The daily union. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1845-1857, 1846-05-30
mpR0TECTION.n

PROTECTION"
Among all the prominent arguments OF the oPPo-
nents Of the great cause Of commercial freedom,
none appears to carry with it in their eyes so great
an importance as the following most extraordinary
but favorle position-that the higher the duty upon
foreign article Of manufacture, the cheaper can be
afforded 10 is consumers in This country In their sup
port also Of this inconsistent assertion, or rather
self evident fallacy, these Sodisani friends Of Amer
can industry at the same time gravey maintain that
the more a commodity from abroad is taxed by our
laws, the greater will be the quantity imported
Some. indeed 90 so far as to declare that the de-
crease IN price will be in proportion to the increase
Of the duty, and that if the duty be taken off al
together the price would infably be still farther in
creased In order, therefore, to benefit the con-
sumner by furnishing him with articles Of prime ne
eessity at the lowest possible cost, we have on this
principle, nothing to do than to raise our tariff
TO a yet higher rate, and by these means render it
still more protective, and, at the same time, more
mun6cent in Its tendency to the interests Of our
people at large thereby promoting as well the COM
forts of our aboring classes the Pecuniary adVan-
tages OF our manufacturing capitalists
In addition TO all these alleged benefits, the advo-
Gates Of high tariff boast Of this theory as being
one Of the grandest discoveries Of the age-as sys-
tenn which enables the citizens Of free and enlght
ened government to defray the whole cost of its ex
penditure without the oppressive burden Of taxa
tion thereby protecting them from all the attendant
evils Of an obnoxious assessment upon their prop
-. ,inlat ~
their civil rights and privileges!
BY this glorious system, therefore, OF restrictive
energy upon foreign trade, we not only diffuse,
they say, the blessings Of low prices and cheap liv
ing among the laboring classes but create national
revenue which, according to the maxims Of the pro-
tectioniss, would be otherwise sacrificed to policy
in direct opposition to the march Of intellect, and
worthy only Of the ages of bygone ignorance or the
tribes Of heather barbarism. Such, indeed, are the
magic results Of their fundamental principle, that
the more government taxes an article of foreign
manufacture the more it diminshes the cost Of its
production, and the less becomes its price! This,
they add has been the nvariable effect of heavy du
,ies and especially those Of the present vaun
ed tariff Of lS42, upon the general welfare and in
terest of the American people!
All the articles, they tell US, upon which the
burden of duty lies the heaviest, have become
cheaper than they previously were under lower
duty, or even when they were under no duty
at all!
Beautiful theory! If we should double the
taxes imposed by this wing tariff, we would
get what we consume at one-half the price
we do now; and if we should still increase the tax
we would, of course, get what eat and drink free
of all EXPENSE"
The analogy between the operation Of the now
condemned and falling British corn-aws in raising
money for the public revenue and that of the Amer
lean tarf-aw, enacted in favor Of our manufactu-
rers too striking to escape the notice Of any in
telligent observer. In illustration of this fact it is
well known that whatever may be the supply Of
foreign grain needed for the consumption of the
English people, in addition to the quantity raised
within their territory, is, we repeat, evident
that this additional amountfrom abroad cannot be
brought into their market without an increase of it's
price equal to the full amount of the duty it has paid
And it is further plain that the whole of the corn
consumed in the country, as well that grown at
home as that which is imported, will bear but one
common and average price, and that this price,
moreover, will necessarily be regulated by the cost
required for the introduction of the foreign arti-
cles---the duties of course being included. The
price, therefore, which the people will be obliged to
pay for all the wheat they consume can be neither
more nor less, ifofthe quality, than that portion
Of it which has been imported, and which has, con.
sequently, received an increase Of price equivalent
to the rate of duty it has paid. The duty, there
fore, upon the comparatively small portion from
abroad brings with it like heavy tax upon the
whole consumption Of the country; and thus it in
creases the cost Of all the breadsufs which the
wants of its population require. This narrow pol
lev. moreover, is advocated by many there, as well
as by their disciples here for the ostensble purpose
Of raising revenue for the government, when, in
reality, the extortionae effects Of the duty upon the
consumption Of the people at large tend mainly to
swell the vast incomes Of the privileged class, and
to throw the burden Of the public expenses upon
those who are the least able to bear them, and who
receive, moreover, from their disbursement nothing
but what may be described as mere mockery OF
protection. To speak more plainly-the latter
are forced to contribute most dsproportiona,e
amount OF lneh nhu Ooi"heS W o." hSH'"'"" w
things which tends directly and in the most
ofreotual of all ways to make the rich richer, and
the poor poorer In fine, we know of no other sys-
EN- whatever which the ingenuity Of man has ever
evsed that is so well adapted to counteract the nat
ursl welfare and happiness of his species. Above
all, none, we are confident, can be more repugnant
to the true spirit Of justice and philanthropy, or