The daily union. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1845-1857, 1846-07-20

the the duty Wa the cause Of the fall IN price,
count for il Ly he sSeitssns 70 &C.
there profitable market there will be competition Had
ns Ia o. S1S been enacted the composition in our
70 reduce the prices as il has been with the aggs
"in that competition our own manufactures might not
indeed have shared, but IL would have existed In all It's
ores between those who furnished the supply and could
no. have Jailed TO reduce the prices 10 s level Of the
moderate Proh necessary to the existence Of the trade"
Again: ..
The incidental effect Of competition in the market ex
cited on the part ofthe domestic Manufacturer by tbs sgTs
Walton Of duty upon the corresponding article Imported
from abroad TO reduce the price Of the article be tran
silent and nomentay The general and permanent effect
must be to increase the price Of the article to the extent
the additional duty and it Is then paid BY the consumer II
wsEs not so-h the general effect OF adding duty
to make the price Of the article upon which IL u levied
converse Of the proposition would also - true
article would he 70 repeaiths autv upon the same article
experiment which the friends Of our internal
industry viii not be DESTROYS Of makingn
As further proof that the duty enters into the
price Of an article, and that il is as general rule
paid by the consumer, may be permitted to quote
from the speeches Of Mr.. Clay:
foreign market takes care 20 make the inv in such
merchandise as when brought home, his sell with
fair profit and consequently the gsuid pay ne
and Speeches OF Henry Clay. published by Greeley Nc
Elrith, 1874
Again:
fthere is any truth in political economy cannot be
that result will agree with the prediction for ara
aesd BY az sIPsfs that the consumption ofsny article
general may be taken a rule Rsi s duty article
forms portion Of hI Pres."-ssme volume page IA
II is most true that the price Of many manufac-
tured articles has fallen since the passage of the
tariff act of IL and IL is also true that the price of
articles not protected has fallen. This 10 owing to
many very potential causes unconnected with and
independent OF the tariff. The improvements in
machinery, the fall in the price Of raw cotton, re-
duction In the price Of wages, and scarcity Of
money, each and all contribute to cheaper the price
of the cotton fabrics; and it is idle to say that the
tariff has done II, for opinion could be more er-
roneous. Our legislation should be so shaped on
this subject TO equalize the burdens the people
as far as possible and to open TO the markets Of
other countries, in order that might sell phers zoe
could sell dearest, and buy iohre could buy cheapest
The general rule in political economy, with but few
exceptions, IL, that the consumer here pays the
whole Of the duty levied upon articles not produced
IN this country-as, for instance, duty Of IS so
per cent on French silks and wines not manufac.
tured here, on tea, coffee, and Spices would all
be paid by the consumer, and would go into the
treasury in the shape Of revenue.
When the duty is so high TO exclude the for
eign article altogether-as, for instance, $50 per
cent on coarse domestics-it is not pretended that
the duty enters into the price of the article, but the
market is thereby wholly secured TO domestic man.
ufactures; and the only hope which the purchaser
has OF getting the article at fair price is in the
Hoho OohpcuuoH III its pfOuuCuOn.
When the duty is not sufficiently high to exclude
the foreign article in the Of iron, sugar. fine
prints and cloths, the consumer pays the whole of
the duty on the imported article; or if he purchase
Its rival, the domestic article then he pays in the
HANGED price TO the manufacturer an amount equiv
alent to the duty.
To illustrate we pay on brown sugar q cents
per pound specific duty, and We do not grow suffi-
cient for consumption by lis, 664 $40 pounds, which
last amount we imported IN l645. Say that We
wish to purchase one hundred dollars worth of an
article OF sugar on which the duty is 40 per cent;
there are two houses; selIag the foreign article
and the other the domestic article If we buy the
foreign article, $40 of the 800 will go into the
treasury the duty. If we buy the domestic arti-
Gle, the sugar planter gets the $40 in the increased
price as encouragement to his industry, and the
treasury does not in the latter instance receive any
thing. Bot in both cases the farmer pays 500 for
the same number of pounds Of sugar which he could
have purchased for $50 but for the duty. That
may not mslead you, or be misunderstood myself,
| would state that the average of duties under the
tariff law of 1912, is something over 81 per cent,
thereby making you pay the enormous sum of S3l
out OF every 500 for the goods you purchase either
to the importer or manufactured, as the case may
be- , ....
A few moments may be we'll spent in examining
the article of IRON, which has enormous duty,
and yet we do not make sufficient to supply the
home demand. We imported last year 2,054, 46l
600 tons of iron; thus proving clearly that the con-
sumner is taxed, whether he purchase the home the
foreign article. Mr.. WEBSTER, in the speech above
referred to- at pages 299 and 800 speaks thus of that
branch of business:
The true sir why is not policy compel
our citizens to manufacture IRON is that they
far better employed 1t is unproductive business and
they not poor enough to be obliged follow If we
situdef we had an ignorant ide starving popuiatonwe
might set up for iron makers against the world"
When any given branch of business cannot sup
port itself, it should be abandoned at once; other
State, but upon the general governments burden
lpon the wholepeopIe and all the other industrial pur
suits. Not being able to live without taxing its
,eighbors for it's support, the manufacturing bust.
less is the personihcaton of pauper vagrant;
md having no visible means of subsistence, it
,eope Of the west should take it into their heads
inter largely into the culture of tea, Of sugar, and
If coffee, by aid of lighthouses and other forced and
unnatural appliances, and shond go to the manufac-
urers and say to them, Protect us against the pau
,er labor Of China, Java, Cuba and other countries
these articles; give us two prices for our
PRODUCTS for the encouragement Of American in
ustry," and TO prevent US from paying tribute to
'ther nations. Would they consent to do it "Could
hey screw their courage to the sticking point" Or
would they bring their liberalty to the paying
,onr All of them would answer in the negative;
or by the manufacturers; and it applies with I'M
rring truth and certainty to every kind of BUSH
less which does not support itself. If the put
bove exposes the deformity of the principle, and
illustrates its injustice, it will do so in all other
ases, though in different degrees, when "protecton
Or projections sake" is sought to be enforced by
aw. ~
Nation after nation has tried in vain to stimulate,
" artificial means, the culture of crops unsuted to
heir climate, and the manufacture Of articles not
daped to the tastes, habits, interests of their
eope, but it is in vain; though they have greatly
INITIATED the face of nature yet they have not been
ble to reverse her laws. Spain not only exhausted
Ter ingenuity, but her treasury and the energies Of
Ter people, in devsing laws of prohibition, Of re-
friction, and of government monopoes | will
gain invoke the aid Of Mr.. WEBSTER to show the
,llacy of governmental Interference with the pur-
ults of men. On pages 29l and 292, same volume
8 above, he says:
"Nr Speaker referred the late Emperor Napoleon
having attempted atureze the manufacture OF cotton
France He did not cite extravagan part Of the
Of that rilert Is his attempt naturaze the
rowth of that plant itself in Frances whereas have
erood that considerable districts in the south Of France
nd in Italy Of rich aud productive ads at time