Wisconsin tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1847-1854, 1852-10-07
Protection and Free Trade-again


/ penter, of the Madison Argus, one of the rel
confused his hearers and contradicted himself
| in attempting TO argue the Tariff question
| Mr.. Carpenter gave the people to un6 srstand
that he was a free-trade man himself; but
that the great party of which he was mem
) Der, yielding to the prejudice of the people
and the progress Of tho age, had not yet as a
party, settled down upon that principle. He
admitted that the question sectional one
| entirely tina: while the mass of the people
in some portions of our country were uniyer-
sally in favor of protection to their industry,
those of other sections were as generally OPP
| posed 10 any restrictions of trade. Now this
! is true so far as the democratic party is con-
! cerned, we know; but every intelligent man
! knows that the wing party throughout the
country, North, East, South and West,
adopts the american principle of rewarding
and encouraging the arts and manufactures on
our o,0n soil. This, with them is no princi-
pie to be bounded by rivers or State lines, for
they hold the policy to benefit mutually the
miner, the mechanic, the farmer and the man
ufacturer.
Wings Of Wisconsin, Georgia, and of
Pennsy lsania, uni'e in their earnest endeav-
oFs to secure the triumph of this policy while
the following call for democratic meeting to
be held at Reading Pa, shows the double
game which is now attempted for second
time, and by which the miners of Pennsyl-
vania were defrauded in 1874 & 1918. Here
il is literally:
"Friends of the Union and the Consti-
tntlon-dlsciples Of Jefferson and Jackson
adrocafes Of protection 10 agriculture, Com
'1erce, and NGnufacfures-all who 90 for the
common brotherhood of the North and the
South-come one-come ALTO ratify the
nomination OF the patriots, Pierce and King"
Now this word protection, used as a rally
ing cry in Pennsylvania, is, out west, accord
ing to Mr.. Carpenter, vile creation of the
wings. 1t "robs the poor to support the rich"
But ho1c, Mr.. c. did not explain to our salts
faction. If protection is such a talisman in
Pennsylvania, if it is so important to the in
terests of the people of that State, as both
rich and poor believe, why will not the same
policy conduce TO the interests of Wisconsin
and of all the great sisterhood of states We
have mines of lead, iron and zinc Illinois
has the same, with coal-and so have Iowa
and Missouri, and in fact no state is desti-
tute in this respect. Now, we can not see
why the same policy, acknowledged to oper-
ate so much TO the advantage of the working
classes in the older States, may not operate
as we'll here and elsewhere. Protection, it is
true stimulates manufactures and the build
ing of factories and workshops, and the con-
stFuctlon of machinery gives employment and
good wages to a multitude of men who had
previously been compelled to farm labor at
50 or $40 per month. Protection also stimu-
lates mining operations creating demand for
iron, lead and zinc, which demand can only
be supplied by the labor of citizens of this
country. Protection, also, by Withdrawing
laborers from the overstocked farms in most
portions of the land, to work at the vari-
Gus branches of manufactures, and min
ing, creates the demand for all the production
of the farmer, which alone can insure him
good prices and sure market. Those who
refer the producer to Europe for market for
their grain and other produce do not seem to
have made very close calculations. If these
politicians had grain TO sell they would not
like to look forward to a famine as the only
chance of improving the price and demand of
the article. They would, perhaps, look at
the actual figures, showing how much depen-
dence may be placed upon the state of Euro
pean markets. The figures below show the
= a. &, 81. II
-1649-being the year of the famine in Ire
land and Scotland. The value Of the bread
stuffs exported was
In 1919 ---..------..S68 ,70I ,92i
1850. -.-.S2 see, 04I 1873
1851 S2l ,848, 653
What the prospect is for the coming season,
every one can figure for himself.
SO much for the foreign market to which
Mr.. Carpenter and the free-traders generally
commend US. We sell more to the little
State Of Massachusetts alone, than we export
of breadstufs to Europe. As long ago as
1912, this State consumed products of other
States TO the amount of S42, 600, 900. Now,
by encouraging and supporting policy which
would make consumers of our own citizens,
how long would it be ere the mere pittance of
S2l,848, 653 which last year found its way to
European market, would find stomachs for
its consumption by the very doors of the pro-
Queer And we hold, that this steady home
market would more than compensate for the
trifing variation in price, which the free trad
ers would fam have US believe necessary
consequence Of protection.
This seems to have been the opinion of An
drew Jackson as expressed in his celebrated
Coleman letter, from which the following is
an extract:
take from agriculture in the United States
six hundred thousand men, women and chill
dren, and you will at once give d market for
more 6TeadsttITS than all Europe now furnish
es US with"
Alas for the party which claims Andrew
Jackson for one Of It's founders and patrons
sadly has It degenerated in these days.
?. y. HARTMAN.-The wings of the
Western District have put this gentleman
IN, 10, u