The Rock Island Argus and daily union. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1920-1923, 1921-01-12

FARM INDUSTRY
SUFFERS HURT
<BY'TARIFF LAW

Raw Material and Cheap
Labor From Abroad,
Perils Business.
81 Paso, Texas, Jan. l2.-(Asso-
ciated Press. like T. Pryor Of San
Antonio, Texas, dealt vigorously
with tariff and other conditions
which he declared adversely Affect
"a the cattle raising and shipping
industry, In an address today ct the
annual convention Of the Ameri-
can National Livestock association
here. He asserted that the farm
and ranch industry h the very
life and vitals' Of America.
The farming and livestock in
terests are suffering from cpm-
petition with raw material from
foreign countries, import duty
free" Mr., Pryor declared. III they
are forced to do, this, then poverty
IL their heritage the producers are
as much entitled to q tariff on the
so-called raw material ~ the man
ufacturers.
Why should they be compelled
to.sell n q free market and buy in
protected one? It Is unjust dis
elimination.
I'VE. can. never prosper long
under q system ot one-half free
trade, one-h9lf protection. or one
half subsidi3ed and one-half taxed" I"
Mr.. Pryor told Of the competition
with chesp labor apd declared in
Japan q NAN works Sor ~ little as
II. cents Il day. He said recently
trainloads Of Chinese had passed
through, El Paso enroute to Cuba
to work on the sugar plantations
on . wage basis that meant bank
ruptcy to American sugar produc-
ers if forced to compete with them.
He said Australia and New Zealand
and other western countries can
! produce beef at two or three cents
a pound, owing to cheapness of
land and labor, while In this coun-
try 1t cost several times - much
\ as produce beef. The same con-
dition held good to cotton, he said.
Two-Fold Cause.
The speaker described the cause
Of uneasiness in the livestock in
dustry as two-fold:
First, the withdrawing Of credit
by money lenders in . lsrge meas
ure; second, the pn1tahla- condA
tion Of the country in general, and
| the fear Of importation Of meats
into this country frss Of duty.
In conclusion he said that the In
come records indicated the country
has 10000 millionaires. and asked
Whoever heard Of an honest to.
God millionaire farmer?"
/ He said most millionaires made
their money from manufacture
1 from raw materials produced b,
; the farmers, but said that while
4 such . Community OF interes1
should produce . "lifty-fifty" prof
for both producers and manufactur.
/ ers, he was unable even to guesl
what per cent the farmer received
as compared to what the manufac.
turers obtained, for finished prod
ucts.
i Urges Remedies.
i Ell Paso, Tex, Jan. ia tarif
! duty on farm products at the earli
est possible. date, increased credit,
and early adoption Of Legislation
! now pending In congress providing
for the appointment Of a commits
sion 70 supervise the livestock in
duxt{y were urged as necessar.
steps for the early rehabilitation o
| the cattle growing industry by Johl
B. Kendrick Of Sheridan, Wyoming
In an address before the annua
: convention Of the American Nation
al Livestock association here today
Hendricks il president Of the asso
. citation.
THE history Of our livestock in
, dustry the last year is unpleasan
! even to recall, much less to relate,
/ he declared. I'VE have met dis
couragcment . year ago. We hav
il met disaster alnee. A generation Q
!, men has come and gone since m
: industry has suffered such .. sue
} cession of losses"
i: Increased labor costs, "the dou
! bling of taxes" and increase
4 freight rates .:at the very time whe
declining prices On many product
. of the farm made shipment OF thos
products pSohibitive," were assign
led by Mr. Kendrick as furthe
} cause for the present unfayorabl
conditions Of the industry.
y He estimated that increase
freight, yardAge and commissio
charges amounted to from 50 to 10
per cent during the last year.
j. Pointing out that the longss
bank loan that can BE- obtained o
livest6ck IL six months, while th
!. process Of production Of cattle q
tends over . period Of three year
at least, Mr.: Keudrick declare
nothing would give greater impetu
to the production Of livestock ,
this time than . change in our Law
which would provide . hound, n
! tional systSm Of financing ths
\ would extend. to small producer
loans in limited amounts.