The Kalida venture. [volume] (Kalida, Ohio) 1841-1865, 1846-07-23
Who'll NO. 2e2.
From the Washington Union.
! /" PROJECTIONS 81 sris

merclal freedom none appears TO carry with
il in their eyes 50 great an Importance as
the following most extraordinary but fayorite
position--that the higher tie duty upon a
foreign article Of manuf fdcture, khe cheaper
it can be afforded TO us consumers IN this
country In their support also ofths incon-
sistent assertion, or rathey selfeyident fal
Ilacy, these soidisdnt friends Of American
industry at the same time gravely maintain
that the more commodity from abroad is
taxed by our laws, the greater will be tn
quantity. imported! pg. iassi s.s
& Some, indeed, 20 SO far as to declare tha
the decrease inlprice will be in proportion to
the increase Of the duty, and that if the
duty be taken off altogether the price WOULD
in&llibly be still farther increased! In order
therefore, to benefit the consumer BY furnish
ing him with articles Of prime necessity a.
the lowest possible cost, we have, on thi
principle, nothing more 10 do than to rails,
our tariff to a yethigher rate, and by these
means render it still more protective, and, a
the same time, more muniicent in its ten
dency to the interests Of our people at large;
thereby promoting as well the comforts of
our laboring classes as the pecuniary adyan-
tages of our manufacturing capitalists!
In addition to all these alleged benefits,
the advocates of a high tariff boast Of this
theory as being one Of the grandest disco
veries Of the age--as system which enables
the citizens of free and enlightened gov
eminent TO defray the whole cost of its ex-
penditure without the oppressive burden of
taxation, thereby protecting them from alIthe
attendant evils of an obnoxious assessment
upon thsirjproperty, and against a no less
arbitrary violation Of their civil rights and
privileges! G'sap
BY this glorious system, therefore, Of res
trictiye taxes upon cur foreign trade, We
not only diffnse, they say, the blessings OF
low prices and cheap living among the labor
ing classes, but create national revenue
which, according TO the maxims of the pro-
tectionists, would be otherwise sacrificed TO
policy in dlrest opposition to the march Of
intellect, and worthy only of the ages Of by
gone ignorance or the tribes Of heathen bar
barism, Such, indeed, are the magic re-
suits of their fundamental principle, that the .
more government taxes an article Of foreign
the more it diminishes the cost
Of IFS production, and the less becomes its
price! This, they add, has been the invari-
able effect of heavy duties, and more es.
pecially these Of the present vauntsd tariff
Of ls42, upon the general welfare and in
terest of the American people!
All the articles, they tell lis, 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 whig tariff we
would get what we consume at one-half the
price we do now; and If we should sill in
crease the tax we would, of course, getwhat
we eat and drink free of all expense!'
The analogy between the operation Of the
now condemned and falling British cori-laws
in raising money for the public revenue, and
that Of the American tarif-law, enacted in
favor of our manufacturers, is too striking to
escape the notice efan yintelligent observer.
In illustrations Of this fact, i; 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 own territory, it is very
evident that this additional amount from
abroad cannot be brought into their market
without an increase ofits price equal 10 The
full amount of tho duty il has paid. And it
is further plain that the whole Of the corn
consumed in the country,as we'll that grown
At home as that which is imported, will bear
bat one common and average price, and that
This price, moreover, will necessarily be re-
yulated BY the cost required for The introduce
ion ofthe foreign articles-4tie duties Of
,ourse being included. The price, there
ore, which the people will be obliged 10 pay
or all the wheat they consume can be
neither more nor less, if of the same quality,
han that portion Of it which has been I'M
ported, and which has, consequently, re-
;eived an Increase Of price equivalent to the
ate of dutyit has paid The duty, there
ore, upon the comparatively small portion
rom abroad brings whit like heavy tax
lpon the whole consumption Of the country;
md thus increases, the cost of all the bread
tufts which the wants Of its population re-
Iuire. This marrow policy, moreover, is adj
ocated by many there, as we'll as by their
isciples here, for the ostensible purpose Of
asing revenue for the government, when;
i reality, the extortionate effects Of the duty
pom the consumption Of the people At large
end mainly TO swell the vast incomes Of the
class, and to throw the burden Of
he public expenses upon those who are the
east able to bear them, and who receives,
moreover, from their disbursement nothing
ut what may be described as mere
,ockery Of protection. To speak more
latter are forced 10 contribute