Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1844-11-20
MISCELLANEOUS.
From heiN. Y. Evening Post.
THE TAXES PAID BY THE .IABO-.
RING CLASSES.


I, is NOT possible fora man of ordinary
cSknou.ledgssufiru anti an average degree
offairaess. of mind, to Look over .'the Ia
riff ss itis." s.,he Wing tariff of 1912" as
the Wings themselves call il in their hand
bills without acknowledging thai, If the
express object Of its trainers had been %
oppress tho faboriug ssciasses, they could
moi have devised any Thing more efficient.
The only reason why that class, holding,
as they do, The political power Of the Uni
ted States. have NOT, before this, risen up
:-and, with common voicesxdemandedviis
repeal, is that they have not been allowed
TO know what taxes they were paying,
The real amount of what they nay sas
tax is so blended with the prices of the
articles they consume. SO covered up by
usin;muns and other devices OF the 4framers
OF the tariff, and only 10 be got at by refer
ring to The merchants invoices, whichihey
never see, ,ha, they pay their money
without knowing how much of it might
have been spared if they lived under an
equitable government.
lEfthe reader will accompany US little
way in this article, we. will give him an
example of tue manner 10 which The labo-
ring man is cheated into the: payment of
nearly twice what he ought TO pay for bis
working dress, itzg3 "a .aysS sia
;. The wollen mills of this country weave
large quantities of a kind Of coarse. cloth
worn by laboring men, under The denomi-
nation of kerseys.. It has cotton wool,
: but the principal material is the cheap
wool which is allowed by the present
tariff to be imported on the payment of
the nominal duty of Eve per cent. This
wool is brough, in enormous cargoes from
South America. purchased by the agents
for the mills; under the eyes Of our own
uheep owners, aud being manufactured in
30 kerseys, is sold at an immense profit.
20 be worn by laborers.
The price Of these cloths in our market
the wholesale price we mean--is seven
teen cents yard. They may be bought
10 England at seven cents and three
quarters. The importer pays a duty of
eighty per cent, the shipping charges and
commissions amount 10 about twenty
Ave per cent. and selling these goods a,
the market price--for they still continue
10 be imported-he obtains the moderate
profit of about FIVE per cent. These goods
are to be seen exposed for sale in The
warehouses along our pricipal commercial
e.reets, where any person can satisfy him
sslf ofthe exac,ness Of our statement.
II follows that, but for the high duty
laid on kerseys, the laborer might pur-
chase them eighty per cent. cheaper than
now; and no, eighty per cent. merely, but
if we estimate profit Of FIVE per cent. 10
The merchant on thai duty, eighty five per
cent. cheaeer than now. 1fhe rpurcia-
ses the American article, he pays this
eighty.6ve per cent. 10 the manufacturer.
When he lays out dollar and eishty-6ve
cents 10 the purchase ofthese coarse cloths,
the eighty-fye cents are taxa tribute.
Yet these people boast Of being the
friends of domestic industry. These mill
owners, and their attorneys and agents,
who have had the dex,eri'y TO procure the
passage Of a law making their machinery
a source ofimmense profit. vaunt them
selves 10 be the friends of American labor.
They first reduce the duty on that kind oi
wool for which they have most occasion,
to mere nominal rate; they then raise
ahe duty on the cloths for which the work
ing man has most occasion to The oppres-
sive rate of eighty per cent. Having thus
taken care tha, he shall be taxed, and
they exempted from taxation, they issue
i,andbills-one Of which is now before US
calling upon the "mechanics, cartHen,
butchers, sailors, and all those who:earn
livelihood by their own arms" to attend
meetings designed to sustain the very
tariff by which the mill owner is favored
and the laboring man oppressed. The
laborer goes in his jacket, on which he has
paid forced tribute without knowing it,
Of nearly half its plice, 10 The mmaiac-
turer, aud hears Daniel Webster, a paid
agent Of the miil.owners, haranging on
the blessings of the tariff as it is. and in
sissing that the laborer shall not only be
taxed BY it, but vote for it. Ia