
manufacturers" That is the key
to prosperity and happiness in any
country. and especially in this country.
where we possess untold millions Of fer
tile land, coupled with a. salubrious
duce at home everything that our people
need for food. But this key to the pros
perity and happiness of our people has
either escaped the notice of the Demo-
cratic party or for selfish political rea-
SONS they have deliberately thrown it
aside.
/ again quote from the 1906 report of
the English tariff commission, which
says;
turc are world wide in their operation,
affecting all importing countries. The
ed Kingdom is that agriculture has been
more depressed than in any other coun-
try, and more depressed than any other
branch of economic activity. During
the last twenty-five years the course of
all agricultural prices has been the same
downward direction. with the result that
agriculture has been subject to a great
combination of causes, all tending to-
ward it's depression
European countries generally have
pursued Il policy involving import duties
on agricultural produce. whereas in the
United Kingdom agriculturists rave been
subject to the unrestricted importation
yf foreign produce on terms not dis
similar in many cases from those expert
vnced by manufacturers who complain
K dumping"
dumping is the marketing of the