20 The Tariff and ike Farmer. 



family went to the government, over $94 went to the 

 trusts and other protected interests." 



The evidence of Mr. H. E. Miles, president of the 

 National Association of Implements and Vehicle Man- 

 ufacturers (see chapter VI), a protected manufacturer, 

 is directly to the point; he knows what he is talking 

 about, for he is in the game himself. He starts off with 

 the frank admission, ''I have made money every year out 

 of the tariff graft." He goes on to say, "Under this 

 tariff those who supply the factories I am interested in 

 with their material have consolidated or formed trusts, 

 and have raised the prices 25 to 50%. All those years I 

 have, as before, made my sale price on a percentage of 

 costs, and when the tariff pets raised their prices, as 

 they did $50,000 to me, I made the charge against the 

 jobber $60,000, and I know beyond question that he also 

 figured on a percentage basis and charged more than 

 $70,000 for the $60,000 he paid me. The product went 

 through one or two other hands before reaching the con- 

 sumer. The $50,000 I paid became about $100,000 to the 

 agriciiUnral consumer.' ' 



It is the United States government that sustains a sys- 

 tem under which such oppressive transactions are per- 

 mitted and made possible. 



Now while the protective system is the chief cause of 

 agricultural unprofitableness, there are still other cir- 

 cumstances that put the farmer to a disadvantage in the 

 warfare of business. His trade position throughout is 

 weak and defenseless (see chapters VI and VII). This 

 we shall proceed to show by the use of what has been 

 called ' ' the deadly parallel column. ' ' 



