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Show TARIFFS AND AGRICULTURE (By I. A. Hollenbeck.) f It is something of a study to eeo I the tariff antics and the Tdlief for ag-I ag-I ricultUTe &s It I showing up in the special session of congress. Twice the ;Mx3Nary-)Iiaugen bill waa paeeed and both time vetoed by President Coolidge in scathing terms. The equalization fee was for the purpose pur-pose of celling the excess farm pro-ducLa pro-ducLa broad tor leer .price than at home, And to even up the prices by making the Jiome eale pay tor the deficiency of the foreign sales. Now there is a debenture plan, hi which the tariff incomes are to pay enough to the home sales of farm products, so that the receipts of the sales and the receipts from tariff taxes on manufactured products would give the farmer a benefit of as high a price for his products as if he had a tariff on farm products compared to the tariff on manufactured goods. But, Hoover has sat on this debenture deben-ture proposition the same as Cool-idge Cool-idge sat on the equalization fee. The fear is that if there be a high tariff placed on farm products thai ail the foreign nations will retaliate, retali-ate, an'd that America will lose Its foreign trade. Argentina and Canada are both threatening retaliation. retali-ation. If Argentina retaliates on automobiles, for instance, it will .hurt us seriously, lor Argentina buys Do per cent of her automobiles in the United Stales, and if she should so io Europe to buy, thru, It would put the clamps cn the automobile auto-mobile industry and would t:i:ow a lot of people iout of employment, there is even now a slack in the lauoi market. It is quite plain then, thai there can be no protection on farm products, for that will cause a trade fHsaslcr, and the politicians realize the truth. Rut the scheme is to dodge in favor of manufactured products. pro-ducts. . Karly ;n the tariff game, tho pica was, 'Protect our infant industries" Xow the infant has 'become a siut, and it wants to be a glutton, and i; and has been ' a glutton for many j years pa-rt. Mark Sullivan discusses j the problem in the Tribinu on Ap.il 2S, last, in .which be comes out flat i and says iaat America once had a j world's market for its farm pro ducts, but now and henceforth for '.ie 'benefit of the manufacturers, t lie farmers must b-2 satisfied with a home market md must ke?p v.l ' the foreign rnvkct. Thai ; must garden for hotna m-o only and bt the manufacturers have the world's market. That is, 1!:r.t. the high tariff fav-orln-g tho manufacturers manufac-turers compels the Americans to pay a very high price for what, the mim-ufacturers mim-ufacturers of America product, when these same manufacturers sell the same products to people i foreign countries for a much small er price than, what they compel our home people to pay. Shall Americans Ameri-cans pay more than a thing is wort n and destroy the agricultural industry too, so that the manufacturers can get unnecessary wealth? What the opposition theory is, is that we want a tariff, but let it be what Roosevelt called' a differential tariff, which policy pol-icy has heen adopted by the Democrats, Demo-crats, that is, a tariff just high enough so that It will .even up wages and living conditions between Americans Ameri-cans and foreigners. That would enable the manufacturers to pay good wages and would stimulate trade with all nations for all people , farmers and manufacturers, alike. Hut, tho big interests have got their : hands in the pockets of tho farmers : and all the people, nn:'J' arc deter- ! mined that their hands shall stay in the people's pockets. ! |