Cleveland morning leader. [volume] (Cleveland [Ohio]) 1854-1865, 1860-06-20
nIr. Seward on &c Tarla BIn.

Previous to the vote in the Senate by which
the House Tariff Bill was postponed till next
December, an animated debate took place in
which Mr.. Seward participated. In closing
his argument against postponing and in favor
. of the passage of the bill, Mr.. Seward said:
It is not my purpose to go into a general
discussion of free trade, but / must make
remark on one fact alluded to by the Senator
from PENNSYLVANIA, Mr.. CamGon. He re-
ferred to the town of PhenixYille as one of
the largest towns where the manufacture of
iron is scarried on in the State of Pennsylvania,
and he states that this town, which COM
municates with the market through the
canals and railways, has population of G, 900
persons who are dependant upon the iron
manufactures there. Those who go through
I Great Britain will be able to go into thirty
manufactures in a single town, where the
number of mechanics and operatives actually
employed in a single mandatory ofiron, is
greater than the whole population of Phenix-
vile. Whoever goes through Great Britain
and sees this great process Of manufacturing
iron, sees railroads running in all directions
from the mines, bringing up coal and iron
and running from the fOrges and fires, and
the blaze of chimneys to a hundred factories
at all times of day and night men, women
and children are engaged in the different de-
partments ofthis branch of industry, and as
YOU see them by the light of their fires at
night, it seems as though the whole population
was engaged in tearing out the bowels of the
earth, and burning them up. And the ques-
ton all over Europe is, whether there is any
fear that the United States viii change their
system of protection. This system has seemed
to me, all my life, to be erroneous, and what
Ihave seen of the world does not change my
opinion. 1t has seemed to me TO be injuri-
Gus not only as regards the revenue and
industry; but as regards the character and
developement of the country. What do we
do. We send our raw material TO Europe
What do we bring away from there7 We
bring back the manufactured article. How
does this tell upon the emigration from
Europe to the United States Whatever
there is of science, of art, and of education,
that is employed in these immense manufao-
tories of Europe, and all the benefits ofsociety
resulting therefrom, are kept at home, and
Europe sends to us her day laborers, and her
field laborers, whose only qualification is a
capacity to tiliour fields and dig in our mines,
in order TO send back to her the raw material.
We thus discriminate against art, civilization,
and the improvement Of civilized life, which
we might get from Europe. And we have
been pursuing this policy when this
whole emigration has been continual cause
of heart burning among the American peo-
pie, because it is said that the classes whom
we bring to our shores are incapable of ap-
pfeciating the rights of American citizen
ship, while we leave in Europe all that class
which would be eunobjectionable. Thus, also,
we import the ignorant and base from China,
and the Government of California protests
against the introduction Of class so low
Il seems to me that is the character Of the
policy which, it appears, is to be pursued
..,,. -l....-