White Bluffs spokesman. [volume] (White Bluffs, Wash.) 1907-1938, 1926-12-31


grows less and that of our Industrial
lists becomes greater.
What we should seek in dealing
with the tariff on agricultural prod
ucts is to insure the home market, so
far as possible, to the American
farmer He should have effective pro-
lection against foreign competition
Labor today has, by means of the i'm.
migration laws, effective protection in
this country. This is manifestly de
sirable. Among the chief reasons why
the United States is better off than
foreign countries are that labor is
here paid well and that there is little
unemployment. This is of direct
benefit to agriculture. Even a very
little reduction in food consumption
per capita, which would come from
lowered wages or unemployment,
would speedily pile up bigger sur
pluses of farm products than have
oppressed agriculture in recent
years. Well-paid labor is thus of adj
vantage to agriculture as affording a
large consuming market of high pur-
chasing power.
On the other hand there is no doubt
that the price of what the farmer buys
is substantially increased by high
wages. The precise effect of high
wages on the prices of articles which
farmers buy has not been accurately
measured. nor for that matter has the
exact effect of the immigration LEWIS
on protection for labor. We may say
with confidence, however, that these
items are considerable. Prices are
materially higher because labor is
well paid, and principal reason why
labor is we'll paid is that it is effec-
lively protected by the immigration
laws.
The remedy of the farmer is not to
break down the protection for labor,
as this would be disastrous to agri-
culture, but to seek by means of the
tariff the same effective protection
against foreign agricultural competi-
ton that labor has secured in it's field
by means of restricted immigration.
To this the farmer is beyond any
shadow of doubt entitled.
Assured the home market, the far
mer may utilize in it the same way
that labor has utilized it's advantage,
namely, by producing with greater in
telligence and skill and by bargaining
collectively, as have pointed out in
discussing cooperative marketing.
Farmers Taxes in 1926.
Farm taxes remain at almost the
same level that they reached in 1925.
A partially completed survey by the
Department of Agriculture reveals the
fact that the total taxes collected
from farmers in IL states are slightly
higher than in 1925 than they were
in 1925. The IL states when have
furnished data contain nearly one
third of the farm acreage Of the coun-
try and present fairly accurate indi-
cation of the situation as a whole.
Drastic reduction in farm taxes can
not be expected at the present time,
The demands of the users of automo-
biles for better and more improved
roads and the necessarily high costs
of education will keep the expenses
of the states, counties and local units
close to their present level. The re-
duction in federal expenses gives the
farmer little direct assistance, al
though reduction in federal taxes may
be reflected in lower costs for some
of the articles that he must purchase.
Aid to agriculture in meeting the
tax problem may come from two
sources. In those states where agri-
culture is not the predominating in
dustry it may be that the other in
dustries are bearing less than their
share of the tax burden. Where agri-
culture is the chief industry of the
state there is often opportunity for
relieving the tax burden by a read
justment of the tax system. Such a
possibility should not be overempha-
sized. So long as government costs
are high the taxpayers must meet the
bills. Readjustments of the burden
will aid certain groups, but 1t will not
lessen the total amount that must be
collected.
Specifically, the farm group may be
aided by a general alteration in both
the general-property tax itself and in
its method of application. AS applied
in most of the states, the general
tax must of necessity burden
the farmers to greater extent than
it does the proprietors in other indus
tries. The farmers have larger pro-.
portion Of their property in form
that can be reached by the assessor
than do other groups, and it follows
that they pay larger share in the
total expenses of government. An
obvious solution for this difficulty
points toward an attempt to devise
taxes that will force other groups to