Great Falls tribune. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1921-current, 1922-06-21

enue may be obtained to run tn
government, and that it provides
convenient way Of raising a certain
amount of revenue; that does no
unduly stifle competition from
abroad, and the person who pays i
really pays it to the government. i
is a reasonable way to raise reve
nue.. But when a tax is levied st
high that very few imports come il
and if imports do not pas:
through the custom house they
leave no taxes behind them-the
result is merely that of raising thu
price, which goes into the pocket:
of the home producer.
1.-THE effect of protective tariff
laws, as distinguished from tariff:
for revenue only, has been to tas
the great mass of the American
people and to increase the profits
of a few. l often hear socialism
and communism condemned. / dc
not believe in either, but it is dis
elimination on the part of the gov.
eminent against the masses of the
people for the benefit of the few
that sows the seed from which
grows the tree of discomfort, and
discontentment when brought abou,
by unjust laws reflects on the whole
system of government. / believe
that the great powers of the gov
eminent are intended to be used
only for the benefit of all the peo-
pie, not for the promotion of spe-
cial interests, and l care not
whether those special interests
come out of the fields of agricul-
ture or arise from the smokestacks
of a steel mill.
"In my opinion, if it were not for
the support given this bill by SEN
ators who represent agricultural
constituencies it would be impos-
sible to pass it through the senate.
The argument is advanced that
since taxes are to be levied on
manufactured products, taxes should
also be levied on agricultural prod
ucts, and that if the people are to
be penalized for the benefit of the
manufacturer they should likewise
be penalized for the benefit of the
farmer. Where the fallacy of this
comes is that under the
guise of doing something to help
the farmer in some particular item,
their support is asked for a bill
that as a whole means that for
every dollar the farmer may derive
from the bill they will pay $500
in taxes for the benefit of some
body else. In other words, for
every / per cent of protection they
are given they pay SO cents of pro-
for the benefit of other
I do not think there is any
question about that.
$50 we find some of the propon-
Of the pending measure main
that its enactment will
greatly relieve the agricultural sit
in this country, because it
the tax on their products at
the custom house. Personally, /
have never believed that such a tax
would prove of any benefit to the
farmer. We are told how
the bill is going to help the farmer
by an increased tax on wheat, by
the tax on certain kinds
of cotton, neither of which will
be of any benefit to the
or put one dollar IN his
This talk may sound like
music to the farmer, but does the
realize that there are also
in this bill paragraphs taxing the
necessities of life, necessities that
are vital to the farmer. the neces-
sites by which agriculture lives?
When the present law was writ
ten not only were all kinds of fer
which are imported into the
States and are valuable in
the development of agriculture,
on the free list, but binding
irvine for the man who raises
in the west and ties and bag
ging for the farmer whose basic
crop is cotton were likewise placed
the free list. Under this bill
they propose to put these things
back on the tax list, and there is
no evidence that either of these in
dustries has suffered from outside
competition under existing law.
Some of the fertilizers coming into
market and many of the COM
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