Martinsburg gazette. [volume] (Martinsburg, Va. [W. Va.]) 1833-1855, 1846-06-18
}y0sUME 47.-NUMBER is.

itffftas% taS prices. because {leN atkt Het III
crease the supply by increasing home eempe-
ution. Ills position Is this: dastcs lcrief for
rereaie en- articles zoe cannot produce, increased
prices ,chiist prcieciicc diiies, legiea oa artf
elcs ire ctas and do produce, diminished prices
The Huth Of both these propositions was pro
we'd hy undeniable faciS. ana BIZ all ex perience
And the reason was Just as obvious as the fact:
the imposition Of daig on an afticle produced
here gave an impulse 70 American enterprise :
the machinery employed in its production
was studied and improved an increased sup.
ply was the natural consequence aud an IN
creased supply while the demand remained
the same, must AWAY diminish prices
I Would the gentleman undertake 70 deny that
the proportion between demand and supply
regulated price, Mr.. $. hardly thought be
would 90 so far as that But. as the gentle
man had asserted that duties raised prices. he
was bound to prove the truth OF his position
by quoting facts. The man who asserted
thing TO be a fact was bound 10 prove il. in
court or out Of court. As Il LAWYER the gentle
man knew this TO be so. Now, Mr.. s. chal
lenged the gentleman 70 put his finger on one
solitary case where his assertion was true
What one protected article. the proAict Of
American skill and industry, has been increa-
sed in price, after the duties, however high,
had been first imposed forts projections Mr.
| s. challenged the gentleman and all his friends
to point 70 one. Name the article--a PIN or
needle. The gentleman had not--he coud
not do it, And vet he stood up in the face Of
the country and the world, and advanced the
position that protective duties always increas-
ed prices. MIR. S. mads his appeal 10 lacts.--
Let the gentleman meet HIM with facts lie
could not he dealt altogether ia assertions
against facts Now il, as MIR. s. had proved,
protective duties had not increased, bar reauc
ed prices, what bcsome OF all this clamor about
high prices, robbery, oppression and plunde.2
il vanished INTO thin air il had no foundation
10 stand Oh, and the gentleman and his follow
ers were bound by their own principles to 90
for the protective policy, which reduced the
price Of manufactured goods by increasing the
supply whilst, on the ether hand, il Increased
the price by increasing the demand for agri-
cultural produce, and enhanced the wages Of
labor by increasing its employment
But the gentleman had also said that while
the tariff was oppressive on the interests OF
agriculture and of labor, it was highly hened
cal to invested capital, to the rich monopoIists,
the lords Of the loom. Now, Mr.. S. said that
just the reverse of this was true. While pro-
lection benefited both agriculture and labor. it
capital. The gentleman and his friends, with
out knowing it, were in fact dong more for The
bsneft of resed capital by keeping up this az
itauon aud opposition to the tariff, and thereby
establishing a monopoly by checking compet-
ton, than all the tariff men in that house put
together. In the case of vested capital the tar
! i'll had done its work il had built the manu-
| factories up !; II had introduced improved ma
chInery and increased skill. ii had done all that
fixed capital required, Vested capital was
now on It's feet--li could get along without
help. They had exported during the last year
! between four and five millions Of dollars worth
of cotton cloth; they had beaten the British out
of their own markets. The great manulactur-
! ers Of these goods feared no foreign compet-
| ton they had overcome that. All they now
feared was American competition at home
The protective tariff raised against them that
very competition. While advocating there.
fore, the continuance Of our existing tariff, and
resisting its reduction, Mr. S. was working in
the most direct and efficient manner for the
interests of American !abor-he was resisting
foreign; he was going for the interests Of Amer
lcan farmers and the American laborers. and
not for Che interests Of lage vested capital; he
went to destroy existing monopoly, by increas-
ing investments and compsttion-the only
thing that could destroy it. II was the gentle
man and those who acted with him, by keep
ing up this tariff agitation--it was they who
were aiding capital. This agitation operated
to check new investments, and of course to
promote and secure monopoly. Those who
wore contemplating the investment of new
capital would defer it. One would say TO an
other, 'Don't build new mill or furnace now,
the taiih is going to be reduced" Mr.. S.
knew this TO be true. He had heard of twelve
large companies who had intended to build
furnaces ia Pennsylvania this spring, but had
suspended their purpose I'LL they should see
what Congress would do with the tariff at the
present session. Did this hurt those who al
ready owned manufacturing establishments
Certainly not; il was the very thing 10 aid
them. This gave New England monopoly (;
il secured in her hands that which the people
Of Pennsylvania and the people Of the South
most wanted. They wanted protection-New
England could do without it. Virginia wan
ted il, North Carolina wanted il, so did South
Carolina and Georgia, and all the Vest
They wanted protection to build them up in
New England the tariff had done lis work-it
had fulfilled lis Office New England might
now say TO this Government, "Father, am
now Of age; am on my own feet; | can
make nv way through the world ] have met
John Bull and beat him; | thank you very
much for what you have done for me, and
viii be a burden on you no longer; now take
care of the younger branches Of the family"
The rest OF the country was comparatively
young in manufactures. They still needed the
helping hand Of Government; hey wanted
protection in their infancy. New England
was magnanimous and patriotic; she wished
to see other portions Of the country prosper by
following her example when the South and
West supplied, as they could, the coarser
goods, she would 90 TO work on the finer fab
RIGS. Did not the gentleman see that BY rods-
cling the Eriil' he was checking investments IN
his own country and IN nhne, in the South
and West, and thereby securing a monopoly
to vested capital, wherever il existed, and pre-
sent high profits, which could only be reduc-
ed BY enlarged competition at home Was
not this ,rue2 Was ii not common sense r. I
He put 10 every mans understanding. Ii
was not only common sense, but, what was
more. il was universal experience.
TO show the practical operation Of the
protective policy, he would take by way of il
Illustration, the neighboring iron works at MI. /
Savage, near Cumberland That establish
ment had been built up within few years.
Some tlme before it was commenced land could I
be bought there for two and three dollars an I
,ers MON rattiI ,taf t,oxs Ia