Sugar And Wool

One oí the curious politica! vagaries of our eeteemd opera-house eontemparary the Argus, Is ita plea lor probectiom to sugar, a Ixralsiana product, anil lts attack against protectson íor too!, a 'Michigan, and noiably n Washtemaw oounty product. This is doubly singular iro.ni the iact that The Argus lias a great deal to say about the "tariïf breeding trusts-'' Now everyooe fcnows that the sugar trust is ooie oí the worst of all trusts in the country. l'ndcr the ïriendly legi-latkm at Washington, last week, its utouk jumped up $10 per share to the great prolit of a aunxber of democratie senators of jinance committee who used their exclusive iníormaiion o! wliat was to be cliangcd in the "Wilson bill, to their private speculations. The McKinley bill dealt the sugar trust such a blow that lts stock had been continually depreciating until it was in great danger of being wiped out. But now its stock is in great demaná, for tlie southern senators in control have sa ved it, at the expense of the northern wool-growers. ThLs unfair legislatioai is even defended by northern cuckoo newspapers, just as they used to do before tlie war wlien the south was in the saddlè bef'OTe. It is a principie oí political economy thiit "where tlie product of a domestic article does not nearly equal the demand ; and where the duty leved 011 imports does !iot stimulate production of the liome-made article, the tariff duty operates as a tax both on the home made article and the impoïrted article of like nature." The eoinsumption of domestic and imported sugar in 18)2 in the U. S. was 3,627,126,000 pounds, while our pröüuction ivas only 370,579,307 lbs., but cme-tenth al the total. Thgrefore the placing of a duty of only one cent pr pound means at tax of $36,271,260 upon the people of this country in oue year, which is to be laid on the people for the benefit of the sugar trust and (the Louisiana sugar gr-owers. But there is no trust in wool, gotten up by wealthy sliarks vho, having grown fat on their profits squeezed out of their fellow citizens, can afford to put sueh a lobby at Washington as to tnake effective demands on legtelation. Tlie million wool grovers of the U. S., losing ierhaps $100 eacli on the average, by the Wilson bill have no swelling treasury to pay lawyers and lobbyists, and they cannot oven get the support of the democratie papers published right in the midst ot' on-e of the greatest wool eountries on thLs continent. The Argus lacks the manliness of the southeriMrs, who stond up ior their own intereets. In the future, when our friend The Argus, prates about trusts, its readers may remeraber its labored defence of the sugar trust and its attack on wool whirli has no trust. The hollownees of republican inBtitutioms im Bruzil is we 11 illustrated by the faet tliat oaly about 7,000 votes were cást in Bk de Janeiro, the Capital and metropo'-i-, in the recent electioai for president. The populatlon o! th;it cl y is officially estimated at 800,000, and in t-his country the vote of so large a place would be at least 150,000. "Where 7,000 men speak at the polls for 800,000 people, freedomi does not go very deep. Kansas prides itself on its record for the last year, mul it has reasons In. that time the field crops amounted to $(59,441,000, and the wool, clieese, butter, poultry, hortk-ultural producís and animáis slaughtered or sold ior slaughter are eet down as haring been worth $53,124,000 making the total valuation of the crops and live stock previously on hand $220,831,000. The mumber of fruit breee in bearing is 13,690,494 and of those planted, ibut too young to bear, 8,106,424. Of these there are 12,408,050 apples, 6,029,630 peach, and 877,256 cherry trees, thus indicating that fruit raLsing is an industry by aio means overlooked. There axe also 39,319 acres planted in nurst'i-ics and sinall f mits. Tlie live stock valuation is (put at $98,2(56,000. Mase. Pkrughman. A writer in the Cecbar Springs Clipper has thiis to saj' about the road question, that we commend to our readers : "It is said that intemperaiu-e is at tlie root of all evil, but ignoraiice is responsible íor a large amouTLt oí intemperanoe. I thlnk it was Kate Field 'who said, 'All crime, all bad legislatiom are due to IgnórameO, the one unknown quantity which is iimpossible to overeóme.' TliLs condition is largely due to ignorance born of bad roadst 'As ye sow, so sliall ye also reap.' By ignoring the farmer, by leaving him in his lgnoraiioe, the churehes of this country have a great deal to answer for. Their anisstonary work lies here, not in Japan and África. The beam needs to be cast out of our eyes before we see the moat in our brother's. Christianity begins at homie, and Christianlty begins with better roads. But farmers oppose them. Thej' fear greater taxatlom. This is evident from the vote on the constitutlonal nincnilmont last spring which showed plainly that the amendment was carried by the city vote."