New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1842-11-25
Misunderstanding statistics.

Somebody who calls himself Free Trade Ia.
bors hard in the last Eveming Post to misunder-
stand and mystify plain proposition put forth b.
US in the Wing Almanac on the policy Of Protec
ton. Our argument was substantially this, l.. that
the money value of many Agricultural staples de-
pended entirely on the proximity of market fo,
them: thus the same quality Of Apples sole
readily at IS cents where sufficient market is AZ
hand, while they would not bring even 10 cents
busbel in the absence of or at great distance iron
such market. 2. That the market OF such Ag-
ricultural products must unavoidably depend upn
the prosperity and extent Of our Manufactures.
Thus we do know that around Lowell and othe'
Manufacturing towns the present price OF Fruit
Vegetables, &c. is much larger than it was before
those MANUFACTURES existed, and higher than IL
sections where none such now exist. B. That il
determining whether Foreign Cloths &c. or those OF
Domestic Manufacture be tue cheaper, we are 10
regard not merely the money price of the rival ts
brics respectively, Blu, the Kind Of products IN
aohich payment mag BE made, and the price thes'
will bear. Fer instance, the State of Illinois, viii
Free Trade, may buy one million yards OF Cloth
for one million dollars, but pay three millions OF
bushels Of Wheat for it, because Wheat must beat
low price to permit of its pro6table expectation
distance of four thousand miles. Now unde'
efficient Protection the nominal price of these
Cloths might be twenty-five per cent higher Il
the Illinoans, aud yet the actual cost be far less
simply because the market for their Grain would
be brought so much nearer that its price would
inevitably rise, and, instead Of selling three million
bushels of Wheat to pay for this Cloth, although
the money price were higher, they would pay it
with far less Wheat, or more probably, the!
would pay large part OF it with Fruits, Vege,a-
bles, &c, which are much more easily produced
than Wheat, and more profitable to prod ce when
there is a sure market at hand. Such the
substance of our argumen, in the Wing Almanac
is it indeed preposterous
Our surprise is equal 20 our regret that even one
man can be found so hard of understanding as
Free Trade in the Post. He pounces upon our Ia
Bile of probable products in which our Cloths will
be paid for it produced home, their prices under
efficient Protection coatras,ed with those the SAM
articles would bring underFree Trade, and cackles
over il as Statistics when only adduced it a.
Current will show such q contrast as we suppose
between the prices Of Agricultural Products unde,
efficient Protection and under Free Trade-as i
he did not know thai no period we could offer a.
an illustration OF either would be satisfactory /,
him. We had estimated the ''hole eonsumptso,
of Koolen goods in tais coantry al $4,000 ool
nsr aanuu ii bought abroad and SloO,6oo,ooo
nrodpced at houne-for arguments sake admi,tin
such difference between the Foreign and HON
cos,-snd the Wool required for its production 8
$4,000, GOO lbs. Whether this is too h'sn sF TO
low, ia wholly imrnaserial to TIE argument. but
this genius we are took up WEIR, short as MI
Weller senior observed-as follows:
"a sight analysis OF his statements g exhibit how niue
real knoiedge he has sueecl which he pretend
TO write.
"ns,ead, then of eighty millions Of wootus inporte
from abroad annually there has no, been for
eigh, millions (see Report Secretary OF the Trea
nry,) nor on average, six millions Instead oil MI,