Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1847-08-24
THE TARIFF OF 1916.

LANCER OF trusting il with The des''hlss y, VIZ
There is hardly poin'' i,o',
Trade 10 entire nrohibilion, which The leaders oil
hat party, particularly in The Sou'hein ''a's,,
have no, occupied But no maVer ~na' eoa'es
he popular gale may force them 10 seer, lucy
keep their eyes fixed on high protective am
as The end Of all their lators Al one ''i'e
sce Them pledeins themselves TO preserve inV,o'
la,s The compromise Of 1882, in order 10 win The
support of the people; and, again. when 'ney hao
succeeded in gaining power, We see 'ne'n e'a'''
ing The Tariff of 1912, which Gid mol leave
feature OF the compromise act On our s.a'u'.
books. After This was accomplished, we heard
,bem on.n .mop,hed for The most ezorbisanl pro-
lection, until The ballot box had decioed Inc CUES
lion against them when suddenly lhey oecan'e
modest in their pretensions ana declaleu 'ney
never wished any thing more than the incioeh'ai
pro.ec,iul revenue bill would afford. AZ one
time we find Them admitting that Free Iraue, II
il could be Obtained, would be best Tor The ooV-
eminent; then, again, arguing gTaVely 10 snow
that national wealth and prosperity are always
in nroporlion 10 The restrictions on commerce
They lell US we should build up home marker
by building up manufactures through Inc asen-
cy Of high duties, and in The same hour assert
,ba, hich duties will cut down The prices oil man
ufaclured articles and OF course reduce The prom"
NJ manufacturers. There are some things how
ever, in which The Wing leaders have heen con-
sislenl. They have affirmed with great una
nimily, that reduction Of duties would feoucc
the revenue, that The admission oil ioleieh pro-
duclions would not increase The value oil our az
ricultural staples, and that when The present re-
venue bill went into operation il would produce
ru;n-uniyersal ruin-which would embrace WIN
destructive energy agriculture, commerce ana
mauuiac,ures-eyery species Of labor ana every
investment OF capital.
Such were The gloomy forebcdings Of The Wing
parly but the mass Of their opponents renamed
firm. They saw that there was point beyond
which dulics could not be raised without lessen
inc The revenue. They saw that The exports Of
foreion countries TO The United States furnished
the principal iurd al their disposal to purchase
our productions, and that commerce was best pre-
NOTED By destroying the commercial ie.lticliohs
If The Wings Seeing these things, they enacted
The Revenue Bill OF 1876, in despite OF Wing
nrophecies-p prophecies made with so much ca
u.rness as 10 suggest the idea that Their ioreoo-
d;nus agreed with their hopes More than Twelve
months have elapsed since The passage Of The law
and nearly nne since il went into opera'ion'-
Yhai. lei us ask, has been The result! DID The
Wing minority, or the Democratic majority Of
the last Congress, judge most correctly Of the lu
ture2 Which have events proved 10 be The most
clear.sishltd statesmen, as lar as Tins great ques-
,ion is concerned? There can be but one opinion
as 10 this. The result, 50 far, has fully vind'ca'
led the Democratic policy. Facis-admit!ed and
acknowledged facls-have proved the business oil
Democratic reasoning. Our system, based as
Tho Whine said on theoretical distractions, mas
become praclca reality, whose edecIs re seen
M me urtase 81 4e'snur III 'Gc iHciedse -
our exports and imports, in The increased price a
our productions, and in The universal prosperity
OF The country.
To all Ibis The Wings have but one reply
The famine in Ireland is The buIlhen oil their
sone. That, and that alone. they say, has lalsl-
fed their eager prediction that general ruin was
about 10 come upon US; and has scr, IN lis stead
general prosperity. This is not the way they
reasoned in 1913 when advocating their novel
principle itat high duties make low prices
Then there had been decline in MANUFACTURES
on account Of The great quantities imported in
anticipation Of the Tariff Of 1912. They seized
rayenously, on This isolated circumstance; and
in their sore need il was made 10 constitute The
foundation Of a whole lheory-eyen theory
which MIR. Adams alleged was inconsistent with
the painesI dictates OF common sense. Most Of
Them admi,lcd that The Free Trade advocates had
the better of The argument; that according 10
logical deductions from the principles OF Polil
ca Economy our system was right. But, said
they, here is a great fact. The price oil manu-
featured articles has declined since the Tariff OF
1912 Political Economy and logical deductions
are OF no avail. We cannot explain ii; but il
ie true The great principle OF commercial in
tercourse. lha, high duties make low prices, is at
length discovered and established. We might
fight the Wings with their own weapons, and
reason as they reasoned few years ago. But
we condemned such a course OF reasoning then
and we condemn il now. Il may be good enough
for Wing leaders, but il is not good enough for
the people; and il is 10 The people We address
ourselves.
We do not understand tia, cur opponents con-
tend that The revenue has been increased by The
Short crops in Europe We have good reason L
believe that il has exeried contrary effect. We
know that such calamity as general failure oi
crops mus, cripple The resources Of people, and
lessen their ability 10 export, aid thereby dimi-
nish the quantity OF dnliab'e articles which cone
into our custom houses. We see from The Eng
lish papers thai such has been Tie result there
Yet, Notwithstanding Ihis The actual returns from
the Treasury Department show that The amount OF
revenue for the nine months The present bill has
BIZ en- in operation exceeds The amount received Gu
ring The same pelioi OF The last year, under he
Tariff OF 1912, by a considerable sum. Similar e.
feels have followed similar causes elsewhere. Sir
Robl. Peel has published an address 10 his consiin-
EMS, from which we learn that The government
of England commenced The reduction OF duties in
le42, and, in The space OF three years, RENTED
nearly eight millions Of dollars. In tive years,
The amount remilled exceeded seven aid hall
millions sterling, or more than Mi'fy nua'cas Of
dollars This vast reduction Of duiies from 1874
to 1876, so far lrom essenins tic revenue OF
Great Britain, increased il by nearly four mil
lions OF dollars. Thus, The experience Ct both
this country and England, The Two greatest CON-
mercial countries ci lie world, shows, as WIS
predicted, that, when duties we're reduced, CO n
sumption was increased, and The revenue en-.
HANGED.
We turn 10 the other question at issue; The ef-
feel OF The tariff in producing Inc present Prosre-
rity OF the country. We do not understand cur
Wing friends as claiming more than that The late
rise in The price of breadsluhs was occasioned by
the famine in Ireland. This leaves The rise in
other articles of export unexplained. We freely