The Tariff Robbery Exposed

Colonel G. S. In nis, ft Frauklin oounty farmer, at a soliool-liouse meeting of lii ueighbors and friends, resently dolivored a Bpeeon upon the tariff questions, fro.n which tho fullowing is an extract. The farmers of tho country should read it with great care, bêcauae it dilcagses thi? tarül questiou from the stütidpoint n uhich tliey ara moKt docply interested : '■It is Bomething new for rao tn undcrtukc to talk to you on politioal wubjccts. If it was n pun-ly agricultural, or even suientllio subject, it would be more to my miud, aud, perbaps, [ might acquit myai-lf with moro satigfaction to your sptal:er aud iiiore instruoUOQ to your-elves. Bat there aro a few plaid truths in which we are uil interested, (is they affect our pnsperity us agriculturists, noeqjianica or laborera of any kind. I iillu to to the cosst of supplies for evory dy life. If a man expecls to muke mouey, or which id the gama tliin, to save it, his incomo munt bu more than lus expenses,. or bis lorlger will Rhow a balatice ou tho wrong cde. ïo make ttiis plaiu, I propuse to earefully exarniue our pref-eut tariff laws, and try to piint out how ihey affect us as the piodujing classes of the ooaolry. Tlrs cUks of poisons are, and always inml be, the treat majority (f any country or pople. Without ihem, society t-olt could not exist iu a civilizad coinmunity. TL ere is another class of bpeculators and moucy clunijrg, tluit are mcru leeches on the great body of the peoplt-, th;it havo beeu trying from mv earliet reocollections to persuada the great tnass of men tbat it was to the iuterett of ihi' rasSiCB to be taxed for the br-nifit of th-: few. 'l'liat luw nlwuj'P, miud you, mean themsilves. Ilnw i it now utuler oar present laws? Suppose ono of you, gentlemen, wishes to purchise n cutton suitfor 6omo memtier ot' your f.uuily. ou pay near doublé price for it on account of the tax now levied by the governmnt - for its own support, do you suppose ? Tfaaf might possibljr be legitímate ; it wonld be entir.ly so were all taxej alike ; but for evury d'illar lliat finds its wy inio ths govorumont vaults you are taxed nine dollard lo fill some one olso's pocket. This stems har.lly fair for out orn goverument lo fax ns ten dollars for the dake of tretting Oü3 for itS'ilf, and giving nine dollars to tliose that furnished shod dy to onr ftrroy, ut high price.s, too, while thcy taciusclves kept outof harm's way. Jiunposf, gentlemen, you want to buy a phiiu wool bat lor one of your boys - Our pres ijt laws imh!:.? you py one (i 1 lar aud iit'ty conts of its prioe inNt tb manufacturar oi' I tor tha piivilege. Some of you may want to buv a puir of boots for yoursulvcs or sous, or shoes for the balare oí vour famtly. fiere, ■gaÏD, you are taxed frum eijh y fo uinely per cent. for I Si ofaome lioe inaoufacturer j or, to rnaka i; stil more plain, weru it uot for this tax you could purchaso your boots for nbout, four dol iars ; now yosi piy seven If you w.alit B tie'ter or finer pair, thry oagat not lo coat more than iivu ot Ril il llirs, whereas tlit-y now oost from eight to elevun dollarf. Tliis is tho 0332 T.-itli every nrticle of dicss vou need and must hiive. But so:::e one migbt ■■m':. if ibis is the case wi'h our olothiog, how is it with our table expenses ? Let us nee; tabe the arlicle ealt, one oi tho neoessaries of both navage nnd civilized lif. Our governiuo'it here fdr everv legitimato dollar you pay for this article of every-day cousuinption makes you pay ono dollar and eight cents, ind nearly all into the poekets of a set of men no more legally euti'led to recei e it than the wilrl Indiann of onr western forest-, or the garages of A frica, tíuij.ar the saín; wilbout prutection yu could buy all tbe sugar you wai.tud for from five to iit;ht eens per pound, now you pay from fourteeu to etgbtèeD cents for all you use, w heiher made in our own country or impoited Ir. in ibroad. Tea au1 coffd in ahout the same proportion. lint as I wish to bo perlectly candid in all my statements I will here say that the titx ou tea and coffee goeá into the vaulu of the governuient, as these articlt-s are not product-d to any considcrablo ezteut in our own country. Tliis bas at leat the ineril of not robbiog one man f r the benetit nf anatlicr, wtiich qannot be iid of any other article I have meutioned. If the-e ïntquitles stopped hero thuy tnifjht be borne w;th sonie digrt-e of patience ; but they are carried out into all the wauts of our pe ple. Thcsj tariff laws taz lijrbt aud kuowledüe. We pay at lea-t fifty per cent. on all the paper we us'J for Wie benefit inostly of a few pa per manufai'turfirs. ïh:s makes us pay tifty p:r cent. moto for our newgpapers than tiTtnerly. A daily paper thnt cost us under our old bystein of toriö' for revenue six dollars now üosIb ua nine dollars per annum under our present protectivo ryotem. Our State b;is furniíhed us a very io d lyitem of free sebooll lor all our )oulh. Theso (irotective tariff lavs come in and tax us so beavily on tbeir clotliing, food :md books as to made the oos'. of iheir educütion even bigher than it was befoie our admirable school luws weic (ü. u-tod Every farmer knows lliat wlifiat, at :he present price - nne do. lar per bushei - does not pay expenses. And why 'Í Siinpiy because these tariff lawg unike every article engagud io itn pr.'.duction 8 eoStly. Ou every artielo made of iron. or itito the manufaoture of wkioh iron entera large'y, you are tuxed nixtv per cent Your oommoD hoen, tbat used to cost you from fiity to sixty ceits. dow coot you one dollar. Yciur luirse sboi - ing ia ineresseri irom one dollar to i'uo seieoty-five Plowa you used to buj lor nine or te dollars you tiow pay from h xti'i n to eighieen dollars fop, ltouping and ibrcáhiiig niacliinea iü tbe sauiö proporüou, and üven ou the wagon i'n wliich you talio your wbeat to mark et you aro taxed from tbirty to fif y dollars. Still you might get a litt e bettcr price for your wbeat, wben you get it to tbe market ready to sell, were unt the common carriers, wbich ia tbis country are railroada, so beavily taxed. It is well known that our raüroads, as well as iheir rolüug stock, aro constructed largely of iron ; on all of thia they aro tuxed more than Bixty per cent. - Vuur pCuportlOD of ibis you must pay in the raduction of tl)9 prica of your wheat. Is t :wy wonder, tben, tl) at wheat wil] nnt pay tor its prutfuotion ? What truc ot' wheat is also true of corn and the otlier curiáis. Non all ihis tax on irun, all you are taxed it:i }'our farming mpletneots, the red'.ictiou for transporution on your i.'r::i s, mmJc bec::usc ihe matertals wliicli enter mto the cons roction of railroach are so lieavily Ked, go into the apPejoue poekets of kuiiio twn bundred men in the ironjfcgions of Pcnns.Ivania. - They etuploy ib ut 50,000 persons, uio.--t of these laborera. Whut thoy pay tlieir employees is leitiinule enough Bat theirprofiU aru immense Aocording to Seeretary Wel.'s' report one 't theso funiacs. witb. a capital of $150 000, olearcd 402,500, nearl.y one bundred per cent iu a singlo ycar (1 aini all tliis on t!ie M:.glo article of irou, whic'.i cu'.ers more largely inU tho conomptiou of tbo people ot the agrieulttiral ciistricts ttiau any otber articlo iu comniou uso Is it any ronder, thoD ,'bat tbcsomen spend tlieir nioney like water lo hire aguuts to persuado us to elect menibers 0 (Jougress who will vo"e to contit:u 1 bis state of afi'.iirn ? Tbey ure makiui; iiumcn e suma of money by it. I reiueniber ro;iding s niurriage r:otice of oue of the aons of s nie pjor inanufacturer, where the niother-.nlaw ireseiited the bride with tiie mail pittanoe f 8-J00,0()0. Is it any wonder they oorr jpt our members of Coogress ? Can we iiiawel that ltcy huve more ofiuence over certain members ot Congress than al! honest ruilroad meu and lbo producinp c'asscs of the cnuurv combinad f Thej have pleuty of mouey to oflueuco tlicni with, robbcd froin us, wliich they are using treely to rob us still m ire. Il louks to me, my neighbors aud fellow Hgriculturistri, that vo 8con must havu b ciiaiige, or the hope of tho iudutrial classes iu thid couutry will bj fjiever gono. A.id why protect these few nt the e.XpBi s ■! of the ma DJ ? 01), they sny, w will buiul y 'U up :t Idiiic litukut tor a I your agricultura] produots. Tbis .düu of' a hoiuc market, L think, is wost fallaciuus. are an agricultura! p-.'op!e ; wecaonót be anytbiDg eso it we wuuld. It costa us t-o iniifb lo íhip heavy maaufaotured articles to foro'i;u oountries, Now, when our psople engace in j riculture, tbc supoly will bu abundant ; in re than w Ban oooaame, Obio raisB 20,000,000 bushels of wheat; and ie consumes ]5 000,000 - leaviup; 5,000,000 toship; the C0D8cquen:e i Ji.it v, beat In 01 bipping rutes Where, tben, would you fiiid any of thtse protec'ed fuw, yvho would ■ny us farman mure por bush ;1 for cur wheat tban they could go to the shipper or spcculator ia grain aml buy the tamo (]iantity for. Indeed tuey oquld oot ooiisume it all, if they would do like tbo fiog and try to swell up to tha diinension if tho ox. Aocording to Secretary Wells' repoit trurare 510,000 psraona in the Uuited States BDgaged iu these protecttd industries. Tüi8 is iu the ritio of one to eighty of all ouf populaition. Now where can you lintl a man lare eno-:gh to consutne all tho surplus lht cihtv produoiTs h:ive to feil As I 8ai(i teforo, tbo idea is perfectly preposterous. Then snch a ihing as a homo inaiket for all our sui plus piojuc's of "grioulture is imp.ssiblo. Take another view of tbo case. During our late war at lenst two millions of our ble bodied meo ero enguged in tliat struglo on both gideB. Most, or l luay say all, of these were drawu front the pioduetive iudu-tie8. Not that pome iiianu!aeturt'i wi're not engaged iu the nar; but the war itself caus.d as O) any, perhaps inore, to eng.ige iu manufaoturlog us tliere bas been siiice or was before tlie war. Now eau wo ever bopo (O draw no mauy men from the pursuit of iigrioulture a wore diau duiingthe hite war In ftiot, tightiiig was theu a iiaiioual business ; yet nolwithstanding all that, together witb tho great waste of the war, we could no', aud did not, consumo our surplus products. We were OODstantly sbipping our eereals, bh woll us po ik aud bed, Ujfced the inhabitnut of tire oíd (irld ; and that, too, at our foruier cheap lales, wheu ur currency was rednued lo a gold sUmdurd. Iu 18u8 we shipped to loreign oountries 70,000,000 bushela of wheat alone. Tbis. is, pu-rhiiiis, harilly an average; - et wo would requiro a pdpulatioii of 1 10,0 jü, 000 to oouuuae cur present .■vurpluol a.l the produote of agrtculturc. Then it is clear that we must sell cheap. The question with us is, will we allow our own goverarnedt, a creature of our owu, wbiob we can a.ake or uu raake at our owu pleasure, through the quiet and peacelul nieaut) of thu ballot lo compel us to buy deur; to lav in our neoessary sipplies in tliis fülse aud tiu ticious marktit, creattd for the benefit ot the few. Of ;-H the oppressions tbat by a government is ihe worst ; the moït djtriineiitl to the produoiug classes. Being created for tlieir pi owcliou, it turun aud becumee the:r oppiessor. Whcn the antidote tor evil beoomes the sourco of evil, what h:.pe foriuen is lelt '! Wheu socie y iuelf seis the ex ainple of peoulation, what shull prevent tüe lüdividuuls of that Bocittj frouj following tho example. Another great evil arising from tecting tiie few at the expeise ui thu maoy, is tüe Cüiru;jtiui( intluoicw it lias izo our poblic men. liore is theru now go aura uud quick a road to wt-allli as to j-ccure a su;it in eithur house of onr uu. Lcgislature. Who does nut knovv of meu wüo were oompara'.ireiy io.r, a:iil yat aftcr eveu a ebort tervico cftwe or tour yeais, como lióme riet) ? Thu taot is, these protected fuw pay wull - aud I hare showu tbey cun uturd it - aud mako moiioy by it Èvttty uitther's S')ii ot' thein, raiud you, by autUirity of Congress taxes us threc-fourhs of hich lax gnea iight into their japacious pockety. No wonder, theu they huy up maiibers of' Congress ; snme of whom if put op at auction w ith all their poweia, mental, mortal and physioal woeld not bring live dollars whilo as legislators or niuinlxrs of Congrefs, they spII resd:ly it $150,000 on a singlo vote. And wliy? bucauíte 40,00 J mn liavb dilrfa! ed tlieir power to tlitin. Wortliloss as he would bf, si;indinir a'onf, liu bcoomea a oiightj power wliau j-u!ding all tbu iullueiieu of hi6 oonstltuuDta Theae pro'octi e tariffs aro brngir.g te WashÍDgton jnst tfais olass of rneu ; a olass aaore po'ent kr evil thin auy tver beforo bred ni this Iroiid iaiid of ons Tliey iiitr.' hcavoo and eatth for an eleouon, tlia tli y n.ay s. II tlimsolvcs (o the li t advan uge tr tlieir ow.i ppoet8. S:i 1 tlie e ure men (bat oaonot be bouglit, but I fcar tliey do not uiarc-h iu rcgiuients As a general rulo, it would be safo to look wiih suspicion on uny Western man wbo wai iu i'avor of these prolective tariffs. As Western men we oro contiiiiially tuxed by thtiu, tlnt soma other ot of men uiay r a) the benelit. Auy uiembir of Congress tha c. votea a;idiit the interest of bis immediate coustituenU it ia well to w.itch uud bold to a ttrict acc. U'-iUbiUtV.