Herald of the times. [volume] (Newport, R.I.) 1830-1846, 1832-03-22

1892 to 1902, with duty OF enc and a
half cents per pound, averaged fourteen
cents per pound. The same article, dur
ing ten years, from 1920 to 1880, with a
duty of three cents, has averaged only
eight cents per pound. Nails, with a
duty Of five cents per pound, are selling
at six cents. Window glass, eight by
ten, prior to the tariff of 1924, sold at
twelve or thirteen dollars per hundred
feet; it now sells for three dollars seven
ty-fve cents.
The gentleman from South Carolina,
sensible of the incontestble fact Of the
very great reduction in the prices of the
necessarics ofliie, protected by the Amer
lean System, has felt the full force of it,
and has presented various explanations
of the causes to which he ascrbes it.
The first is the diminished production of
the precious metals, in consequence OF
the distressed state Of the countries in
which they are extracted, anC the conse-
quent increase of their value relative to
that of the commodities for which they
are exchanged. But, if this be the true
cause of the reduction Of price, its opera
tion ought 10 have been general, on all
objects, and OF course upon cotton among
the rest And, in point of fact, the di-
minishcd price Of that staple is not great
er than the diminution of the value Of
other staples of our agriculture. Flour,
which commanded, some years ago, ten
or twelve dollars per barrel, is now sold
for five. The fall of tobacco has been
still more. The Kite foot of Maryland,
which sold at from sixteen to twenty dol
lars per hundred, now produces only four
or five. That of Virginia has sustained
an equal decline. Beef, pork, every ar
ticle, almost, produced by the farmer,
has decreased in value. Ought not
South Carolina then to submit quietly to
a state of things, which is general, and
proceeds from an uncomfortable cause
Ought she to ascribe to the "accursed''
tariff what results from the calamities of
civil and foreign war, raging in many
countries'
But sir, do not subscribe to this doc
trine implicitly. | do not believe that
the diminished production of the precious
metals, if that be the fact, satisfactorily
accounts for the fall in prices: For, |
think, that the augmentation Of the cur
rency of the world, by means Of banks,
public stocks, and other facilities arising
out of exchange and credit, has more
than supplied any deficiency in the a
mount of the precious metals.
Ii is further urged that the restoration
of peace in Europe, after the battle of
Waterloo, and the consequent return to
peaceful pursuits of large masses Of its
population, by greatly increasing the ag-
gregate amount Of effective labor, had a
tendency to lower prices; and undoubt-
.edly such ought to have been its natural
tendency. The same cause, however,
must also have operated to reduce the
price of our agricultural produce, for
which there was no longer the same de-
mand in peace as in war-and it did sol
operate. But its influence on the price
of manufactured articles, between the
general peace of Europe in 1915, and
the adoption of our tariff in 1924, was
less sensibly felt, because, perhaps a
much larger portion Of the labor, liberia
ted by the dsbandment Of armies, was
absorbed by manufactures than by agri-
culture. 1t is also contended that the
invention and Improvement of labor saw
ing machinery have tended to lessen
the prices manufactured objects Of con-
sumption; and undoubtedly this cause
has had some effect. Ought not Amer
ica to contribute her quota of this cause,
and has she not, by her skill and extra
ordinary adaptation to the arts, in truth,
largely contributed toit?
This brings me to consider what, | Iap-
prehend to have been, the most efficient
of all the causes in the reduction of the
prices manufactured articles-and that
is, COMPETITION. BY competition, the
total amount of the supply is increased,
and by increase of the supply, compe-
tlton in the sale ensnes, and this ena-
bles the consumer to buy at lower rates.
or all human powers operating on the af-
fairs of mankind, none is greater than
that of competition. 1t is action and re-
action. 1t operates between individuals
IN the same nation, and between differ
ent nations. 1t resembles the meeting
Of the mountain torrent, growing, by its
precipitous motion, its own channel, and
oceans tide. Unopposed, it sweeps ev-
cry thing before it; but, counterpOlsed,
the waters become calm, safe, and regu-
lar. 1t is like the segments of a circle
or an arch; taken separately, each is
nothing; but, in their combination, they
produce efficiency, symmetry, and per-
icction. BY the American System this
vast power has been excited in America,
and brought into being to act in co-ope-
ration or collision with European indus
try. Europe acts within itself, and with