Martinsburg gazette. [volume] (Martinsburg, Va. [W. Va.]) 1833-1855, 1844-04-11

1
of things and making preparation, impo.
ses the duty of so cents. The foreign
manufacturer, who has been selling at a
large profit, of course is not willing to lose
any portion of IL; he seeks to sell at bis
former prices--ihat is to throw the duty
on the consumer of his manufacture. He
is met, however, almost at the first step,
by the Home manufacturer, who has
sprung up into competition with him. Al
this point, the foreigner does one of two
things; he either falls at once IN his
i price to the full extent Of ho ability TO fall,
that is to SIPS, with the view of break
ing down his new competitor and secur-
| ing once more a monopoly oil the market,
or he yields TO the new condition OF
things, getting as much as he can for his
article, aud yielding little by little as the
price goes down under The operation Of
supply and demand upon it. 1.-The Goes
the first, that is, If he falls at once to
/ Las, the price of the article which has
been steady at So, is at once brought
down to Sl,7J. The foreigner gets 81 as
and the Government gets so Cts, and the
consumer saues % cts. This operation
should think is calculated to give salts
faction to all parties except the foreign
manufacturer, who finds himself deprived
of his former large profits-and perma
nently deprived oil them, for the Home
manufacturer is enabled, by the duty of
so Cts, to maintain his ground. and hold
the foreigner down to the small profits to
which he fell in The first instance.
This is the effect OF that sudden attempt
sometimes made by the foreign manuiac-
turer to break down the home competitor ;
but the foreigner iE other cases does not
make this attempt, bu, leaves the price Of
his article TO the fair operation of the new
circumstances, The only difference in
this case is, that the descent in price is
more gradual. A new producer is in the
field, and the quantity of the manufacture
is increased; Of course this increase Of
the supply, unless you increase the de-
mand in an equal degree. reduces the
price. Now, an increase Of demand takes
place, | admit, TO some extent more
people consume the article, because being
cheaper more can afford to buy it; but
this is not a large positive increase OF
demand, but one merely conditional on
cheapness, and stops with any attempt to
raise the price, whilst there is no stop to
the great growing increase of the manu-
faciure, hurried on aud forced as it is by
competition. The piice therefore falls.
But still, for time, both Of the selling
parties are making full profits, and new
home competitors go into the manufacture
because it is paying well. This occasions
further decline Of price ano in this way
1t is brought down by degrees to the
point which in the other case was sudden
Iy reached, that is to 10.
Ia either case then the price is brought
down to rs; but even Ibis is not a
stopping point. To be sure, the home
manufacturer considered this point in the
beginning, as one below which he could
not afford to sell, but he has found that he
can sell below it. Personal labor Of o
better sort can be procured on more rea-
sonable terms than formerly when he en-.
tered on his enterprise-he has learned
how to save in the details OF his business
in a worl his capital operates with some
what improved methods, and experience
has taught him ways of economZing. He
can therefore afford 10 sell for ll.le less
than Sl,75; and the necessity of the case
not stopping at this point, he does sell be.
low ii. The foreign manufacturer still
struggles to hod the market making a
sacrifice out Of his mere profits. But the
tendency OF price is still downward, and
the fatal inroad is begun on the minimum
Of reasonable profit to all parties. The
competition which has produced this ex.
cessive diminuilon of price, produces the
remedy. In the struggle tor safety, in
the working of mems minds quckened
into invention by necessity, which the
proverb says is the mother of it, improve
ments in machinery are hit upon-the
article can be made chedper-the actual
low sales still leave handsome profits, and
there is even room for farther fall of Price.
Where the improve ment in machinery
is made by The foreign manufacturer, u
new duty is of course necessary to pro-
tect the home manufacture; but this duty
will not increase the price above the min
imum OF a reasonable profit to the home
manufacturer, which we have placed at a
little under $l,75-it will only prevent
the price from falling below this minimum
point, On the other hand il the home
manufacturer make the improvement, the
eventual effect is 10 drive the foreigner
so bopelessly out of the market that even
a withdrawal ofthe duty would not enable
him to regain it. This eventual effect
has actually taken place in our country
in the manufacture of certain classes Of
cotton goods. We have learned to make
them SO cheaply by means of improved
machinery that they have been even sent
10 England. our old foreign competitor,
and sold in her markets at profit
| have carried this detailed statement
OF the operation of duties to an extreme
result, and one which OF course has not
been often reached in practice. It's how
ever broadly and incon,rovertbly true
that the competition, home and foreign,
which is occasoned by the imposition of
duty not amounting TO immediate pro.
hibiiion on an article which the county
imposing the duty can produce, makes
the article in majority of cases cheaper
to the consumer than it was before, when