New-York daily tribune., 1854-09-14
THE FOOLS NOT ALL DEAD YET.

II is frequently asserted that the fools are
mot all dead yet, - and seeing the number Of
subscribers TO gift enterprises moOpshine rail-
roads aud other swndng schemes, We are
tempted to believe that the fact is so, and that
we have still remaining among us some of that
distinguished race. The scbemers are bviously
of this opinion, as otherwise they would scarcely
txpend so much in advertising, in hiring offices
and in paying agents. Such too, must, we think,
be the opinion of many Of our British free trade
contemporaries, the constant advocates Of Slavery
Extension. aud te ,chers of the advantages result
ing to the community from the payment OF high
rates of interest consequent upon the douot and
uncertainty that always follow 10 the wak. of
their CONNIE rcial policy. From week 10 week
tables are twisted and facts are altered To suit
their purposes; their whole object being -
prove that TO be true which every think
ing man must see to be false-that tae more our
farmers render themselves dependent on fJreiga
market in which to sell their products, and IN
which to buy their clothing and their iron, the
more independent wi they become, aud the larger
will be the quantity Of cloth and Of iron they will
obtain in exchange for the same quantity of fool.
Protection seeks to produce competition for the
purchase Of food, and for the sale of iron, aud
thus to bring about that sort of commercial free
dom which results from having choice of mar
kets in which to sell and 10 buy; but the people
we refer to prefer the system which Invariably
results in reducing the farmer to dependence on
single market, and this they are pleased TO
style freedom of trade. To prove that il is such
is difficult, and therefore it is that they fud them
selves so constantly driven to misrepresentation
Of well known facts. A fair specimen of t4is
will be found in the following paragraph from
The PHILADELPHIA Ltdger the leading advocate in
that city of British free trade
1--WE are in the midst Of a monetary pressure un-
equeled in tins country since that comm ncing in
1887 ard ending witt 1872. Those we're FIVE yesrs OF
sore trial carrying thousands upon thousands In COM
psraiive Gfusnce 10 ruin and poverty So great thea
vas the shock TO trade and enterprise that life
infused only by The operation Of national bank
rupt lew. That grea sponge wiped Out millions OF
liabilities aud the Tariff of 40 gave renewed life 70
specuatios We hope never 70 see the necessity for
any similar enacmenis laws so unjust aud 50 denor-
alizlne in their tendencies and Influences
The author of this must feel assured that tie
fools are not yet all dead. Forced to admit the
resemblance between the present time AMI the
last period of British free trade, he is careiul 70
eDdeavor to impose on his readers the idea tha:
bankrupt law had been required. as be says, TO
give new life" to trade; but he is equally care
ful to keep Outofview the fact that of all those ca
psble Of engaging in trade who PrOfted by ths:
law, the vast msjoriiy had beeu ruined 5y the
very system Of which lie is now the steady sdyo-
cate. They were the poor Democrats who then
had been, as now they are being sacrificed to the
money lenders. The sham Democracy of that day
beegsred the small operators and the laborer.
that they might still further enrich th )se who
were already rich.
ltwas, as We are here assured, the B,nkrupt
Law that gave new life to trade, and not the tariff
OF ls42. The latter only gave renewed life 10
speculation. Its really extraordinary ths, aay
journal should venture to commit itself before
the public by such an assertion as this. If we
know anything of the history of the period here
referred to- speculation was as great before the
passage Ofthe act Of 1872 as subsequent to it, but
the process was different. The speculations of
that day were made chiefly through the agency of