Democratic Sentinel, Volume 6, Number 11, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 14 April 1882 — A TARIFF ILLUSTRATION. [ARTICLE]

A TARIFF ILLUSTRATION.

[From the Detroit Free Press.] The pretense is made by the hightariff people that the American farmer derives greater benefits from the large additional home market which the “ protection of home industry” gives him than he sustains loss in the restrictions which are placed upon his power to buy where he can get things the cheapest. We purpose, by a simple illustration, U> show not only how unfounded this is, but the heavy pecuniary loss which the American agriculturists and the entire Community suffer by the imposition of onerous restraints upon the freedom of trade. . The American farmers raise annually many million bushels of wheat beyond what is needed for their own consumption. A certain quantity of this has to be sold to prov ; de them with cotton goods. We will assume that 35,000,000 bushels are required for this purpose. The farmers go to the American manufacturers and they are informed that enough cotton is not manufactured in this country to supply the wants of our people, and that therefore they must expect a good price in wheat for the cotton goods. “ We have too little of our commodity,” say the manufacturers; “yow have too much of yours. ” The farmers appreciate the force of the arguments, and are about to• haul in their, wheat for the goods on the manufacturers’ own terms, when a corpulent old gentleman who lives across the ocean and who has a great many cotton factories, in which he employs “pauper' labor,” appears. “ Hi, there 1” he says; “I want some of that wheat; I have too many cotton goods and too little wheat;” and so he makes a bid which is so much better than that which the American eot’ton manufacturers offered at the beginning that the American farmers rub their hands with delight, and nod to each other, and say that competition is the life of trade, Uind that it is a “bang up” thing for them that John Bull wanted wheat and a good thing for him that they wanted cotton goods. Finally, after some negotiation, a bargain is struck, and John Bull agrees to take half of the 35,000,000 bushels of wheat, paying therefor $15,200,000 in cotton goods and $5,800,000 in cash. The American cotton manufacturers say they will take the other half, and give as much as the farmers get from John Bull. John brings his cotton and his cash over here, but is met at the landing place by a representative of Uncle Sam, who tells him that in order that the free labor of the United States may not be ruined by competition with his pauper labor hs must pay a duty averaging 381 per cent, on the value of his cotton goods, and John Bull this will take precisely th 9 cash which he had for the American farmers. John did not bargain for any duty on his goods, so he tells his customers that if he pays the duty they will be minus the cash, and that if they pay it they will be simply taking the money from him with one hand to pay it to Uncle Sam with the other. Whichever course is taken, the farmers get from John Bull what was but $15,200,000 worth of goods ; Uncle Sam gets $5,800,000 in revenue ; and the goods, after they get into the United States, are worth $21,000,000, because they have cost that much. So much for the present for the transaction with John Bull.

■ The American farmers take the remaining half of their wheat to the American cotton manufacturers, and get from them precisely the quantity in goods which they get from John Bull, the value of which is called $21,000,000. And as they deliver their goods to the farmers (he home manufacturers pat their customers on the shoulder and say : “ See how beneficent are the operations of the tariff. It has enabled you, without feeling it, to contribute nearly $6,000,000 to the support of the Government, and.it has secured good prices to us, by which we are enabled to keep the wheels of industry in motion, employ thousands of persons and maintain a ceaseless whir of activity.” The farmers go home and begin studying the, question. First it occurs to them that they received more for their wheat because John Bull wanted it, and then they begin to figure how they would be affected provided there was no tariff. Clearly they would have received the same quantity of goods and $5,800,000 jn cash from John Bull, and the American Cotton manufacturers would have had to pay them the same price in order to get the wheat, or they would have sold it to John Bull, who intimated that he would be glad to take all the wheat they had on the same terms. Now if they had obtained the John Bull price for the entire 35,000,000 bushels they would have received precisely the same quantity of cotton goods as they did under the operation of the tariff, and sll,600,000 beside. They could pay $5,800,000 for support of the Government, and still be $5,800,000 in pocket, equivalent to about 16 2-3 cents per bushel on their wheat.

The farmers lay their case before the | cotton manufacturers and want to know why they, should be deprived of this f 5,800,000. Oh,”" reply the cotton manufacturers, “ this is for the benefit of home industry. We pay omj workmen tod wbrkwom'en such high wages (please don’t say anything about the Pacific mills strike and the beggarly wages which the owners of those mills want to cut down) that we have absolutely no profits ourselves. If we sell any cheaper—that is, give you any more goods for your wheat—we shall have to pay wages as- low as those which John Bull gives his pauper labor.” ' The farmers return home for a further investigation of the question. Just about this time the census returns come out. “Stow,” say they, ‘‘we will see wh»t this wages question amounts to,”' Examining all the statements they find that the price paid, for labor in the manufacture of $21,000,000 worth of cotton goods is less than $4,000,000. A light dawns upon them/ “ What a colossal fraud this system bf so-called protection*iM,” say they. “If we are permitted to buy and sell where we can do both to the best advantage, we can with our 35,000,000 bushels of wheat obtain all the cotton -goods which we do at present, pay the Government the full equivalent of the duties it now receives, pay out of our own pockets every dollar to the American workingmen which they now receive for the manufacture of goods to the value of $21,000,000 —that is, we can support them in absolute idleness at the magnificent wages which the cotton manufacturers pay them—and still ba $1,806,000 ahead.’’