Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1844-10-19
RICH MOND, VA.
Saturday Morning, oe,oscr 10. 1871
FACTS rs. THE TARIFF OF 10

FACTS rs THE TARIFF OF IL
For the following facts, we are indebted 10 the
recent letter OF John P. King, Esq, lac Senator of
the U. S. from Georgia, and decidedly one OF the
ablest and most honest politicians in all the
South. We have no question, that his state
menls are all truc-and what a strong case do
they make out Of the increase OF prices OF neccs
sary articles, occasioaed by The present Tariff,
and It's consequent oppression upon The consul
mers Mark this is the Tariff which prosrates
the Compromise Act of '3S, and yet Mr. Clay
pledges himselfto Gen. Miller X Co, OF Cunhcr-
land, Pa, agains, any repeal or even ''@aV m"it-
fcatiom' OF lis severe exactons:
"The facts are, that the Tariff of 1912, for
nearly year after its passage, had little or no
effect ON prices either of domestic or foreign
goods. The demand was small, and some extra
importa,ions were made whilst the duties were
low. IN anticipation Of Protcciirc Iar,H. In The
spring of 1913, however The protected articles he
gan 10 rise, and during The summer OF that year,
they rose from 20 TO 80 per cent and that advance
is still maintained. Shirtings that | bought Tor
81 cents in 1913, for nv negroes | now pay 10
cents for. aud | am assured by the seller, that
thew cos him Q cents. Negro clothing that paid
- cents tor in 1919 have priced, and find il now
80 cents Cheap calicoes that sac sold IN the
spring of 1873, in New YORK, at cents, am
now assured by Wing merchants here, would
cost II or II cents Gnrny bag.ing that sold in
JULY. 1872. at II cents is now WORTH believe. 20
or - cents &c. These "facfS' come within nv
own knowledge, or are derived from Wing mer-
chants of this CITY, In tact they are 50 notorious
that they need no confirmation. These are The
facts in comparing prices. st'icc The I'uiU hdd
time 10 opcrQtc. WHY 90 back even as tar as 1919
to make comparison? Then the raw material
was 80 per cent higher, and provisions were also
higher from % TO 40 per GEN.! than they are now
Instead of rising then as they have done they
.touM hare fallen al last p per ccn a rapid
decline is going on in all products OF industry
every where from general eauScs These causes
are, the long-continued peace OF Europe prosres-
sve improvements in machinery, and the incrcas-
ed value Of money. Money, YOU know, is The
representation of other commodities and real
ncaeM like other commodities, is the honest pro-
duce of labor No, only has pGper money been
much reduced, but for many years past the pro-
dnce of the mines has not increased "a rapidly as
other products and this dsproportion increases,
the same quantity Of other products must be re-
presented by less amount of money. II these
causes continue, therefore, and nothing occurs to
disturb this relation between money and other
products OF labor, manufactures should 60 on Ge-
clining in price, until they are far lower than
they are now
dWhy, then, have manufactures risen, instead
of fallen Simply because the Tarii OF lel2
prohibited many articles, and PM most cxoroi-
tant duties on Others BY which heallhtul comre-
ttion has been shut out and consumers LETT at the
mercy of The manufacturers. "IHcy had the
market 10 themselves and sold TO Us at exorbl-
tant profits" Yes, such profits as were perhaps
never realised in any country. Some OF them,
il is said, have nearly doubled thcfr CAPITAL i'll Is
months
81 NAV as well here state, in what cases, and TO
what extent, the price Of the projected article is
raised By the duty. By speaking too generally,
both parties sometimes fall into error on this sub
lect. That high duties make low prices, by e1-
GLIDING competition, is an absurdily, Is have
shown But, on the other hand, it does not
always follow, that the ,ctoie dnty is added
to the price Proh;bitive duties are some
times more than the home value OF the ari-
Gle. and, of course, cannot be acded 10 The To-
reign cost Antilles Tetfg imported ar" onhai'oo''
the entire duty. In fact, 10 The retail consumer,
they are enhanced COOL deal more lor ieaVy
nroGt must be put upon the cash advance, TO CO.
yer interes, and the risk OF a resale When the
du,v is prohib,ive, the tax may be asccFialnedby
taking an original price current at foreign man
ufactorv and with the expense oil importation al
died. compare the aggregate with a price current
in our own leading markets. Inc dlllereEce
against the price here, is the tax paid hy the con,
sumer Calculated in this way, 1t will be found
that the consumer paws on many cotton goods OF
first necessity, upwards OF 100 per cent. for pro-
lection. These foreign prices current are some
times diScredited hy tariff orators, because they
are English, This is tTilnS with the subject,
and none bu; dcmagogucs OF the smallest caliore
would ever attempt thus to profit, either by The lg-
norance OF prejudices of the people. These prices
current are made out | believe, monthly, al The
urincipal factories and are Intended to give IN
formation 10 all the world, who are equally pri-
vicyed 10 buy at the prices stated. And This much
am enabled to state in favor OF the fairness OF
these "Euolish" prices current. With one oil
them before me, gave an order for some iron
in ;Sl3 and obtained it about nine per cent. iorcF
than specified in the prices current. II IS dil-
cult. OF course, TO state what acreage per cent we
are taxed on our consumption BY the operation oi
this heavy Protective Tariff On some articles
we nav the whole duty, on others part OF 1t
and on others none. Iron and woolens are IN
stances of the first, cotton goods OF the second,
and flour. raw cotton &c, instances oil the thlrd
class. These latter articles needing no protce-
hon. are mol imported; and, therefore, whether the
du,v is five hundred per cent, or nothing, IS pre-
cisev the same thing. The duty was only put
nm Them 10 gull the South and West. There is
one mode, however, BY which the average TAX
upon us may be arrived at, with to.erablc Ger
lainty-at least, upon dry goods When Mt
Clay was in Canada, few years SINCE, nc or ms
SON or both. purchased some clothing III Mon
,real The price was 50 low, that Mr.. Clay was
perfectly astonished, and mentioned the price to
his friends. In few miles of the United States
line he could replenish his wardrobe for about,
one. half what il would cost him il he crossed
over There was no mystery about ii. Mr. Clay
caused the mischief himself by his high pro.ec
tive duties made purchases myself. and can
here state that they did not cost Inc qntc one-hot
he Nc,c York prizes. The praciise is quite COM
mon al the North, 10 make pleasant trip over
lake Champlain in the Summer-purchasing
wearing apparel for the Winter, and return
Tber save their expenses, and often more. The
smuGrlino on the borders is enormous, and, OF
coursf mus, be profitable Thus, whilst they re-
l;eyc themselves from the tax on cheap imported
| Goods they send their productions 10 us taxed
one hundred per cent. "Hore industry" is
pa,ronized in two ways. They economist by
| swindling the Government and fill their pockets
| BIZ plundering the South and West There is
one kind of industry never admired much. IL
is carried on in France, BY what are called there
"Clcrolicys d. Ia.iusiric." Literally translated,
Knisals Of inlu&!,u. In the plain vernacular, we
call them "pckpockets."
NoTE.-A gentleman, who had long lived near
the line told me he thought tair average diiler-
ence. including all clothing, was about my per
! cent. An travellers know, the difference between
the prices in the United States and Europe, is near
" or quite one-haii.
A DANIEL COME TO JUDGMENT!
In his late Valley Forge speech Mr.. Webster
uttered at least one truth-and that is something
for Wing orator nowadays. Il came among
YOU" he said, "oaly 10 tell you the deep interest
feel in your ensuing State election The election n
a President fNc United States depends on The ne1l
Gu5ernaiorial rotc Of Pennsylvania"
" Y. Morning Ncrs.
And now tina, Pennsylvania has gone against