National Affairs: Tomato Tariff

“It costs $250 to produce an acre of tomatoes in Florida. Under cheap labor in Mexico it costs $90 to produce a similar acre.” Therefore, the Florida Chamber of Commerce asked local candidates for Congress to sign a pledge to work for U. S. tariffs on tomatoes and such like. “The principle of protective tariff has been established through the years as a national policy,” said the Florida Chamber of Commerce. Many a similar symptom has been observed lately, pointing toward the Republicanization of historically Democratic Florida.

The proposed tomato tariff, however, was particularly piquant because among other Congressional candidates in Florida required to sign the pledge was Ruth Bryan Owen, daughter of the late William Jennings Bryan, whose stout Democratic heart throbbed defiance all his life long at Protection, demanding either Free Trade or a Tariff-For-Revenue-Only.