New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1849-04-07
Protection and Prices.

dsnv that the tendency OF Q Protective GUY "
bsnce nrice Nov confess myself though " nis' 10
state Of shameful uncertainty IN regard 70 INC 9"
tire question Of the Protective policy Ano ys ~
mir s.ens 70 me clear-nsmely that prices ass' "
an financed By q Tariff. otherwise It's purpo'e - ~
sn,uered I am probably showing my utter no's"'e
of the ~ stter but ask Information nj, T..
TAXING for instance, Iron instead OF fins, " yuu "a
rn.,, ,,ue, higher duty-that 10, an ennsnceu
orre-i. asked 20 enable the manufacturers 70 IFe.
no increase Of price Is obtained and tna' p, ss ~
vbs, /. the good of Protecttonf Docs
.,e NJ wage. n hope no',) or hor Iben ace ooe'
TIA vi,bru, an Increase OF prices, make nanulae
tureres prohtaolef
Reply.
We have probably answered Substantially the
.a,os onestion. as the above dozen times Al
los., bnt Patience isa virtue we rejoice H. ana
do not object to one more attempt 10 maAe 0'
what need never have been otherwise.
The question be it remembered not Do
Protective Duties erer, for any period, enhance
Prices for we cheerfully admit that they 90
TIL. noint raised by our correspondent Is this
Mpst not Protective Duties necessarily raise
p,ice.l # not how can they be Protective
We will try to show.
Iswsknew what an Inquirer does for living
wa wonld choose an illustration drawn from ms
own business, but, being ignorant oil ms we WIZ
begin with our own. There wasatme' tnen' when
The Tribune did not contain near so much matter
in proportion to its cost as it now does, nor "as
that matter procured for it at anything IKE 80
great expense. And yet we are not doing worse
than we were at that time but better "ny -
Because our regular subscription, sale and adver-
tising patronage are much greater than they were
in the infancy Of our enterprise. Doubling our
,atronage has enabled us to give each patron more
r., q dollar than we were able TO give seven or
e;sb. wears ago Can it be difficult for An In
quirer to apply the rule here Indicated 70 the va
rous branches of American Manufacture pesce
that OF Newspapers
Scrutinize the business Of any maker OF Sythes'
Hoes. Axes. Pen X hives, Hollow Ware, or what
YOU please, who formerly sold to the value OIL 'our
or five thousand dollars per year, and VINO no"
seus a better article to the extent OF FIFTY or
Eighty Thousand Dollars, and you will find that
whereas he formerly just lived he is now making
q handsome profit, and yet he sells his wares not
at a higher but at a lower price than formerly
Increased demand for bis product has enabed-nay'
,mpelled-him to sell it cheaper yet make more
money by it. Five per cent net proft on ou'i'
ness of Fifty Thousand Dollars per annum is oeuer
than Twenty per cent. on Five Thousand DonHs
Take any village wherein Five Thousand Dol
lars worth of goods annually sold, ana let i's
trade expand to One Hundred Thousand Dollars
per annum, and you will now obtain goods In that
village at lower prices than before
These examples sufficiently illustrate general
law. Our young Mapufactures,-exposed 10 une-
oual competition with the older and richer estao-
Ishments of Europe. employing the lar cheaper
Labor of that continent, with the main chsnnels
Of our Trade In possession of Importers and their
obbipe customers,-maintain a crippled and Preca-
rious existence under Tariff OF low Revenue
duties. But shut out by Protective Duties the
great bulk of the competing Foreign iabrlcs, and
YOU instantly and greatly enlarge the Home Mar
Ike, for American fabrics The establishment for
merlv having half work and sometimes waiting
months for sales has now foil employment anu
re adv sales. The water-power, dam oulldings'
&c formerly devoted to making five thousand dol
lars worth annually now answer as wen Tor
twenty i've thousand dollars worth. And II any
one attempts to keep up the price so as TO realize
an exorbitant preft, some one else engages In or
extends rival establishment undersels him, and
brings him down to a fair living rate Is not this
Obvious And is it hard to see that the manuiac-
ture is now more profitable than formerly even at
a price somewhat diminished
Iron NAV seem an exception TO the general
rule. because the chief element of its cost Is the
direct application of Human Labor, and II you
quadrupe the supply required you quadruPle the
cost of producing it far more nearly than In the
case of Cloths and Fabrics generally Wecheer-
fully admit that the immediate effect of Protec-
tive Tariff on Iron would be an increased money
price for Iron in this country. But we insist that
even at first, though our annual supply would
cost more dollars, yet it would be paid for with
the aggregate products of less Labor than now
Wood, Charcoal, Butter, Cheese, Fruits Vege'
tables. &c. &c. would be turned in at our widely
scattered IRON works at prices which could not be
obtained with our workshops mainly in Europe
and the Iron would really cost less though III
money price would be greater.
But again; Every year that we made our owr
Iron would be extending and pertecting our Rail
road and Canal communications between Iron
and Coal beds, and between our lron-w orks anC
the various sections where Iron is wanted. Il
would also be multiplying and periectng our in
vestions and processes for the manufacture o
Iron, and thus reducing the cost Of the product
, The consequences of an efficient Protective dut,
& on Iron would be. first, an enhanced price io
Iron secondly, a great diversion of capital ant
labor from other pursuits into Iron making, and
consequent improvement of processes and com
munics atoms and thirdly, consequent increas
of the aggregate product and reduction of tn
price OF Iron I'd. Irtb.
: Consecticat Election.
n Corrsasa from the COnstaficst paPos Of TA'rsdGy
ls4s GOVERNOR le4o