New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1843-09-12
THE EVENING TRIBUNE
VIII he pub!fshcd This Day at & o'eiocsA'
Do our Interests need Pretection1 .,

This i. all very we'll You frequently assert too that man
descriptions goods manufactured here now ehecp
than the descriptions OF foreign goods were IN lotu
st that period goods sold great sacrifice TO th
rnqsb manufacturer 10 raise money OF there cou
have been no successful attempt 10 dispose OF them at ha
profits Now five sell goods this time cheaper thai
the imported article sold for during the disastrous time
Of 1870 what do we want Of PROTECTIVE Taf, on hos
articles The only Of raising Revenue would be b.
putting duty ,hoss articles not produced at home 10
our own ability 10 urd.se!l would eectuay shut out al
competition in articles producab here Our manufacturer
would protect themselves. II appears TO that hat nigh
be thrown through the fagee Of this logic II we can un
derse in market We want no Protectton-ii :"
cannot then we do IT. although dOmestcs might b
raised in cost 90 per centit would be general blessing
Respectfully, A SUBSCRIBER.
u Where can A Subscribers eyes hav
been for these last two years. At least, ninety
nine times we have knocked over the cob-hous'
he has here set up, yet here it is again, as solemn
and plausible as though it were built Of iron
Never mind an Editor is made to work like 6
milLhorse SO here goes the hundredth lick at 1t
The fundamental, fatal error of our correspond
emf is the quiet assumption that if we can make ar
article as cheap as any other people, then we are
shielded by that cheapness from all Foreign com
petition. But facts utterly contradict this. No
body doubts for instance, that British Manufac
lures are as cheap as those of this country, anc
vet considerable quantities of American Manu-
features have gone into Canada this season, al
though they are charged a considerable duty, enc
British goods are not We shall soon see the
Canadian Tariff altered to shut out American
Manufactures.
Let us illustrate this truth again: The cost
of making Hats of a given quality is about the
same in England as here, and the price not mate
rally different. Now take off our own duties let
ting those of England remain, and all experience
shows that British hats mould come here, and
that whenever one Of those gluts or depresslons
which periodically occur in each country should
take place in England, immense quantities of
British Hats would be sent over here, and sold
ten, twenty, and even fifty per cent. below cost,
bringing the Hat business here to dead stand,
and throwing all the Hatters out Of employment.
We'll, says Free Trader, we should then
...,s Io4- = . ,ae Hatters must take
care of ti.ellso.yos. No, sir. you are mistaken
III yvu1 sriilsi, short-sighted calculation. You
might get one Hat cheaper, if you live on or near
the sea-board but by the time you want the next
one, the depression in England will have ceased
cured, perhaps, by the very export which gave
you your cheap hat---and now the English dealers
viii only supply you at good, proht-paying prices,
while the American hatters will have been
broken up and scattered over the globe. Now
you will have to pay in excess all you thought
you saved on your former hat, and will have the
satisfaction to know that your policy has destroy
cd Fifty Millions of American property and made
paupers of fifty thousand American workmcn and
their families all to no profit.
Can any practical man, not ignorant OF business,
fail to understand this Let us assume that the
average cost of making Hats in this country is
Three Dollars each. Now our matters, If they
can thereby secure and control the market of the
West Indies, will make Hats for it at So So
they can afford to make the additional quantity,
in the same shops, &c. at that price, having the
Home Market secure to them as basis of their
operations, although they could not make all Their
Hats at that price But give them the undis
puted Foreign Market also, and they will sell
Hats there quite as high as here.
One moro illustration and we will take 1t from
our own business. Newspapers are printed II
this country cheaper than in any other in the
world; vet this does not entirely shut out Foreign
papers. But if an English journal could take thu
place and answer the purpose of an American
Journal, Just as yard of British broadcloth o.
calico could answer the purpose Of the cores
ponding American article, we should be flooded
with English newspapers. Their Government
would remit the Stamp Duty on newspapers ex
ported; the publishers whenever steamship
was about to start, would collect all their out-of
date, uncalled.for numbers and ship them off tc
this country, to sell for whatever they woulc
fetch. Would this permanently cheaper news
papers In this country Far fromit Our pub
fishers, undcrsold capriciously and SO often let
with heavy editions unsaleable on their hands
must assess the loss on their business generally
and ultimately on their subscribers; they mus
ask higher prices or bestow less expense on thel
papers. The result would be an increase of cos
to the Americsp reader, as we'll as great hardship
and injury to american publishers, printers am
paper-makers.
Have we not made the truth clear! We as
pardon of those who perfectly understand TIL
matter already: the fact that there are some WIZ
do NOT understand it must be our apology for dc
voting space to matter 50 simple. 1t isno par
&c o,r case that Protective Duty Gt,cays make
the Protected article cheaper. With iabncs re
curing extensive investments OF Capital an
Skill this will pretty certainly be the case out
ruder buikier articles, or those of which the che
element of cost is simple manual labor, the con
trary will be tho effect. Cloths made by ma