74 TJie Tariff and the Farmer. 



products were manufactured, some of the same kind as 

 made in the first shop, and that the same see-saw opera- 

 tion went on here. Xow let these two be representative 

 of all the men engaged in manufacture, each one follow- 

 ing several specialties, and each producing the most of 

 what at the time seemed to promise the greater profit. 

 It is evident the industrv would be in a state of dire con- 

 fusion. No one could make calculation of what the mar- 

 ket could absorb of anything. No one could tell how 

 much of this or that would at any time be thrown on the 

 market. With some products the market would be 

 flooded ; there would be a scarcity of some other products. 

 The price would not be determined by cost at all, but by 

 the relative scarcity or abundance of the thing in the 

 market. This is the position of the farming community. 



The patent system is another defense against compe- 

 tition, far more so than was intended when the measure 

 became a law. According to report, not only are patents 

 sometimes re-issued without justifiable cause, but these 

 at times are brought up and put to sleep, as the expres- 

 sion is; that is, when a new patent comes on the mar- 

 ket that would involve the substitution of new machinery, 

 instead of waiting for a rival to avail himself of the val- 

 uable invention to turn out products at a lower cost, the 

 manufacturer often buys the patent and then pigeon- 

 holes the new designs. He will not use them or let any- 

 body else. Dangerous competition is prevented both by 

 the re-issue of patents, and by putting valuable inven- 

 tions out of other people 's reach. 



We pass now to active, personal measures of defense 

 against competition, which is by those of the same trade 

 co-operating together, or taking action calculated to hold 

 price up; for to a great extent those in the same line of 



