12 OUR EXPORTS OF WHEAT. 



CHAPTER II. 



OUR EXPORTS OF WHEAT. 



IT is a dogma of the Free Traders that Western farmers, of all 

 classes, are the greatest sufferers by the Protective policy 

 that our present tariff system operates to reduce the price of every- 

 thing the farmer has to sell, and to increase the price of everything 

 he has to buy. Although these allegations are contradicted by 

 experience, they have obtained credence in various quarters 

 through the mere dint of reiteration that was not immediately 

 antagonized and shown to be false. But the people have been too 

 much imposed on any longer to accept statements about facts unless 

 accompanied by the facts themselves. The day has gone by in 

 which unsupported assertions exerted a strong influence upon the 

 popular mind. Only arguments and proofs find favor now. 



We intend to make that kind of appeal in this article. Taking 

 wheat as an illustration, we shall show that our farmers sell more of 

 that grain abroad, have a steadier market for it, and receive better 

 prices, under the policy of Protection, than they did under the 

 policy of partial Free Trade. The figures offered below are 

 derived from the Commerce and Navigation Reports, published by 

 our own Government, and, being official, are therefore competent 

 and reliable witnesses. First, we give the total quantity and value 

 of wheat exported in each of the years specified, to which we have 

 added a calculation of the average price per bushel in the port of 

 departure a calculation the accuracy of which any schoolboy can 

 verify the fraction of a cent being extended to three decimal 

 places for the sake of greater exactness. The first table covers a 

 period of thirteen years under partial Free Trade; the second, an 

 equal period under our Protective system. Observe the signal 

 contrast which contradicts at every point the allegation we antag- 

 onize. 



