Mississippi Democrat. (Carrollton, Miss.) 1844-18??, 1844-12-11
g PROTECTION TO DOMESTIC IN.
DUSTRY."


DUSTRY."
The wings everywhere display this mot
10. They profess a special friendship TO
the industrial classes. They claim popu-
lar support on the ground that their policy
peculiarly benefits labor Their idea Of
what constitutes "prolection TO home indus.
try" is expressed and embodied in the ta-
riff Of 1912. They declare against any
modification Of it; nddenounco all those
who think it materially imperfect or GRO.
neous, and who seek 10 rectify it, as I'M
patriotic and hostile 10 the interests Of
labor
We propose briefly to examine these
lofty pretensions, and to anaIyze the cha
ractor and effects Of the measure on which
they are founded.
The principles on which a tariff ought
to be constructed, are obvious and simple.
II ought, in the first place, to collect from
the people only such an amount Of rcye-
nue. as is necessary to an economical adj
ministration Of government; and 1t ought,
in the second place, TO do so by such an nd.
iustment of its details that the burlhens Of
taxation which it imposes on individuals,
shall be apportoned according TO the abil-
ty Of each TO bear them, and the incidon.
tai advantages which it confers on business
shall be equally distributed. Absolute per.
lection may not be expected or required;
but a law which generally disrogards or
Systematically violates these principles,
must be essentially unjust and oppressive,
BY this standard, let ls try the tariff Of
1912; let us see whether it really and tru.
ly ".protects industry" or whether it first
imposes on labor all the burdens Of Go.
vernment, and then sacrifices it to the ra-
pacity of privileged capital.
Some articles are consumed in and about
an equal degree by the poorest man and
by the richest. A laborer with an income
of two thousand dollars year, uses as
much salt as.NJohn Jacob Astor, with an
income five thousand times as large, And
it is obvious. that the revenue derived from
a duty on salt, is paid in nearly the same
proportion by'overy man, This is true in
various degrees, Of all revenue which re-
suits from duties on articles of necessity.
Such taxation is imposed not according
to ability to pay--not according to proper.
ty or to income--but per capita on man
as man, The burden of it falls mainly on
the poor, who arc least able toi bear its
weight It is radically unjust ItyioIates
the recognized American principle, which
opporions the cost of government accord
ing to the ability Of those who enjoy its
benefits. ltwars against national prospe.
rity and individual happiness. 1t weakens
the Incentives, and lessons the results Of
industry. 1t represses the productive en-
orgy Of labor which is the spring of all
public and private alllnence and, worst
Of all, il Obridges the comforts of the toll.
ng millions, who must ever earn their
bread by the sweat of their brow; and
such is the intimate connection between
physical wel-beng and intellectual moral
retards their advancement in
The scale of humanity.
l. The Tariff Of Is42 selects as the
principal objects Of iaratioa, articles
ohich are Of the general class Of aeces-
'arieS,
Accordidg to an official statement of the
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