The gazette-times. [volume] (Heppner, Or.) 1912-1925, 1922-06-08
Foreign Advertising Representative
Tfik AMERICAN PRESS ASSOCIATION
The Tariff Question.

ABROAD We naQ nS Soo0S ana ule IoT-
eigner had our money; but if we
bought goods at home We had both
the goods and the money. This COM
presses the entire protective tariff
question into one sentence.
The sale in this country of every
foreign made article the like of
which is being made or could be
made here means the sale of one less
American made article. The total
loss of sales of American made ar
ticleS because of the importation and
sale of foreign made goods means
much less production in American
factories. Decreased production in
American factories means but one
thing, the laying off of working men.
The increase of idleness in this coun-
Try due to this policy means but one
thing, hard times for everyone. The
American working man is the big
gest and best customer of the Am
erican farmer. The American work.
ing man is the biggest anl best Gus
toner of American made goods. He
is Americas leading consumer.
The American farmer has been
passing through two years of exper-
fence which proves he cannot pros
per when American working men are
idle. lntemationalists and free trad
ers attempt to persuade the farmer
that his prosperity is dependent on
foreign markets. The proposition is
ridiculous. The American farmer
sold more of his crops abroad in
1921 than in any previous year in
the history of the United States, yet
he knows full well that the prices
he received for his crops in 1921
were the lowest in the history Of the
American agriculture. This effec-
tually disposes of the claim that for
eign markets make the American
farmer prosperous.
The plain truth is the American
farmer got less for his farm pro-
ducts in 1921 than ever before in
the history of this country because
Of the very simple fact that more
American working men we're walk
ing the streets in 1921 without mon
ey to buy food products than ever
before in the history of this country.
Those who would drive the Ameri-
can working man into idleness are
the worst enemies not only Of the
American working man but Of the
American farmer.
The American working man is be-
ing driven into idleness today by the
importing interests which are food
ing the United States with goods
they have purchased abroad at abb
surdly low prices. Their flooding
the United States has not benefited
the consumer for they are charging
the consumer all the way from L.
900 to 5,400 per cent profit on these
goods imported from Europe and
Asia and they are closing American
factories which make like goods.
They are keeping hundreds Of thou
sands of working men out Of employ
ment.
Their pretensions that they are
against the enactment Of protective
tariff because they are friends of the
consumer is not benefited by any pol
icy which throws him out of work,
for it must be kept in mind that the
American consumer is also the Am
erican producer. The American
consumer, whose buying power is
measured by his pay envelope which
he obtains at the factory, is not ben
Gifted by any policy which stops his
pay envelope. If he is destroyed as
a producer he is also destroyed as
consumer. The American farmer is
not benefited by any policy which de-
stroys the pay envelope Of the Amer
ican working man.
The whole issue and the sole issue
involved in the present tariff contro-
versy is whether or not this nation is
going to adopt an economic policy
that will build up American indus
tries which give employment to mill
ions Of men and women who in turn
buy the products OF American farms,
sustain American public utilities,
build up and develop American COM
munities or is this nation going to
adopt an economic policy which ben
efts a few thousand importing in
terests which are willing to betray
and ruin American industry, Ameri-
ican labor and American agriculture
because by SO doing they reap for
themselves enormous profits.
II is this comparatively small
clique Of importing interests closely
organized and tremendously fnanc-
ed that is the backbone Of the pre-
sent fight against the enactment Of
a protective tariff 1t is furnishing
the funds and conducting the nation
wide campaign of propaganda
against protective tariff legislation.
The American people must make a
decision between productive factor