Lewistown gazette. [volume] (Lewistown, Pa.) 1843-1944, 1860-05-17

From which it will be seen that the amount
of iron imported into the country for ten
years and seven months, under the tariff of
1916 was equal to 4207 0O0 tons. costing
$3.50, SCI 600; or over 400, 900 tons annually,
and over So, 600, 900 every year, as our other
imports, independent Of iron, greatly exceed
ed all our exports, it may be fairly claimed
that every dollar of this vast sum had to be
paid in gold and silver. What a depressing
effect this would have upon the manufactu
rer Of iron in this country, and how much
benefit the distribution of this sum, or even
one half Of it, would have conferred upon the
business of the country, it is not necessary
to state. Every man Of ordinary ntelli
gence must at once see and acknowledge IT,
The time has passed when it was alleged, and
to some extent believed, that the interest Of
the manufacturer and farmer were opposed
to each other. No fact in political economy
can be more surely demonstrated than the
entire harmony of all the great industrial in
terests Of the country. When the manufac
lures are prosperous, and labor has constant
demand and fair wages, the farmer finds
ready and profitable market So, on the con-
ttary, when manufactures languish, and an
undue proportion of the labor Of the country
is Withdrawn from them, and either not prof
itably engaged or not engaged at all, the
farmer fails to find his accustomed home mar
ket, and every department Of enterprise and
business languishes.
The true mode of laying a tariff upon all
articles of luxury is as high duty as they
will bear without excluding their importation.
On all those articles which cannot be produ-
ced here, and are needed by our manufactu-
rers, and on all articles of necessity, used by
the poorer classes as well as the rich, which
are not the production Of this country. there
shall be no duty whatever. This is the
principle which governs the bill reported by
the Committee of Ways and Means, and
must commend ITSELF by its justice and pro-
priety, to all who desire to promote the pros
pcrity of the country, and the interests of
our citizens without increasing their burd-
ems.
Specific duties, when the article is Of uni
form value, or nearly so, are to be preferred
for their simplicity and their freedom from
temptation to frauds, even as a revenue meas
ure. As protective principle they are indis-
pensible to that uniformity and stability so es-
sential to make it Of real value. As an IL
lustration, take the article Of iron. | have
before me the prices current Of iron in Liver
pool, for a number of years, under the tariff
Of 1916. In 1850 the average price of bar
iron in Liverpool was E5 l0S.; in 1851 it was
Gl0 l0s.-withn trife of one hundred per
cent. difference in one year in 1852 it was
G5 Is 3D.; in 1853 60; in 1854 Gl0, &c; the
duty, of course, varying with the price of the
article, increasing as the price increased, and
decreasing as the price fell. 1t is manifest
that this kind of duty can afford no protection.
If the principle was changed, and the duty
increased as the price fell, so as to keep the
value uniform, it would be much nearer the
true mode, and might be regarded as to some
extent a measure of protection as well as one
of revenue. A departure from specific duties
is only justifable when the article so varies
in price as to render them unjust or impossi.
bic. This bill is framed upon that principle,
and so combines the two as to make 1t liable
to no objection on that account.
The duty on iron, which is one [ have ex.
amined with some care, does not vary essen
TALLY from that of 1916 The average duty
on railroad iron under the tariff was so 40
per ton and on bar iron, by rolling, Sl3 80;
and on pig iron 81 65. So that the present
duty is but little over one dollar per ton in
crease. But this is not fair statement, so
far as the price TO the consumer Is concerned.
1t is we'll known that the duty under that law
is an ad ratorem one on the invoice price IN
England When delivered here, if the mar
ket does not Justify its immediate sale, it is
stored in Government warehouses, without
any duty being paid until the price increases
or the wants of the owner requires him to
sell: so that the actual price to the consumer,
under this bill, will probably average but lit
tie, if any, more than under that, while the