The Redwood gazette. [volume] (Redwood Falls, Minn.) 1873-1940, 1929-01-16
THE MINNESOTA PLAN


should be accompanied by such
compensating duties for products
manufactured therefrom that no
such industry shall suffer in the
home market.
When compromising duties are not
allowed on industrial products made
from protected farm commodities, the
farm protection is made ineffective.
For example, if we have a tariff on
wool and none on wooden goods, the
wool comes in free in the form of
such goods. If we let linseed oil
come in, the tariff on flax is spoiled.
A low duty or no duty on dried eggs
reduces the protection on eggs. No
feeling against industries should lead
farmers to disregard agricultural i'm
ports in the form of manufactured
goods. There is a great deal of such
hidden farm imports at the present
time. Furthermore it is to the
farmers advantage to have indus
trial activity here rather than in for
eign lands.
Provision for two lines of re-
search to be projected at once
under Congressional authority:
the one to discover means of re-
placing imported farm products
with native products so far as
possible; the other to survey the
possibilities of drawing increased
raw materials for our industries
from American farms.
This is really a very important
suggestion. We need congressional
research because no private person
on the farm or close to farmers has
either the time or the means to do
what the situation requires.
Our government has already done
much along this line, but Germany
is the outstanding example of how
new markets for raw materials can
be found through research conducted
by the government. 1t is not always
necessary to find a foreign market
for home produced raw material in
order to use the raw material. Re-
search, chemical and otherwise, has a
wonderful record of success to its
credit in finding out how to use new
raw materials in industry. Then a
tariff to protect that industry builds
it up and the industry itself provides
the market for the farm produced
raw material. This is an illustration
of how the tariff indirectly can aid
a farm grown product when a direct
tariff on the product itself would be
of small value.
A duty on molasses, for instance,
can be made to give substantial pro-
is kept out through tariff our
manufacturers could turn to corn as
the raw material for making syrup.
Thus while tariff on corn itself
would probably do but little good, a
tariff against an import for which
corn can be made to furnish the raw
material will indirectly accomplish
the same thing.
Roger Babson has told US how Ger
many is using a government research
department to find markets for sur
plus products. In recent statement
he says:
cit now appears likely that
the same scientific forces opera
ting to broaden the market for
coal and to give new hope for
the future of that industry will
likewise operate to bring agricul-
ture back onto a profitable econ
scientific research that is being
done to utilize waste products of
the farms and to find new uses
for grain, cotton, corn and other
staple farm products. AS the re-
suit of research, chemical engi-
neers are of the opinion that we
are annually wasting one billion
dollars worth of valuable pro-
ducts in the form of corn cobs
and corn stalks. Chemistry has
discovered more than 300 uses
for these. A good grade of pa
per can be manufactured from
corn stalk. Other products that
can be made are papier .Mache,
wall board, substitutes for build
ing lumber, rayon, acetic acid,
electrical and heating insulation,
ethyl alcohol, starch, glucose
and other valuable chemicals. All
these can be made from corn
stalks and cobs after the farmer
has husked and shelled the corn
and has let his cattle and hogs
eat what they WILL Progress in
this direction is still in the exper-
mental stage, but enough has
been accomplished to show the
wonderful new markets that can
be opened for raw materials
produced on FARMS"
Chemistry has discovered new uses
for sugar cane. 1t has been able to
manufacture substance called ba-
gasse, and an industry doing a bust
ness running into the millions Of dol
lars is now using bagasse to manu-
facture insulating board. This is a
by-product made from sugar cane
formerly wasted. Science and chem
istry are doing the same thing for