Jeffersonian Republican. [volume] (Stroudsburg, Pa.) 1840-1853, 1847-06-24
The Proctive Policy.

Pennsylvania. The perporl Of this is sneer-
ing reference TO the supposed abandonment OF
the Protective Policy by The Wing party, and
laudaion of the working benefits Of the Ia
riff Of 1916, as developed by the high prices OF
breads!uffs, and agricultural productions gener-
ally. We had supposed tha, the elections of
the last eigh, or nine months had most dehn-
ilely settled the public opinion on the issue OF
Free Trade or Protection; for The people, with
unprecedented unanim,y, have visited upon
their representatives, who abandoned The prln-
ciple Of Protection, the weigh, OF popular re-
buke. Locofocoism has feI. this rebuke mos.
keenly, and for a long while was dumb under
its inlicton. But recently it has made an Ell
fort 10 arouse ITSELF and the sel6shness Of The
farmer is appealed 10, and ingenious sophlslry
used 10 gain his support 10 measures which
ultimately must involve him in common and
inevitable disaster.
II is question, as curious as interesting, TO
ascertain who are The persons most concerned
in the adoption of the Protective Policy. and
who will derive most benefit from It's effects.
As community cannot all be manufacturers, ag-
ricul,urists, planters, mechanics, or merchants,
and as, without the existence of the numer-
Gus trades and professions, we cannot hope TO
be prosperous and as one cannot flourish in
dependenly of the other, il follows that where
our productions are inadequate to our wants,
we necessarily become poor and dependent
upon those who supply US with the difference.
If we turn our attention solely 10 agricultural
pursuits and depend upon the necessities Of
other countries for our market, it follows that The
prices Of our products must fuctuaie, while
wha, we receive in exchange mus, increase In
value. But when people is naturally divided
into various trades and professions, the farmer
is much more secure than any Of his neighbors;
for in The manufacturer, the mechanic, and the
science, he finds the consumers Of his produce,
and if he pay cash for his iron, his shoes, his
clothes, his groceries, or even his luxurles, il
rever,s TO his pocke, in return for the necessa.
ry products of his farm. But if he sends his
wheat, rye and corn TO foreign market and
receives In exchange the articles he consumes,
he destroys the home market for his stock, his
"truck," and lessons The ability of his neighbors
TO enter into competition and keep up the price
of his produce.
The protection, then, that becomes necessa-
ry 10 sustain the manufacturer and mechanic,
secures more certainly 10 the farmer the value
of his entire stock, by giving TO the consumer
the value of his labor and regulating the stand
ard Of wages. But if Iron, for instance, or any
other article, is rated above the actual labor Of
production, the keen-eyed sagacity of the en-
lerprising is always on the watch, and compe-
t,ion brings il 10 its level Trade, as surely
as water, will find its level, and when we look
as Mr.. Dallas saws, sat the whole country" we
find The farmer is The one who actually derives
the most protection from Protection. The
Planter of The South, having his labor secured,
is the only one who really enjoys monopoly.
IF he, having the raw material and the labor
both secured, is not prosperous, |. is owing TO
his incidence and not " the monopoly of the
manufacturers"
The South opposes the Tariff systems, be-
cause in this opposition i. thinks i. recognises
Protection TO its planting interests. lfit should
ever tusn ns attention 10 manufactures II Will
cIafner more loudly for Prohibition than it ever
has for Free Trade In its efforts 10 project
its Cotton, i, would leave TO The mercy of the
seasons, the chances of shor, crops and calam-
tiles like the potato rot, the entire agricultural
industry of The north and west. How can the
manufacturers of New England afford TO CON-
pensate the wheat grower of the west, if wa
ges are 10 be cut down to the low standard OF
Europe How can the iron fields and coal
mines Of Pennsylvania take their necessities
from the Mississippi and Ohio al remunera,ing
prices, if Queen Vic,oria's Duchy of Cornwall
and the Duke of York's mines al Pictou, fur
nish our country with Iron and Coal!
Protection is independence: Protection is
truly national measure: Protection is essen
TALLY the policy of Democracy. BY 1t we
live within ourselves--we secure ourselves from
all foreign fucluaiions-we render ourselves q
unit. The various stars of our confedetaey are
clustered together in one constellation, and lis
central sun, from which il draws life, vigor
warmth and the power to produce, is the great
generative principle of Protection. We canno
wonder that this question absorbs all Others
We look upon it as the vitality of our national
ity We see its effects, and cling devoediy II
The cause which produces such effects. In 'h'
mythus of the olden time the Earth was God
because when the seed was laid in its furrows
il germnated and gave increase; or the SUI
was Divinity because its influence qnckene'
into. life the fruits Of the husbandman's toll
So. when we see the effects of Protection On
folding The germs Of prosperity and diffusin
its blessings on every side, we look TO il as tn
"Lares" of domestic comfort and the Optimu
Maxmus OF The Republic.