Democratic Sentinel, Volume 15, Number 49, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 25 December 1891 — Perkins and the American Economist. [ARTICLE]

Perkins and the American Economist.

In their search for powerful advocates, our high tariff friends have found the truthful Eli Perkins, and wo understand that his services have been engaged by the American Protective Tariff League for the campaign that will close in November next His first argument was published in thp Tariff League’s Bulletin, otherwise known as the American Economist, of the 4th inst The subject of his first argument is chicory, and the Tariff League places at the head of the essay this title: “The Birth and Growth of a McKinley Industry.” “I suppose,” says Mr. Perkins to the editor of the Tariff League paper, “that you don’t know what chicory is. ” This is almost as bad as saying that the Tariff League’s editor “doesn’t know beans.” Eli explains that it Is a vegetable which “tastes like coffee” and then he goes on as follows: “To get to the story. When they were putting the tariff on different things last year, and got down to *C,’ they came right on to chicory. “ ‘What's chickoryV’ asked Major McKinley. “No one was able to tell anything about it, except that we paid 85,000,000 e\ery year to get what was used. “‘Well, what shall we do with it?’ asked several Congressmen. “ ‘Why, if we can’t raise it.’ said McKinley, ‘and the peoplo want it, we will iet raw chicory come in free, but we will put a protective tariff on manufactured chicory. We will try and bring the manufactories to America if wo can’t raise the stuff.’ And so the tariff went on to manufactured chicory. “Suddenly I noticed a groat stir among the chicory importers “ ‘Why, this McKinley bill has raised the dickens,’ they sa'd. ‘Wo can't im port ground chicory any more from France and Germany. We must make it here.’

“So they wrote and toiozraphed the foreign chicory manufacturers that they must hurry up and bring their chicory factories over here And, sure enough, thero was a stampede from Europe.” We interrupt hero the easy flow of Mr. Perkins’ narrative to mako a few remarks. We shall not question the truthfulness of his assertion, that neither Mr. McKin'ey nor any other member of the Ways and Means Committee knew what ch'ckory is, although they knew, so Mr. Perkins says, that “we have been sending out about 88,000,000 to Germany every year for this little article. ” But we must say that the book of statistics which Perkins uses is not in accord with the one published by the Government. In the latter the report concerning the value of chicory imported is as follows: IMPORTS OF CHICORY. 1880. 1900. Chicory root, ground or unground, burnt or prepared §201,802 §281,600 There is somo difference between 88,000,000 and 8231,600. but we cannot expect that a genius like Eli Perkins will permit himself to be fettered by facts. It will bo noticed also that wh.'n the members of the committee “got down to •O’" and “came right on to chicory,” they decided to “put a pro'.ectivo tariff on manufactured chicory.” Here again Perkins's book of statistics has misled him. The duty on manufactured chicory was not changed by the McKinley act. In the old tariff It was 2 cents a pound, and in the new one it is the same:. Perkins must have been misinformed about the “great stir among the importers. ” They told him that they couldn’t “import ground chicory any more” because the McKinley bill “had rai-ed the dickens. ” But, as we have said, the duty on ground chicory was not changed. There was a change, however, with respect to raw and unground chicory. Tho duty on this had been 2 cents a po.und. and the McKinley bill took it off. Perkins says that under the prov Lions of the McKinley act the farmers are all beginning to raise chicory. That is to say, the removal of the duty on raw chicory gives them so much protection against the raw chicory of “France and Germany, where it is grown with very chean labor,” that they are very anxious to take hold of the industry. What does the Tariff League say to this? —New York Times,