New-York daily tribune., 1844-09-02
D- For Foreign News by the Great Western
see First Page.
Factory Profits.

In our view nothing can be more Unfair OF oase
than the efforts now making by the Loco-foco
journals and haranguers 10 excite prejudice
against the policy of letting our own workmen 90
our own work, by exaggeratlng the proiiis oil Inc
factories and laboring TO excite envy ana na'Feo
acainst manufacturers. as though the iariff en-
abIed them to fix the prices Of their own products
Every man who can and viii think must see 'hat
the profits of every branch OF business IN couh-
try must be regulated by the general rate oi
profits in that CountrY-that duty OF dollar g
bushel on Wheat or a dollar yard on ShTting,
while every thing else came IN free, could not
except momentariIy, raise the profits OF producing
those protected articles except BY raising the
general profits Of production. Competition and
the law of supply and demand would speedily
adjust all profits to the average OF prohts IL the
Tariff were kept stable at any point, however un-
equal the duties imposed by it. But this is not
seen BY the ignorant and unrefectiDg, who are
taught by the Loco-Foco press to hate any one
who is doing good business. Pleasant, 6ut
s,rong,' is the stab of the Morning News in an
.nouncinc that certain factory had made divi
dend of 20 per cent. But If Steamboat or
Railroad, Bridge or Turnpike Company, had
made such dividend, would such comment
have been made Suppose the Long Island
Railroad should make 90 per cent. next year by
the increase of business and travel, ought we to
assnl and detest it therefor And il we hear
that factory has made twenty per cent should
we not ask how many years 1t made nothing or
but very litte--what risk it runs OF losing instead
of makine-how many factories stand idle be-
cause they cannot be run at a profit-how many
have failed-and whether the causes OF this ones
prosperity are not special and temporary-bciore
the circumstance is made the ground of assault
on the policy of having American cloths and
wares made by American workmen? Judge
candidly.
Hon John Fairfield of Maine recently made
speech in the usual Loco-Foco vein at Water
vile in that State wherein he stated that
"The Factories in his town tSaco) had made
senIi.annual dividend of10 per cent. last January,
aud again 10 per cent. IN July and mao, oeslae,
reserve fund OF $47, 600. These enormous profits,
he farther said, came directly from The pockets OF
the people in consequence OF the present abomin-
able Ta.iff."
To this the Kenuebec Journal replies:
4The statement is utterly allacous. We learn
from good authority that those Factories had made
no dir;dena beiore for tro gears; that they had on
hand is months since, 100000 dollars worth OF
,nanufaciured goods, the cotton for which was
hougM ,oaes at lis koweSt price The sale since OF
goods ar prices corresponding with the rise OF the
raw material, had yielded them the amount OF profit,
but that Tie goods still sold for cent less the yard
than aey brought in lSil before the present Ianii
was enacted.
This is fair example of the way in which
some Manufactures, which were able to hold
their goods when both Cotton and Goods were
low, have made good profits. They took the
risk Of holding on, and have done well by Ii.
Who covets those profits Arc they not as far
ly and honestly theirs as those of the Wool
grower who held his clip last year, are his ? As
those of the Wheat grower would be his, if he
should hold his crop over this year, and there
should be war or a scarcity next season Let
us not learn to hate and envy but to rejoice in
each others prosperity. For our own part, we
gladly hear that any branch of Industry IS doing
well, for we are confident that this is the harbin-
ger of better times for all branches.