lO THE iVESTERN FARMER 



which the Western farmers (and the American people gene- 

 rally) now pay for their woollen cloths and stuffs are so ex- 

 cessive that the British woollen manufacturers can afford to 

 pay from 54 to 77 per cent, import duties for the admission 

 of their goods into the States, and still get a profit. That is 

 to say, that (taking the average duty at 66 per cent.) the 

 Western farmer could, if he were allowed to buy where he 

 could buy cheapest, get the same quantity and quality of 

 woollen and worsted stuffs for 1 2 dollars for which he now 

 has to pay 20. Eight dollars out of twenty thrown away ! 



They mean that the prices which the Western farmers now 

 pay for their cotton and linen goods are so excessive that 

 the British makers of the same goods can afford to pay from 

 30 to d^ per cent, import duties for the admission of their 

 manufactures into the States, and still get a profit. That is 

 to say, that (taking the average duty at 50 per cent.) the 

 farmer's wife could, if she were allowed to buy where she 

 could buy cheapest, get the same articles for 6 dollars for 

 which she now has to pay 9. Three dollars out of nine 

 thrown away ! 



They mean that the American railways are constructed 

 of iron which costs so dear that the British makers can 

 afford to pay 30 to 50 per cent, import duties for the admis- 

 sion of their goods into the States, and still get a profit ; so 

 that the railway companies are compelled to charge the 

 Western farmer a proportionately excessive rate for the con- 

 veyance of his produce to a market. The burden of the 

 difference, of course, falls on the patient back of the 

 Western farmer ! 



Those figures mean, in short, that the same enormous 

 artificial inflation of natural prices runs through every 

 article (except food) with which the farmer has to provide 

 his family. 



The American has extraordinary advantages over the 

 British farmer. He has, first, a soil so fertile as to produce 

 freely with cheap tillage and no manure ; second, a climate 

 highly favourable to agricultural operations; third, abundance 

 of land so cheap that the fee-simple costs less than is annu- 



