The voice of freedom. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1839-1848, 1848-02-17
YEARS.
OF LOW DUTIES AND FREE TRADE ON LABOR AND PRICES.

Thus it appearst that the learned Secretnys facts and his theories are always at war;.
His utUan schemes look exceedingly well till his facts are brought to bear upon them,
truth, for {" truth mighty and will prevail" To show the contradictory character of Mr..
Walkers Reports he would here cite a few, OUT the great many instances
in reducing taxesH tightening the burdens of the poor of the /" tolng millions" In ON
instances he says they have been reduced from 1O0 to 200 per recent down to % and 90
lars per on; on the poor mans coal, the duty had been reduced from ST. down to 70 per
cent-more han half the tax had had been taken on III f Prgg coH now no%i n msa al nokS I 1y ven Wn
toMng millions" the voters of Pennyl'mia, who make iron and dig coal; and 10Y hear
thing for them he congrataes them or the fact that "coal and iron aei in great demand,
are bringing better prices than before the repeal Of the tariff of 1922 these were his very
words. Now, how the tariff of 1916 IAN at tn. same time reduce the prices of iron and coal
tfror consumers and raise it to favor producers, is a theory I cannot undertand-ts al
up and down, ysm and 10 operation, which it will puzzle the ingenuity of the Secretary
himself to explain. But, then, he has another, and a worse difficult, to explain. The
object of the tariff of 1916 was OincW@et the revcnue. Now, what has been its efect? 1t
has destroyed moet than half the revenue arising from these very articles, without benefit
price" pays ten dollars instead of twenty-five into Mr. Walkers empty sub
treasury puts the fifteen dollars as additional profits into his pocket Which unaer the ah
of 1912, he would have paid into the Treasury. Now the same thing may be sac OF coal
instead ofsx cents a al " s&s the the "f fFejgn imp0T1ts ho n t% Pays di e N rh W ,Mee;s f fmf ms is c%f y
people. Salt wnsa another article illustrating the folly onow duties, the effect of
home supply, and giving the foreigner the control Of the market and the revenue is
reduced by the operation Nearly thee4ourhs fhe duty wast taken off salt to favor the
three4ourhs of the revenue. And yet Nh. Walker insists that his taiffavorS the poor and
increases the revenue! This amt thing true in an infinite variety of similar e@e% which
p@ ta TM1 these se oenttemen ;? The dwv had been greatly reduced on cotton bageing;
this checked the domestic supplya md tep price I I'M cedlly informed, has increased from
70 cents Der yard under the tariff of 1912, to 20 censm under the glorious free trade tariff
for i@f has been reduced nearly onethrd, amounting to loss on the cotton crop of
twenty millions of dollars. Cotton under the tariff of 1912 brought tel cents per pound
tits now down to spn and still declining The sugar business am told, has Jared even
worse than the couon. Wr Walker is himself obliged to admit that the cotton interest
has suffered; and what Southern interest has not?
the potatoe rot had saved, for the moment the North and West but that over. and tie
floods of foreign good. will. soon sweep away their last dollar Such always has been and
.minhtraion; it is 10Y the daily bread it feeds upon destroy the war; home, and the
Before hoG 2 this tops he wished to make oc other remark, it was this: that it a-
pearel from the Treasury Reports that the imports Of iron coal salt &c. had been h very
en importer while Mr.. Walkers poor people" had been obliged, to pay more tor these
Inecesaes of life, imported from abroad, than they had to pay under the oppressive ant
But there is another position taken by Mr. Walker" favor ofthe free trade theory which