Burlington free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1827-1865, 1846-01-16


increased the supply Of domestic goods by
increasing competition, and had sustained
wages and agricultural produce by creating
and increasing an increased demand for both.
IF the gentleman could comprehend tina, de-
n,and and supply regulate price, il would be
all plat, to him.
Yes, sir, and could the Secretary accom-
plsh what seems to be his purpose, the de-
struclion Of our domestic cotton manuiac-
tures--wh ch he saws now amount 10 eighty
four millions per annnm, and which, o.
course adds that much annually TO our ma
tional wealth, strike this ont of existence.
destroy this immense competition and sup
ply-soon, very soon, the poor man. "
without employment and with diminished
means, would have to pay the forrignc,
two or three times the price he now pays AZ
home. Such are the favors this administra-
ton would confer upon "poor men," The
gentleman asks, il protection reduces prices,
Why do manufacturers want III 1t was not
increased prices, but increased business they
wanted-a wider market; it was the advan
tage of improved machinery, increased skill,
and large sales that reduced prices ; 5 per
cent. profit on a business Of $1,000 year
was more than 20 per cent. profit on 81 900;
and the sale Of six pairs Of shoes day, al
ten cents profit was better than the sale of
, one pair at fifty cents profit. Is the gentle
man satisfied
When interrupted he had been controvert-
ing the doctrines put forth by the Secretary
in bis report. He had referred TO table
which bad been reported by tho Committee
Of Ways and Means, for the purpose Of
; showing tho enormous tax which was i'm
posed by the system of minimums; but
when the Secretary, by the assistance oflhe
| honorable chairman of the Committee oil
| Ways and Means, was preparing with great
labor aud paics this document, he seemed TO
r forget that he was, at the same moment fur
nishng mathematical proof of the exact ex-
tent to which protection had reduced prices
BY converting specific into al valorem du-
ties, the duty runs up precisely us the price
, runs down; SO by showing an Increased
rate of duty, the gentlemen have only shown
; reduced prices.
The duty is fixed, and cannot vary. The
f dd Uaiorcm duties are always the same.
None were imposed by the tariff of 1912
above so per cent. How, then, does the
, Presiden, in his message, ge, duties of 20O
per cent? This can only be done by con.
, vcrling the specific duties into ad yalorem
duties and, when tins is done, high du.
| " only shows low price. If the duty is
200 per cent, the price must be one.lourl
only Of the duty. Thus, we are told lha,
, glass pays the enormous duty of 200 pei
cent, and why Because the duty is 81
, per box, and the price 81 per box; but il
) the glass went down to 81 per box, the duty
would be 400 per cent. Thus we arc told
! by the Secretary of the Treasury that the
people paid in all a tax Of eigh!y.f -four mil
. lions, Of which but twenty-seven went to the
: Government, and fifty four TO the mannfac.
G turers and he referred TO list of sixty
s or seventy articles paying specific duties
n which, when converted into dd Ual0rem
}. amounted TO more than a hundred per cent
Very well and what did this prove! VIII,
If been greatly diminished, as in the case o
v cotlons. The same duty which, when lev
g led, had been but 25 per cent, had now be
/. come $50 per cent, simply because til,
| price had gone down TO one-fourth part o
J.. what il was. So the main result of all TIT
n abor and ciphering of the Secretary ant
I. Chairman of the Committee of Ways AM
g Means had been to furnish TO the who'll
,r country official demonstration that prices lln
d been reduced by protective tariff to one
:. fourth or One.fiflh Of what they had been i
,CI 1916. Take plain Illustration the tart
Q Imposed duty of four cents per pound OF
ID nails /; the price of nails in 1916 had bee
q 10 cents per pound so that the duty wa
Al, L., a.,
duiy, we are told IN This report is nov 10
If per cent; and how so? Because The pric
a had fallen from sixteen cents per ponnc
/. very oppressive on tho "poor man." vii
y has thus to pay 100 per cent. on nails! Tn
ID explanation OF all this was perfectly p,i
: and easy. The effect of competition, M,
N cfinery, skill, and Industry, had increase
n, The supply, and by an increased supply, i
d. tins as ~ all other Gases, had reduced III
). price of glass, corlon, &c., whilst il la
" rendered the whole country prosperous
i! the increased demand for all the produclo,
u, Of the farmers.
m Mr.. S..thanked the Secretary 70, his re-
er ference 10 his document; il had furnished I
re hlm and TO the country undenabe proc
ne from The highest authority, to what an exte'
nc prices had been reduced, insomuch that Il
d, duty on one article, though reasonable
e. first, had now risen to three hundred ar
rs eighty-nine per cent. ad Ualorem, brougl
d about solely by the reduction of the pric
to Mr.. S. defcd escape from this position. l.
is any gentleman take the report and examir
! S il, and the more they examine, the more the
r. would be- convinced that this was a true q,
/; planation ofifie whole natter Yet this W,
It. held forth for the purpose of exciting alarm
il furnished IA topic for popular defamation
Sc it might persuade the poor man" that
he was greatly oppressed, because he paid
We tax Of two hundred per cent, on his windo
ht glass; and he perhaps would not underslal
isi that il glass fell TO dollar u box, he won
rh he taxed four hundred per cent, or if by al
al improvement in the manufacture he shou
ger be enabled to get his glass at fifty cents
TO box, why then he would be paying the emo
on nous unheard of tax of eight hundred p
&C. cent. This same "poor man" Of the Sc
ch rotary sometimes wanted TO buy few mai
and the Secretary alarmed him by tho int
ain ligence that nails were taxed a hundred II
wn cent. on their value. So they were /; i
&C. what did he pay for ,heln7 He used to %
ght sixteen cents pound, but this wicked O
or pressive tariff had brought them down
four cents. Now, who did not see that !
The specifc duty of four cents n nound nm ma