The Cushing Herald. (Cushing, Okla. Terr.), Vol. 3, No. 1, Ed. 1 Friday, May 7, 1897 Page: 3 of 6
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f
How
DINOLEY BILL
AND THE FARMER.
the New Tariff Measure Will
Affect Agriculture.
VIEWS OF THE MEN WHO FRAMED IT.
Leading Statisticians and Agricultural Experts
Also Commend It.
the Most Favorable Measure to Agriculture Ever Presented
to Congress.
Ti# following expressions from leading
ftfrictilturiatB, atatistirian* and statesmen
relative to the Dingley bill and its rela-
tion to the agricultural element of (lie
community and to agriculture its lf, will
he of interest to every reader, whatever
hi occupation. The class of men Felect-
•d for this expression of views includes
men whose training an students of agri-
culture from a practical and statistical
standpoint of actual practice in prepar-
ing the bill itself, renders their consensus
of opinion upon this measure-extreme!
valuable.
ley bill as related to the agricultural
schedule, being called upon by Major Mo-
Hone Nelson IMnglt.r,
"There can be no doubt of the marked
growth of the protective sentiment in the
South," said Chairman Dingley of the
Ways nnd Means Committee, in comment-
ing on the bill. "So far as I now recall,
this is the first time that Southern 5eom-
ocrats have voted for a protective bill or
expressed the strong sentiments in iavor
of a protective tariff which we have heard
in the House, and which are now being
presented at the Senate end of the capitol
ia the amendments proposed by Senators
sad others, increasing the protective :a!es
of duty in the pending tariff bill. We
hare had Democratic votes from the
North for a protective tariff bill in the
paat, but this support for the protective
idea from the South is new."
j *r*t'fjing, of course, Mr. Ding-
"Most assuredly."
"Surprising, too?"
"Not especially so; no. The develop-
ment of manufacturing industries in the
(loath in the last few years has created a I
protective sentiment. There are two rea-
sons for this: First, the desire for the in-
crease of manufactures and the direct
results therefrom, and second, the ad-
vantages to agriculture which come from
the home manufacturing industry. The
value of farm products is largely depen-
dent upon proximity to a market. Farm
products are bulky and the cost of trans-
porting them to a distant market destrovs
the profits to the farmer. If ho has a
narket just alongside his farm or in ea
reach he can make good profits out of „
business which would not be successful if
he were compelled to ship his productions
a long distance to find sale for them. The
establishment of manufacturing industries
in the South has thus not only increased
the price which the farmer gets for his
products, but has greatly diversified these
products, and thus further increased his
profits."
"Then you look upon the growth of the
protective sentiment as developing among
the agriculturists as well as among the
manufacturing communities of the
South?"
"Undoubtedly a study of the agricul-
tural history and conditions of the various
sections of the country shows clearly that
the value of the land and of its produc-
tions averages much higher per acre
__. ■ i'.* .'injur 4
Kinley, chairman of the committee, to
sist in this work, and I tried to make it
afford protection to agriculture. We se-
cured about all we asked for, except a
duty upon hides. Wo felt that as a mat-
ter of justice and right people who raise
cattle are entitled to protection on hides
as well as those who manufacture leather
ami shoes have a right to protection on
their produeta. The fanners iinqiiestion-
ahl.r reaped considerable benefit from (be
Mckinley law, although the apparent re-
versal of the verdict of tile people in 18!>0
and 1892 prevented them from realizing
the full advantages which they would
have otherwise reaped under the measure.
Farming industries, as everybodv knows
have been greatly depressed during the
past few years, and many of us attrlbut
this largely to the discrimination against
agriculture, in the present Wilson tariff
measure, which placed wool upon the free
list and reduced the duty upon agricul
turaI products.
"We received great advantages,
think, from the reciprocity feature of the
McKinley law, which has the endorse-
ment of nearly every farmer in this conn
try. and we were very sorry that the
treaties were not carried out by the last
administration. We are very glad to
that the main features of the McKinley
law as related to protection to agriculture
are found in the Dingley bill. There has
been some improvement, wo think, in the
wool schedule, and we are sure that the
prompt passage of this measure will af-
ford some relief which will be very grate
fill to the farmers. They will be ver;
much opposed to unnecessary delay in it
passage, as they want relief, and want it
now. They will hare little patience with
any long drawn out action and delay on
the part of Congress in putting this meas-
ure on the statute books. Thev want it
to become a law. The farmers arc de-
pendent largely upon home consumers for
the disposal of their products. The pro-
ducts sent abroad are brought into compe-
tition with the cheapest labor and land in
tho world, and sometimes there is no profit
left for the farmer after charges are paid.
For their other products, however, not
shipped abroad there is a groat advan-
tage to the farmer in having a good sub-
stantial home market. The opening of
factories and mines and giving employ-
ment to the vast army of laborers in this
country at good wages will largely
crease the consumption of those products
not considered staple products, such as
vegetables, fruits, etc., and will be of very
great benefit to the farming class. These
laboring classes are liberal buyers whet
they have the money and never haggl
over prices, so that we will get. if this bill
opens factories and mines and gives th
employment expected, great benefits ii
this somewhat indirect manner.
"It is not to be expected, however that
the benefits will be di
. -mmir
s?B ** ort haul, selling in ear
markets there, while the hay of the farm
ers of this country rots in the stacks. He
indicates a general satisfaction with the
wool schednle, and has not received a sin
g!e complaint in regard to the bill gen-
erally from the farmers.
"It cannot be expected." continued Mr.
Steele, "that any genuine prosperity and
stability will come to the countrv until
this tariff matter is settled and rates oil
all articles adjusted permanently. The
trouble was after the enactment of the
McKinley law, that the people did not al-
low sufficient time for conditions to prop-
erly adjust thenfselves and to allow the
law to show its full power, before they
overwhelmed the country with an adverse
criticism and demanded a trial of low-
tariff. The people of the country have
had opportunity to see the free trade the-
ory put into practical operation and have
found it wanting, and now we hope that
when this present bill is enacted into law
they will be patient and allow the new
law to thoroughly adjust itself to the con-
ditions of the country, before passing
final judgment on its merits. We confi-
dently predict that it will bring prosper-
ty to the country, but It is not reasonable
to suppose that it can work miracles, or
that it can immediately place the country
upon the footing and prosperous basis
which we had worked up to and enjoyed
through many years of continuous protee
hnn prior to the advent of the Wilson law.
The country has demanded a return to the
protective system, and no class lias made
the demand stronger in this line than the
farmers. Now when the system is put
nto operation, let us give it the necessarv
time, after the.past years of tearing down
the protective walls of the country, to
gradually bring confidence and the'huin
of industry, which has been through his
tory the accompaniment of a protective
'a riff.
"I'nder free trade, or a low tariff, the
producer or manufacturer lias no assur-
ance what the prices for his products will
he. The prices are regulated by the
floods of material ami manufactured ar-
tides which are unloaded upon our shores,
the products of the pauper labor of Eu-
rope; lie is thus timid about pursuing this
line of industry to his full capacity fo
fear it will leave him in debt by finding
his markets occupied by foreign goodR
thus his operations are circumscribed an
his purchasing power reduced to a min
mum and many of the people who sob
him their products find themselves with
out a customer. Such an instance multi
plied by thousands largely accounts for
the loss of the home market in this <
try."
•ciprocity, but
•ensure, even
unmittec pro-
markets for
K ii rope and
' ' •
And in the case of the countries which
should make reciprocal arrangements for
our agricultural products the duties sh iild
he placed high, and the right invested in
the President to reduce, if bv so doing
Germany and France would make similar
reductions on commodities we sell to
them. It is. therefore, to be hoped that
Congress will not nibble at
give the country a strong
more far-reaching than the
poses, that will give us n<
our agricultural products _
our machinery and farm implements
South America. We have been doing
very well in our exports of manufactures
during the last few years, but the gain in
that direction has not made up for the
loss in agricultural products. We have
plenty of articles to trade on in the man-
ner suggested, if Congress only shows the
courage of its convictions and invests the
President with the widest possible lati-
tude.
rhc proposed legislation to give us rev-
enue, increase our home production, give
employment to American labor and in-
crease our influence in the world's mar-
kets is not going to glide through Con-
Kress without opposition. The free trad-
ers will put up a strong fight against it.
and they propose to make all the capital
possible out of it, even if there is no fac-
tious opposition.
ROBT. P. POUTKR,
Ex-Supt. I.'. S. Census.
fo„. Martin N. Johnson.
The main advances in rates hav
made in the agricultural schedule
have given everything that we p
could in the way of direct prol
the farmers. I do not think tin.
xception. In every instance wh
p. W<
HISsiblj
tion ti
e could benefit
: directly by a tariff, \
the main advantage
' tariff is i
. the best i
We hav
n the v
est a bli
gricul-
e have
which
ill get
easing
world.
hing
and lii
tries which afford a home market for the
products and for diversified productions.
The people of the South are realizing this
ia their experience with the manufactur-
ing establishments which have been de-
veloped In that section in the last few
years. So there is a growth of protective
sentiment not alone among those interest-
ed in manufactures or directly profiting
by the employment which they give, but
also among the great mass of people of
that section whose attention is devoted to
agriculture."
"Do you look for a continued growth of
the protective sentiment in the South?"
"Yes, the.mere effect of this discussion
and the avowed protective sentiments of
men of all parties will have its effect in
atill further strengthening and increasing
the protective sentiment."
"And does this probably mean an in-
crease in Itcpublican strength from that
section in Congress and in national elec-
tions generally?"
"Undoubtedly. The Republican vote in
the South has been largely held in check
in the past because parties divided to a
great extent on the color line. Now that
♦ here is a disposition to divide on other
issues and upon the important issue of
protection. It will insure fair elections, and
with fair elections aud increased protec-
tive sentiment, it will strengthen very ma-
terially the probabilities of Republican
success in many parts of that section. We
hare seen this illustrated in the recent
•tactions in which the Republican party
carried the northern tier of Southern
States for the presidency, and elected an
tntisually large number of Congressmen.'*
the sections~ha ving manufacturi ng~7ndus- ^TlMothe ^en^^Vey winuSr.
The bonded warehouses of the great cities
are at this time crowded to overflowing
with millions of dollars' worth of impor-
tations which have been rushed in under
the present law in order to escape the
higher duty anticipated by the Dingley
hill. It will take some time for the peo-
ple to absorb this vast overstock of .-loth-
ing. and in the meantime but small de-
mand will be made upon manufacturers
in this country, nor will the customs re-
ceipts show their legitimate strength "
J. H. BRIOHAM,
Assistant Secretary of Agriculture.
Mon. J. H. Hrigham.
"I think the farmers generally without
regard to political associations are rather
•nitons to sees measure like the Dingley
bill passed, in order to see what the result
*■111 be as related to themselves. Even
those who hare not heretofore believed
very much in the policy of protection to
American industries, want to see this bill
put Into operation in the hope that it will
afford them relief, and if it does they will
ba very thankful. If It does not afford
ths relief desired then they will turn
their attention to something else. 8o far
•a I am individually concerned, I have
always been an advocate of protection to
American industries. As a farmer, I have
felt that the agricultural interaata have
not always been fairly treated In tariff rs-
vlaious. In the McKinley bill, agriculture
received better treatment than in any oth-
o# measure, previous or subsequent, ex-
tbe Dinglsy bill. I had uracil to do
penaaaily with theab«*a«e<UelU]Uif
Hon. Oeorgc W. Hteele.
Major Steele, Congressman from In-
diana and a member of the Wavs and
Means Committee, discussed various top-
ics of the pending bill, having looked care-
fully into the features of the Wilson law
as compared with the McKinlev law, up-
on which the Dingley hill is very generally
based. Especially with reference to live
stock he shows by his remarks in the Con-
gressional Record that the decrease in
the values of horses,-cattle aud sheep in
Indiana alone have been enormous, in
some cases over 00 per cent. ln the case
of cattle and sheep this decrease in value
is directly attributable to the operation
of the Wilson law. Cattle were brought
into this country in great numbers from
Canada and Mexico. Mexican cattle were
brought in across the border at a total
< ost, including duty, slightly in excess of
*S per head, and were driven in great
droves eastward, to be finally fattened
in the great corn areas of the West and
then placed upon the Chicago and other
Western markets. B.v this method of
driving, the buyers of herds escaped the
necessity of winter feeding, and thev were
thus brought Into competition with the
cattle raised by our own farmers at a
cost of about .*20 per head. Vast areas of
the grazing lands of the West are now
Idle by reason of this competition. In
addition to this, infectious diseases af-
fecting cattle have been largely spread
among our own herds by these passing
droves, the Western cattle raiser never
knowing when his herd would become af-
fected and depleted. Continuing. Mr
Steele said that there has been an un-
doubted evasion of thalaw in the payment
of duty and that great numbers of'cartle
have been brought in without the payment
of any tariff whatever.
The farmers of the middle Weat, Mr.
Steele says, are well satisfied with the re-
turn to $4 per ton duty on hay. This will
shut out Ihe great quantity of Oauada
hay which has been brought Into th*
aerUers ventral ssoUoa of ths mnnij hj
Ron. Walter Kvnnn.
"The agricultural interests of the conn
try are very comprehensive nnd include
subjects of vast extent and importance—
corn, wheat, sugar, rice, tobacco, cotton,
fruits, liorses, mules, cattle, sheep, wool,
etc., are probably those that first strike
you. 'I he farmer needs that a demand
should be created and sustained for all
farm products at good prices. Without an
active demand that is reasonably continu-
ous and permanent in character agricul-
tural interests languish. If there is such
a demand they flourish, and that is pre-
cisely equivalent to prosperity for the
farmer. The tariff bill aims at two things
in this connection, namely, first, to guard
our farmers and farm labor against the
lower wage conditions of other countries,
such as Mexico, Canada and many others
more remote, and, second, to so stimulat
he general industrial energies of the
whole country as to give all the people
work at fair compensation in one form or
another, and in that way to gain them
the power to buy what the farmers have
for sale, and as a consequence to create
and sustain the demand of which I have
spoken. No class of our people are more
dependent than are the farmers upon the
successful operation of the doctrine of pro-
tection to home industries, for, if those
industries are prosperous the great labor-
ing classes will have money, and will
therewith buy freely and pay liberally and
promptly for what the farmer has. but if
the laboring classes are out of employ-
ment they cannot and do not buv what
the farmer must sell. The last four years
have demonstrated this, and it seems to
ine that the people will not forget it.
Speaking generally, I may say that no
class of our people were more thought of
by the Republican members of the Ways
and Means Committee iu preparing tiie
bill than were the farme
the provisions of llie bill
be a fact. We tried to d<
fill to re-create our sheep ti
wool clips that would follov
cially endeavored to encour
duction of sugar, feeling s
farmers could produce all v
they would go to work at it.
the other great agricultn
our soil and
■orld for the
ir beets, and
Cause and
the natura
'ii industrii
las the tin plai
f 18IXI. By >
protect nnd ei
and productio
e can produce i
i this country, \\
for homo product
'o expect to reopen
meats agricul-
which we pos
i. and 1 believe
ill show this to
hat nils neeil-
cks and the
We espe-
ge the pro-
re that our
e require if
So with all
I products I
have named. And in my judgment if the
planters of the South will only address
themselves to it there are other crops than
those now raised (here which can be cul-
tivated with great profit—notablv, for in-
stance, jute."
WALTER EVANS,
Member Ways and Means Committee.
Hon. Robert P. Porter.
The tariff bill ia now before the public
and it Is easy to make a comparison Item
by item, of the proposed bill with the
present law and the McKinley law. The
opposition plan is to attack the new bill jn
detail, as they did the McKinley law, and
make all the political capital out of these
attacks. It is well for Republicans to be
on guard against these misleading and in-
sidious attacks. They should recall the
fact most potent at this time that the sec-
tions of the McKinley law which were
most bitterly assailed are the very sec-
tions that subsequently proved of most
benefit to the American producer And the
American wage earner.
The agricultural interests of the conn-
try have been well cared for. directly bv
the increase of duties wherever necessarv
and indirectly by the provisions for rccip!
rocity, which are sure to Increase our ex-
ports of agricultural products. Our free
trade friends have shown great anxietv
over this reciprocity feature of the new
bill. "With sugar on the dufiah:- list
what ha
nocently exclaim. The answer is: "Lots
of things." The new reciprocity will au-
thorize the President to reduce duties in
cases where other nations are willing to
reduce duties on our commodities. For
Instance, an eighth of a cent reduction per
pound on refined sii.tar will be an impor-
tant club to hold over Germany, and may
make that nation hesitate to prohibit our
grain and flour and cattle and meat. The
changes in the mineral waler schedule
will have the satne effect. So in the case
of allk nnd wines from France. This pol-
icy ahould be extended much further than
the committee has gone. In addition to
sugar, the 1'resldeut Is authorized to put
a duty on tea aud coffee; but tha rata la
tot high enough to have tto Hgkl affect.
hat
lural product
done so. but
the farmers expee
from this protectivi
their home markets
The sugar and flax
with a view to cr
two distinctly new
agricultural wealth.
yond the experimental s
items. We know now thii
climate are the best in the
growth of flax fibre and sn
now all we need is protecti.
effect will he as clear cut i
ization of the sng... .
under the Dingley bill
industry under the law
adjusting the tariff as I
courage the nianufactu
of everything that we
make to advantage in
create a home marki
Next to that market ...
foreign markets for floi
tural and other machine
sessed under our former reciprocity agree
ments with the West Indies and Centra:
and South American States, and also with
tiennany and France. In my jtidg
those markets for wheat and flour will
make an additional demand for sixf
million bushels of wheat a year, nnd th'
restoration of activity iu the mining, man-
ufacturing and other industries of this
ntry, such as we enjoyed under the
tariff of 1890 will, I think, increase the
home consumption to what it formerly
per capita, thus adding about l'.'O
million bushels a year to the present home
consumption, and this will, I think, re-
quire our total surplus.
We find that the woolen schedule is
meeting with general approbation among
lie farmers. I am in receipt of i
from the secretary of the Wool (i.
Association of North Dakota with
the proposed wool schedule
Dingley bill, stating that the sa
thoroughly satisfactory to the North Da
kota association. The woolen schedule ol
the present hill is a marked Improvement
■r that of the McKinley law. The rate.,
on the first and second class wools an
he same as under the McKinley la-
the advantage of the schedule in tli
the fact that the course so-
"carpet wools" from China. Kagdu
Egypt principally, paying under th
Kinley law a low rate of duty, an
rated as first-class wools. At least
million pounds of these wools were im-
ported as carpet wools annually, but were
converted into garments and cloths, in-
stead of carpets, nnd to meet the require-
ments of the manufacturers, the fashions
were actually changed, cloaks and coats
possessing a very rough fibre and finish
being worn by all classes.
The protectionist farmers of the coun-
try with whom I have talked or corre-
sponded express themselves as thoroughly
satisfied with the present bill. They not
only believe that it will help them directly'
by reason of the rates levied upon agri-
cultural articles, but have great faith that'
with its enactment will come Increased
activity and good business times, and that,
there will be a ready and satisfactory
home market for their products. Former-
ly there was little need of direct protec-
tion to farm products, as few were im-
ported. Now all that is changed, as over
fifty per cent of our total imports for * he
last five years have been agricultural pro-
ducts.
M. N. JOHNSON,
Member Ways and Means Committee.
letter
owers'
of the
. but
s bill
ailed
wools and lowered woolen duties than th*
-urn represented by the increase of the na-
tional debt during Cleveland's administra-
tion. Aud who has gained? Nobody. Tbe
quality of clothing is reduced more than
the price, and it was never so hard for
the laboring man or the farmer to buy a
new suit. How can a laborer be benefited
by a reduction of $,"> per annum on his
clothing and $100 on his income? Of
what advantage to a farmer is cheap
shoddy if he cannot sell his products ex-
cept at prices below cost?
A silly pretense and generally a dishon-
est one that should be everywhere expos-
ed, is iho contention that duties increase
iiurariabty and permanently the prices of
similar domestic production. This is
| neither the object nor effect of duties. It
Is to exclude excessive foreign competi-
tion and hold the home market for home
enterprise and home labor, both in indus-
trial nnd in rural lines. And this is not
a theory: it is an accomplished fact, the
inevitable result id' which is assured in a
very brief period with our abundant cap-
ital and superabundant, labor, the latter
increased by .100.000 to 500,000 immi-
grants yearly who cannot be kept employ-
ed while our food and clothing is made in
Europe nnd elsewhere. This is a proposi-
tion which is readily admitted by anyone
not an idiot. In this connection cannot
the farmer see how he is benefited by pro-
tection? The day has arrived when the
farmers must hold the home market or
stare ruin in the face. Ten years' increase
of our population requires half as much
wheat lis we export and our exportation is
threatened with decrease by Russia and
Argentina, with no prospect, scarcely a
possibility of Increase. We import half
as much food and drink as all our agri-
cultural exports, and our entire consump-
tion already almost equals the enormous
farm production, much of our exfiorts go-
iu% to offset the cost of our agricultural
imports. What folly, then, for farmers
to seek to destroy their own market by
free trade competition. It is not the dan-
ger merely of imported farm products, but
of imported manufactures which make
labor idle, non-.-onsumptive and paralysis
of all industries, and that of the farmer
with inevitable certainty. Even a blind
farmer ought to lie able to see this point
distinctly in the record of four years of a
semi-free trade administration.
•I. R. DODGE,
Kx-StaHstieian U. S. Department of Ag-
THC SILVER COMMISSION.
President's Appointment ef
mUstnnera Generally Connta,,
President McKinley. by his appoint!
of commissioners to au international l
etary conference, has given another I
ing assurance of Republican good
in dealing with the silver question.
pledge of the St. Louis platform to w.
mote an international agreement in tho Ii
tereat of bimetallism aud tbe cordial sym-
pathy of the Republican party for every
practical movement in that direction are
forcibly demonstrated by the Preaident'a
prompt and statesmanlike action in the
present instance.—New York Mail and
Express.
President McKinley has acted wisely in
making the bimetallic commission a radi- ]
cal one. Two of the members are for free 3
silver without any qualifications, and can -3
be trusted to do all in their power to bring * *
•bout International bimetallism at the
ratio of 10 to 1. The other is a gold man
who favors bimetallism, and who, of
course, will not place any obstacles in the
way of his colleagues. There can be no
complaint hereafter that the bimetallists
have not been givyi ample opportunity to
achieve their purpose.—Baltimore Ameri-
can.
President McKinley h«s very property
named commissioners to represent the i
L'nited States at the international mone-
tary conference.—Atlanta Journal, Don.
The platform of the national Republican '
convention advocated an international 1
conference upon the free coinage of til- '
ver. The Republican Congresa carried •
out the proposition by appropriate legisla-
tion and authorized the President to ap-
point a commission. President McKinley
shows his intention of obeying that legis-
lation to the best of his ability by the to-
lection of Senator Wolcott of Colorado,
ex-Vice-President Stevenson and Gea.
1 nine of Massachusetts as the members.
I hese gentlemen are all bimetall
Mc
e now
Ihirti
A VERSATILE AGRICULTURIST.
Secretary Wilson hooking Ont for
VHr otin Fnrm Industries.
Secretary Wilson of the Department of
Agriculture, learning incidentals that
corn was being shipped from the United
States to Denmark to be fed to cows,
whose butter is marketed in London, at
once conceived tho idea that American
corn should be turned into butter by
American cows and marketed iu London
by American farmers.
I pon inquiry at tho Treasury Depart-
ment, Mr. Wilson learned that ho had
power and authority to spend the Gov
ernment's money about as be saw fit. He
had a purpose in view in making the in-
quiry, and at once issued orders to his as-
sistants to buy several hundred pounds
of the best creamery butter mado in Illi-
nois. Iowa and one or two other States.
I his will be shipped to the Government's
animal industry agent in London, and
placed upon the market. The butter will
be sent in various packages, and the agent
will be instructed to report what the mar-
ket wants in the way of package, color of
butter, salt, flavor, etc. It is expected
that in this way a knowledge of the want
of the English markets will lie obtained,
the end that the farmers of the l'nited
Slates will soon be getting a fair share
of the English butter trade.
Secretary Wilson sa.vs scientific work is
all right, but he wants scientific
that has a practical value. "The trouble
with many of our scientists of the Agri-
cultural Department," lie sa.vs, "is that
they work for tho delectation of other sci-
entists. for the approval of their fellows in
the scientific world. I want them to work
for the farmer."
Hon. J. R. Dodge.
Free traders are apt to sneer at the idea
of a tariff on farm animals, wheat, barley,
eggs and other products of the farm, and
call attention to the limited amoont of
such imports. If they are Intelligent, such
sneering is insincere; if impracticable doc-
trinarians, they know no better. Without
a duty on wheat. It can be brought from
Argentine to New York at less expense
than from Nebraska; barley is brought
from Canada In spite of ordinary duties,
nnd cattle from Canada and Texas. Wool
was brought from Australia, Cape c .tony
and several Houth AmericsnlStates lien
the duty wes Li cents per pound, ;i l
Since it came in free, with free shoddy
Currency Reform Not "Ntlclvnd."
I lie assertion which is mado by some of
the sound money Democratic papers that
the Republicans have "shelved" monetary
reform is a little too precipitate. Presi-
dent McKinley gave a prominent place to
this subject in his inaugural address, and
suggested the appointment of n. commis-
sion to go over the whole question and re-
port a plan which would bring our diverse
and illogical financial system into approx-
imate harmony with the requirements of
the time. A bill to carry out the Presi-
dent's suggestion has been introduced in
the House.
It would be unreasonable to blame the
Republicans for giving precedence to the
tariff ^question. A deficit of something
like $70,000,000 a year in th" revenues
to be provided for, and this necessity
far greater than that of reforming 'the
financial system, urgent as the latter re-
quirement is. The condition of the cur-
rency will not get worse, for the assault
on the nation's monetary stability and sol-
vency mado last year has been repelled,
and it cannot be repented until three years
hence at the earliest. On the other hand,
the necessity for immediate a< 'tion on the
question of the revenues i
St. Louis Globe-Democrat.
i imperative.-
Bryan's Caso Hopeless.
If these immense crowds which greet
Mr. Bryan wherever he speaks mean that
he is likely to be nominated in 1U00 they
Indicate that Providence is going to slick
to the Republican party. Mr. Bryan is
an eloquent and picturesque man, but his
popularity does not grow on close ac-
quaintance. Ho will never be as strong
again as ho was last year. Despite his
ravings in 180(1 that his defeat would
mean national bankruptcy aud general
disaster, and his silly flings at the Repuli
- bimetallists. Sen-
ator Wolcott is one of those radical sliver
men who can be respected for his honesty
of purpose. He is, first of all, a Republi-
can, and refused to desert the party aloag
with Teller and Dubois and the rest af
U1®1?1' Th* commission is a strong one.—
' hiladelphia Inquirer.
President McKinley is working in good
faith to carry out that declaration of the
St. Louis platform which pledges the Re-
publican administration to do all in its
power to promote International bimetal-
lism. The last Congress having provided
the necessary legislation whereby either a
monetary conference might bo called or
special commissioners be appointed to
sound foreign governments on the ques-
tion of bimetallism, the President has
adopted the latter course.—Chicago
1 imes-Herald.
President McKinley's appointment of a
commission to an international monetary
conference demonstrates anew his loyalty
to the best interests of the currency and
his desire to carry out the declaration of
the national Republican platform In re-
gard to securing such larger use of sliver
in the moneys of the world as may be
made with safety. The commission an-
nounced is representative and It* person-
nel could hardly be improved. It cotom
all phases of opinion on the silver Ques-
tion.—Ohio Stato Journal.
The silver Democrats bave persistently
maintained that the Republican patty wan
not sincere when It declared at St.."
that it was favorable to tho largest
bio use of silver as a money mettll and
was further favorable to a bimetallic cur-
rency based on an international agree-
ment. Since the election these same peo-
ple have stubbornly insisted that Presi-
dent McKinley, nor the Republican party,
would do nothing favorable to the restora-
tion of the white metal as a primary mon-
ey. Our dispatches this morning are a
sufficient answer to such assertions. Pres-
ident McKinley has already began tho
good work of getting ready for an inter-
national conference with a view to secure
an international agreement for a bimetal-
lic currency that will be acceptable to the
great commercial nations of the world.—
Dubuque Times.
If anything can be done in favor of In-
ternational bimetallism this commission
can accomplish It. If nothing an be done,
and the indications are not flattering, we
shall know the truth about the matter.
If an international coinage ratio cannot
l>e established, it is possible that the re-
mark of Senator Wolcott, one of the com-
mission, to the effect that financial men
In Europe are eager to arrest the depre-
ciation cf silver bullion, indicates that an
effort may be made to come to an agree-
ment by which nations may absorb and
use moro silver as money.—Indianapolis
Journal.
President McKinley has taken tho first
step towards carrying out the pledge of
the Republican national platform to pro.
mote International bimetallism, by ap-
pointing three commissioners to an inter-
national monetary conference, in accord-
ance with the act passed at tile last ses-
sion. The composition of this commission
is certainly favorable to the silver tueu.
The expectations of the country ss to the
success of this commission will not be
raised too high: but if it fails it will be a
satisfaction to know that a sincere effort
has been made by able representatives'of
the I 'lilted States to fetch the leading
ICuropean nations Into line.-Minneapolis
Tribune.
its wake, an amount in" a* single year part-v *ince l^e •lection a majority
equal to the entire clip of tho United J..I h°J* "i,,cerfl
States, has flooded the country, sending
prices below cost of production snd a
fourth of the flocks of the country to the
butcher's block, to exportation and to
death by neglect; reduced the value of
those remaining and almost eliminated
value from the pasture lands of farm and
range. The manufacturers who were
promised so much benefit from free wool
greater variety, cheaper cost, a larger out-
put and a foreign market, have been over-
run by enormous quantities and depro-
ciated qualities of manufactured foreign
goods, not admitted free, but at lower
duties, and the result has been the shut-
ting down of mills until at one time threo*
fourths of the factories wete Inoperative,
artisans and laborers oui of employ, con-
sumption of farm products reduced, confi-
dence destroyed, panic intensified and ev-
ery Interest of tho couutry affected. The
wool growers snd tuuuufacturers alone
WM mere hy thU sxportmeng of (roe
but a majority of the neople can never be
Jed to think he is the sort of man this
country needs for President.—St. Louis
Globe-Democrat.
Steady Business Improvement.
A good many people are complaining
that business is no better than it was be-
fore the election. There has certainly
been no boom, and men of small means
find it about as difficult to get money ai
before: but there la cer^lnly an Improve-
ment In financial conditions, and people
with good collateral and gilt-edged credit
can secure money for legitimate opera-
tions at a lower rate of interest than ever
known before in this country.
If people will exercise a little patience
they may yot witness a marvelous busi-
ness recovery, as the result of the health-
ier political and Industrial <ond|tious
brought about by the inauguration of a
Republican President and the passage of
a protective tariff. Minus.polls Tribune.
Wilson's Winning Ways.
Secretary Wilson has adopted a moat
effective way of disnhusiug the minds of
farmers, particularly in the West snd
South, of the delusion that the coinage or
currency question is at the bottom of
their troubles. It will take time, of
course, to carry his project fully into ef-
fect, but it marks a decided step in ren-
dering the Depart of Agriculture one
of the most practical and useful branches
of the Federal Government. The puMic
will heartily sustain him in his efforts to
enable American farmers to better their
lot and to free themselves from the petti-
lent. influences of political mountebanks
and fakirs. New York Commercial Ad-
vertiser.
Noiithcrn Farmers Prosperous
Hon. J. Pope Brown, president of tho
(ieorgia State Agricultural Society, Is re-
ported as saying that "the farmers of tha
State are in better condition than they
have been in twenty years." Mr. Brown
is a farmer, progressive, successful and
prosperous. He ought to know and we
believe he is very correct.—Houston Home
Journal.
HlKii" or Hotter Times.
While the revival of industry from tho
depression caused by the .Democratic tariff
is slow, as was foreseen b.v all intelligent
men, it is, nevertheless, progressing stesd-
II,r, and in no part of tbe Union are algua
lacking that the hard times are paaalug
nway, nnd better conditions returning t«|
all class** of trad* and Industry,—May
Francisco 0*11.
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The Cushing Herald. (Cushing, Okla. Terr.), Vol. 3, No. 1, Ed. 1 Friday, May 7, 1897, newspaper, May 7, 1897; Cushing, Oklahoma Territory. (https://gateway.okhistory.org/ark:/67531/metadc270268/m1/3/: accessed March 28, 2024), The Gateway to Oklahoma History, https://gateway.okhistory.org; crediting Oklahoma Historical Society.