New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1852-07-22
PROTECTION AND IRON.
=, a. Editors Of The TribNne'
7, vou, Semi Weekly issue Of June l5tl

from
5S Mr. Occbelhauser, which you arsae shows eoucIu
&eIv thai unoer the system Of Protection, the con
sumption Of lrop per head, very mater14y 81
wish TO know whether the price, or COS. Of n0n c.J
-. a,so ns,eriaIy 6ecreas during that time %; ana
eI.,hey The buiIdinR of railroads mOoern Improve
,ept has not had the effect 70 largely increase the
sonsnmp lop independently ofpToecuon ~ ana, also,
hs,he In aoioping tert rss, where the Free-l rede
Isnle r71les df there be such,) there has not Ike
- been an Increased resumption OF iron (3).
va LLa moreover % know whether In our own
country The consumption per nead mas nos s,so in
sosssd since the tariff OF ~ was thrown by the
49, "a: and vhether the immense emigration, from
Germany 10 this country ofthe poorer clsss-those Who
~ mt cor sumo OF iron 80 much as o,hers,-hH hs1
rv effect in determining the consumpd IN per head 10
l,,sr country (5) II "be not denied that the we'll
Ssins Of people may usty be Inferred from Its CON
sumptop Of the great staple articles OF common lie;
neth.r appears 70 me, can 1t be denied that the Ia
bs os u,eess unless considered In connection
ssi,b many coneomt4nt circumstances; and that the
shove text unless dextrousy handled by the Protec
tonss will mutate them worse than the Free-Ir
dns Q0. ..;...o.n
Lincoln, o, July l,isjs. A EMERY
We proceed briefly to consider Mr..
Emery's points in their order:
!. The cost of iron has fallen very con-
siderably in Germany during the period re-
fered to, and one reason for this is, that
protection has called into being very ex-
tensive domestic production, at the same
time that it has enabled the consumers to
pay for the iron with variety of agricul-
tural and other products that, but for the
development of the iron business, would
have had no market; and thus there has
not only been a fall in the price of iron,
but the amount of that staple which can
be obtained in return for days labor, has
increased in a still greater proportion than
the decline in its nominal cost.
9. Railroads have been built since pro-
lection was established; but it was some
wears after the formation of the Zollverin
before they were introduced to any con-
siderable extent, and during that period,
when no railroads were building, the con-
sumption of iron steadily increased.
3. There are no territories adjoining the
Zollverin where the sO-called free trade
principle rules.
a. But in our own country an approx
;mation to this sort of free trade was made
in 1916, though somehow we were no
brought as near to the purity of that sys-
tenn as under the blessed and benignan
British tariff of 1888, which produced
such pleasing consequences from 1886 to
1912. But still, such as 1t is, the expe-
rence we have had under the present law
is, we should say, sufficient to satisfy
every " sincere man always open to con-
yiction," like MIR. Emery. In 1916 we
consumed of foreign iron 69,625 tuns. and
of heme- made 100000, equal to 90 lbs.
per head of the population of the country
in l84S, when the influence of protection
had not yet reached its terminus, we con-
sumed of imported iron 1887 tuns. and
Of home made 100000, equal to 993 lbs.
per head but from this time forward the
consumption has steadily declined, till In
1851 it reached only 341,70O tuns of i'm
ported and 4l3,0O0 of home made, equal
to but 69S lbs. per head. And during the
free trade period from 1916 till now,
great many more railroads have been built
and a great deal more iron used for that
purpose than during the previous FIVE
years of protection, so that the consump-
ton for domestic and other uses has
undergone a still more decided diminution
than is indicated by the above figures.
5. The emigration from Germany to this
country has never been one of paupers,
and, during the past three years especially,
it has consisted, to great extent, of people
of considerable means. Therefore, it does
not seem to us to help the free-trade side
of the controversy, but the contrary.
G. If the free-traders have ever mutt
lated the protectionists we are not aware
of it, and so cannot Judge whether any
thing else mutilates them worse. 1t is
enough for US that they have seriously mu-
tilated the country, by breaking down its
industry, by reducing it to condition of
Industrial and financial dependence on
England, and by plOngins it over head and
ears in debt. Such are the disastrous eff
fects of British free trade, and we rely
on our correspondents sincerity and open
ness to conviction, tina, he will now Join
with US in the endeavor to overthrow so
pernicious system.