The Somerset herald and farmers' and mechanics' register. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 183?-1852, 1846-08-18
The TarifE--Our Duty--TaOme
Leagues,

40 The Editor Of the DGlly Chron1-
cfe.-'Fhe glorious Tariff of 1912 IS no
morel The bill Of denominations, the
black Tariff of 1916, is now the law oil
the land-and poor Pennsylvania will
soon mourn in dust and ashes the practi-
cal working of bill concocted by one of
her own sons! No less humiliating will
be the recollection, that others-'men of
mark betrayed her into the hands of
the PhllIstines in lS44-snd that in the
hour of trial, another, upon whom she
had lavished her highest honors, struck
the parricidal blow ! Mvriads of those
who shouted ''Polk, Dallas and the Tar
if of 49, will soon be deprived Of bread
under the suicidal misrule of these ''bet-
ter friends of the Tariff" while the Pla-
quemine President will lavish untold
millions upon HIS war with Mexico, sub
Iugate the freemen of the North to the
dictation Of the South, and reduce them at
her nod, to that level which Mr. Sewer
assigns to all who labor. Thus, by the
treason Of Pennsylvania politicians, and
at the behest of the Baltimore Convention
"a power unknown to the Constitution
or laws of our outraged country-our
forge and furnace fires are to extinguished
our coal mines deserted-our looms
stand idle-and our commerce, flourish
ing under the beningn provisions Of the
tariff of 1912, ruthlessly sacrificed IN ex-
change for a barren and worthless moiety
of Oregon. Nor is this all-our artisans are
coolly told that an additional fifty millions
of foreign merchandise must be annually
imported to supplant these in the home
market. As we now find it neediul 10
export all the staples we can raise, TO pay
for our present imports, Ito say nothing
ola foreign debt of nearly two hundred
Millions the stock of specie accumulated
under Whig legislation, must soon be ex-
I hausted, and scenes of destitution in land
of plenty, and private ruin and State re-
pudiation be again enacted
! With such consequences of Democrat
ic policy staring us in the face, what is
the course of duty! Happily, the pa
triots of the Revolution have left us the
legacy of their bright example. When
Britain passed her stamp act in 1855, up
wards of 400 of the first citizens of Phlla-
delphia signed solemn pledge not to inn
port or consume British goods until the
obnoxious bill was repealed. In 1873
they threw her tea into the ocean, and du-
ring the fearful struggle, our noble mat
rons clothed themselves and their families
in the fabrics manufactured by their own
native skill and industry. Let their ex-
ample be hallowed in the eyes Of every
good friend of the Tariff of AZ; and
while we cheer our ingenious artizans by
the assurance that we will ereiusiUely
patr0niSc home industry, we shall at least
check the drain of precious metals, and
aid in preventing the arrangement of our
currency. Let US lose no time in forming
Home Leagues, pledged to abstain, as
far as possible, from all foreign articles,
and to clothe ourselves entirely III AmeTi-
can fabrics, until our corrupt rulers cease
to make war upon the dearest right Of the
poor man-the right to labor and to live.
He permitted himself to be deluded and
betrayed in 1874 by the most stupendous
frauds, and bv the most unblushing false
hoods. Let him now be able to recog-
Mise his true friends by their .Americas
uniform, and he will be less likely to be
cheated again. This policy | strongly
recommended few years since. Had it
then been generally adopted, our beloved
country would probably have escaped the
ruin and disgrace brought upon US by the
spoils party.
In such holy struggle for our aItars
and firesides, we shall find a warm re-
sponse in the most influential quarter. In
such patriotic effort 10 save the Union
from a recurrence OF the sad spectacIes
yet fresh in the remembrance Of us all,
we may fearlessly appeal to the sconae,l
Of America. They win not dishonor the
noble matrons of the Revolution. Thou
sands will cheerfnlly forego the use Of
foreign fabrics; and by rendering those of
our own native industry dear in the eyes
of their sons and brothers, foil the base
compact by which the honor and happi-
ness of now prosperous country are to
bartered away for the spoils Of office, and
the nian deluged with the pauper labor
of Europe-sent hither to enrich the mil
lionaire Peels, Cobdens and Crawshays
of Britain-beggar America and to bring
f into disgrace thatrepubIicanism which the
crowned heads Of Europe have SO long
sought to destroy or dlshonor. L. Y.