Lewistown gazette. [volume] (Lewistown, Pa.) 1843-1944, 1849-05-05
PROTECTION AND PRICES.

PROTECTION AND PRICES.
\ correspondent of the New York Tri-
bune having expressed doubts whether
protective tariff must not necessarily raise
prices, the editor of that able paper thus
answers him
We have probably answered subslan.
tally the same question as the above
dozen tlnes al least, but Patience is q vlr.
tue we rejoice III, and do not object To ore
more attempt TO make clear what need
neve. have BEEN otherwise.
The question, be it remembered, is not
-" Do Protective Duties crer, for any
period, enhance prices !'-for We cheer.
fully admit that they do. TIE point raised
by our correspondent IS this" Must not
Protective Duties necessarily raise prices
Ii not, how can they be Protective ! We
will try 10 show.
Ii we knew wha! an " Inquirer" does
for living, we would choose an iliustra
ton drawn from his own business, bu! Le
ing ignorant Of this, We will begin with
our own. There was a time, then, when
Itlcit
matler IN proportion ~ us cos. as il d res
now, nor vas that matter procured for il
at anything like 50 great expense. And
yet We are rot doing worse shan We were
al that time, but better. WAY l-Bpcause
our regular subscription, sale and adyer-
tIsIng patronage are much greater Than
they were 10 the infancy of our enterprise
l.i
give each patron more for dollar than we
were able 10 give seven or eight years. ago.
Can it be difficult for " An Inquirer" 10
apply the rule here Indicated to the various
branches Of American Manufacture beside
that OF Newspapers
ScrutlnlZe the business cf any maker of
Scythes, Hoes, Axes. Pea. Knives, Hollow
Ware, or what you please, who formerly
sold to the value OF lOnr OF five thousand
collars per yeaI, and who now sells better
article to tie extent of Fifty or E,ghty
Thousand Dollars, and Won will find that
whereas he formerly just lived, he is now
making a handsome profit, and yet he sells
his wares not al higher bul at lower
price than formerly. Increased demand
for his product has enabIed-uay. lmpeled
him TO sell 1t cheaper, yet make more
money by it. Five per cent. net profit on
a business OF Fifty Thousand Dollars per
annum is better than twenty per cent. on
Five Thousand Dollars.
Take any village wherein Five Thou.
sane Dollars worth OF goods are annually
sold, and let its trade expand to One Hun
dred Thousand Dollars per. annum, and
you will now obtain goods in that village
al lower prices than before.
These examples sufficiently illustrate
general law. Our young Manufactures
exposed to unequal competition with lhe
older and richer establishments in Europe,
employing the far cheaper Labor Of that
Continent, with the main channels Of our
Trade in possession of Importers and their
jobblng neutrality-suspicious. a crippled
and precarious existence under Tariff OF
'nw Revenue duties. But shut out by
Protective Duties, the great bulk Of the
competing Foreign fabrics, and you in.
stantIy aud greatly enlarge the Home
Market for American fabrics. The estab-
lIshment formerly having half work and
sometimes waItI0g months Tor sales, has
now full employment aud ready sales.
The water power, dam, buildings, &c,
formerly devoted 10 making five thousand
dollars worth annually, now answers as
we'll for twenty five thousand dollars
worth. And If any one attempts to keep
up the price so as TO realize all eXOr5ltant
profit, some one else engages or extends
rival establishment, undersels him, and
brings him down to fair living rate. Is
not this obvious And is it hard TO see
that the manufacture is now more pTofita
bic than formerly even at price some
what diminished.
Iron may seem an exception to the gem
eral rule, because the chief element of It's
cost is the direct application of Human
Labor, and il you quadruple the supply
required you quadruple the cost of produc-
ing it, far more nearly than in the case OF
Cloths and Fabrics generally. We cheer
fully admit that the immediate effect OF
Protective Tariff on Iron would be an IN
creased money price for Iron in this coun'
try. 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