Evening Republican, Volume 17, Number 271, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 13 November 1913 — THE NEW TARIFF HITS THE FARMER [ARTICLE]

THE NEW TARIFF HITS THE FARMER

Expert on Agriculture Things the Tariff “A Good Thing” For Farmers in Other Countries. Northwestern Agri., Oct. 18. The new democratic tariff-for-rev-enue-only is*, pow in effect, but because the sun still shines, and the air is still refreshing, and the factory .wheels'* have not yet ceased turning, and the cost of living has not yet been reduced, nor the Coxey armies begun to march across the continent, nor the soup houses to be established for charity in relief of the unemployed, it is not to be assumed that the inevitable results of the tariff, as predicted by those who believe in protection to American indusry, have been‘averted. It will require months for the normal effece to gain momentum. Some of these effects have already been anticipated by the markets, for markets always discount the future so far as the futures can be 'safely predicted, and- for the last eleven months it has been that this free trade fate awaited the country; consequently there was no possibility of any sudden jolt when the tariff finally went into effect, but here are some of the tangible effeest—now open to in-

spection; The new law reduces the tariff on oats from 15 cents a bushel down to 6 cents, and as soon as Canada takes off her tariff on oats we will admit Canadian oats free, but even with a duty of 6 cents, within one week after the law passed, 500,000 bushels of Canadian oats were re ceived in Chicago, with a duty of 6 cents a bushel paid thereon. What will be the natural outcome then when there is no duty to be paid on Canadian oats? There is no question but that Canada will take her duty off on American grain within the next year; all authorities of the chamber of commerce in Chicago, as well as Minneapolis and Duluth, agree that that will he the outcome and as soon as that Is done by Canada, automatically, Canada gains free trade into America for all of her wheat and other grain. The possibilities are that Canadian action in annulling the tariff will take place next January, so that Canadian farmers will get the benefit of American markets on this year’s crops. This Chicago oats importation illustrates the beginning of all Canadian grains in our markets all along the border. The result on our own markets was seen immediately after the passage of our law by the falling of wheat price to 84 cents for December delivery, the lowest record of this year. But the effect of free-trade is not limited to grains alone, by any means. We are to have free-trade on butter* as soon as Canada takes off her tariff on our butter, hut in the meanwhile, without amy reciprocal action by Canada, the tariff on butter is 2V 2 cents a pound, and »even that little reduction has shown an immediate result. Before the new tariff went into effect, many carloads of Canadian butter came into the Bread and Butter State, under bond, ready to take advantage of the reduced tariff as soon as possible. A single firm of butter merchants in St. Paul received two carloads of butter, shipped in bond, a week before the new law went into effect, and as a result of the new law this company gets the reduction in duty )f from 6 cents to 2V 2 cents a pound, making a saving of nearly $1,200 a car. Our cheesemakers will he interested to know that carloads of Swiss, Roquefort and Norwegian cheeses will now be imported on the low-tariff halss. A single fish company in the Twin Cities had in bond, at the time the tariff went info effect, fish amounting to between $20,000 and, $25,000. All this came in free of any duty, and American fish interests are up against that kind of competition. Largg numbers of cattle are now coming across the border from Canada. Argentine had thousands of pounds of dressed meat in bond in New York, and Australia and South America had similar stores In California awaiting the opehing of our markets to compete with American meat. The former president of Peru, Signor Augusto B. Leguia, declared liast month at Washington that as soon as the Panama Canal is finished, Peru can produce and deliver in New York, dressed beef at 10 cents a pound. Under the freetrade tariff American beef raisers will have that kind of competition to meet, hut until the methods of distribution of the meat to the consumer are improved, it does not follow that the price of a beefsteak will be lowered 1 cent a pound, so long as the packers’ monopoly controls the American retaileis’ market, as well as |be wholesale stock market.