New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1849-03-28
A. Alden 70 Barhydt.


c.n vocabulary, that word Is Monopoly. Any DOG
,h.. . ,r;ckster wants killed he christens Monopo-
w. being perfectly sure that all the fools the luck
lsss animal meets will now be eager to knock
him on the head. Now Monopoly il bad thing
but calling anything Monopoly does not make 1t
no. And there is no more impudent falsehood cur
rent than that which represents the frosec'iYe
Policy as fostering Monopoly.
There are duties on Corn and Cutlery Wool and
Cloths. Sugar and Salt, Iron and Brandy but how
do those duties create Monopolies We will take
Cloths Of all sorts for examples, and suppose them
subiected to ever 90 high duties-if you please,
five hundred per cent-and where would be the
Monopoly In the owners Of all the factories IN
the country No, Sir the very moment that act
passed, the mere presumption that Cloths 'oould
be in eager demand under its swsywould set ev-
cry spindle and loom into active operation, cause
existing factories TO be enlarged, new ones to be
hastily run up, and kindred establishments to be
transformed into factories. There might still be a
momentary and speculative rise in the prices Of
Cloths, but it would very speedilyb be checked and
overcome by the cargoes Of American cloths pour
ing into the markets from every side to take adj
vantage Of the actual or anticipated advance OF
prices. Instead Of the rse being permanent
abundant facts demonstrate that, in view OF the
enterprise and mobility of our people, Cloths would
be cheaper among US within two years than they
had ever been before, and would continue So not
withdrawing the prohibitory duty. Where then
would be the consumers loss And where at any
rate would be the asserted Monopoly There 10
. dem and for Cloths, and Mr.. Barbydt and all the
rest of our Twenty Millions Of People are author-
lied, invited, tempted to supply it. RrotechonIss
have no privileges in the market which are not as
fullv omen TO Fres Traders. Unless the Sunshine
that falls on our soil is Monopoly, the privilege
Of making cloths under Protective Tariff is not
Nay, even this is not the full extent OF the truth;
for, as Mr.. b. blunderngly says on page 49, "Oap-
itsl In cosmopolitan" and is attracted wherever
there is prospect Of the highest profit H. then
it were contended that we beniehted Yankees
do nj know how to make Cloths and Wares sd'
vantageously, there 10 nothing in the world to hin
der our British rivals from transferring their Jen-
MES. looms, workmen, DC. hlther, end making
them for u.s. Protection does not obstruct this-it
invites and urges it, What we want is the man
receive the full amount paid by the former Tor his
food fuel &c &c and not less than half OF 1T, as he
must do with our workshops in Europe. Raising
crop after crop Of Grain or Cotton for European
market will exhaust the richest soil but with
markets at hand come improved culture, rotation
Of crops and the return TO the soil OF the neediu
properties Of which cultivation tends to exhsus
them. These and many like them are ends un
known to Free Trade but cared for by Protection
90 with all the assertions in MI. BIS book abou
Labor suffering by Protection and the creation
Cspitsl being retarded by 1t. IL is melancholy
see even the greenest goose swallowing the n ur'
pean middle class sopbistry Affirming the increas
of Cspital wealth. to be the essential condition
improved wages for Labor Surely, any man mus
see that the burning Of half greatcity does no
diminish the demand for and reward of Labor
and 10 with a hundred other cases in which thu
advance or reduction Of Wages is not directly bu
inversely to the increase or diminution OF what II
termed Capital. But that 10 immaterial to thu
matter 10 hand. How does Protec,ionrStlect ia
vorsbly both tho recompense of Labor and thu
creation Of Capital or Wealth We answer, By
shortening Transportation, diminishing ITS cost
reducing the proportion Of Labor employed q" a
and thus Increasing the proportion engaged an pro
dsef,rs arocat,ons, and Of course the sum total o
tlsir Products. Let US once more endeavor Il
make this so plain that the wsyfaring man. though
o Free Trader, need not err therein:
There 10 county in Ilinois--ssy Kane-whost
soil is admirably adapted to the production o
Wheat, Corn Cattle and Sheep, and 1t also EN-
braces some excellent wsterp power. Those por
tious Of Illinois deficient in WsterPower are gen
orally rich in the best Mineral Coal, which is quit,
~ good.l Let us suppose there had never beer
any such thing as Protection In this country, anC
that under a system Of absolute Free Trade thi'
county Of Kane had nothing like Manufactures
but devoted its industry wholly to the production
of Wheat, Corn. Cattle and Sheep a. aforesaid
buying all its fabrics of England, and sending
thither Flour. Meal, Beef aud Wool in exchange
This is precisely the state of things which MIR
Barhydt deems terrestrial perfection.
Very well Protection carries the day among
US; and specific duties equivalent to fifty, seven
ty.6ve and one hundred per cent. are levied on
imported fabrics. Under these duties 1t is Paps'
bly, more advantageous to manufacture right there
on Fox River than to import the goods from Eng
land Enterprsing men erect factories some
workmen are lured over to them from Europe by
high wages and others trained In them to skill
and efficiency, until Kane County comes to supply
all her own demand Tor fabrics and have OF course
but q small proportion of Agricultural staples to
export, the greater portion being consumed at
nome by the makers Of her fabrics-what has her
Labor gained by the change'
Ii has gained this-that whereas formerly under
Free Trade, Of every two barrels Of Flour she
sent away in payment for fabrics, at least one
probably more) was taken by forwarders, ship
pers, factors, exchsnsers, &c for the expenses OF
transportation and mercantile profits In getting
the other barrel to its manufacturing consumers in
England. In other words. every farmer working
on Kane County prairie had to pay for at least the
labor ofone man employed in carrying his products
10 the British consumer and bringing back the goods
received in payment. Here was direct subtrsc-
hon from the aggregate OF production by reason
Of the distance between the farmer and the cloth
maker and the consequent coat Of exchanging
their products. But Protection closes this wide
gap and brings the manufacturer approximately to