152 THE GREEN RISING 



rapidly. Dairy production in South America and 

 New Zealand continues to expand. Live stock pro- 

 ducers in this country are now compelled to compete 

 in foreign markets with those in Brazil, the Argen- 

 tine, and other countries. English cotton spinners 

 are undertaking to encourage cotton production in 

 many parts of the British Empire. 



Land values and high production costs make it 

 impossible for the American farm producer to com- 

 pete successfully in the markets of other countries 

 where land is cheap and the labor cost low. There- 

 fore, the prosperity of the American farmer is de- 

 pendent upon the policy of protection. 



It is also contended that protection to manufac- 

 turing interests insures reasonably high wages and a 

 relatively high standard of living for industrial 

 workers. The farmer benefits by the prosperity of 

 industrial enterprise because the purchasing power 

 of producers is relatively high. "The American 

 farmer/ 7 says Will R. Wood, "can reduce the Amer- 

 ican wage earner to the level of the European if he 

 so desires by assisting those who would tear down 

 our tariff walls, and he should do this if he figures 

 that by so doing he will be the gainer in the transac- 

 tion. Any time the American farmer desires to ex- 

 change the American wage earner who eats beef and 

 veal and pork and mutton and consumes 154 pounds 

 of it a year for the European workingman with his 

 poverty-stricken standard of living; any time the 

 American farmer desires to exchange the American 



