Gallipolis journal. [volume] (Gallipolis, Ohio) 1837-1919, 1862-08-07
ENGLISH MANUFACTURERS AND THE
TARIFF.
TFrOm the NY. Herald of Thursday.l

States, because the circumstances il
which this country is placed have com
PEELED Congress to raise the duty on for
eign imports to an average Of thirty
five per cent. British manufacturers
have used this country for SO many
years, as a sort of convenient recepta'
Gle for their surplus products, that
they seem to fancy they have vested
rights in our markets, and that the
people CT the United States are not en-
titled TO alter their laws without first
obtaining permission from Manchester
and Birmingham. If this country
were a dependent colony Of England,
and the Queen enjoyed the right Of
vetoing acts of Congress which con-
f1icted with the interests Of British shop
keepers, the language of the leading
organs of British opinion could not be
more arrogant or more domineering.-
1t is not likely that this outcry will
exercise any appreciable influence up
on public opinion in this country. So
long as we were at peace we were
willing to throw open our markets to
the manufacturers of all nations, in
cluding Great Britain.
Disregarding the complaints of our
own manufacturers, and in defiance
of the warnings of the champions
of home industry, the Congress Of the
United States has, for thirty years,
framed its tariffs on plan which, in
effect, rendered this country the
best customer Of Great Britain. For
thirty years the cotton and woolen
spinners and the iron founders of Eng
land have fattened upon the profits of
their export trade TO the United States.
While our own manufacturers have
barely struggled along, the proportion
of failures among them far exceeding
that of fortunes, we have built up the
great houses Of Manchester and Leeds
and Paisley and Birmingham. This
was in peace time; and if peace had
continued to prevail we should prob
ably have gone on as before, without
listening to the demands of home in
dustry. But the war has changed all
this. Pending the war this country
cannot afford to import large quanli-
ties of foreign goods. The war has
deprived US of our chief export-cot-
ton. II we import as many foreign
goods as usual we should be drained
of our specie. Besides, our own man.
ufaetprers are heavily taxed in conse-
guence of the war; it is but Just that
foreign rivals should be made to bear
corresponding burden. In raising
the duties on foreign imports Congress
has been guided solely by the most
obvious dictates of common-sense and
self-preservation. Passion and inter-
national animosity have had no share
among the motives which have con-
trolled its action. When the disap-
pointed manufacturers of England re-
cover their reason-which seems to
have been temporarily overturned by
the prospect of the loss of old custo-
mers-they will realize that under the
circumstances, Congress could not do
less than it has done, and that their
losses are at least in part chargeable to
their Government, whose recognition
of the rebels as belligerents first gave
hope and heart to the insurgent cause.
Further reflection will likewise satisfy
them that they had no claim to indul-
gence from the United States Govern
ment.
Leading British manufacturers have.
for year past, been engaged in max
ing arms, clothing and other goods for
the rebel forces. Leading houses in
Manchester and Birmingham have not
only shipped goods to the rebel ports,
but have owned shares in steamers
which have tried to run the blockade
most of which have been captured by
our vigilant blockading squadron
Almost without exception, the organs
of manufacturing opinion in England
have espoused the rebel cause, and
have demanded, with indecent rage,
the destruction of the country where
they made their money, and whose
uldi helS lue| Cldiu ds buelT property III
fee. 1t is hardly worth while to add
that nearly all the agents of British
manufacturers in this country, and the
British bankers, have made themselves
extensively conspicuous as sympathi-
zers with the rebellion and advocates
of secession.
If the people of England who feel
themselves aggrieved by our new tariff
will calmly reflect over these things,
they will understand that Congress
has rather fallen short of public ex-
pectation than exceeded it, in raising
the tariff on British products to an
average of thirty-fve per cent. Pop
ular opinion in this country would al
most have justified an embargo on all
imports from Great Britain, with the
less compunction as, in the opinion oi
the leading British journal, Great
Britain can thrive well enough on the
trade in opium to China, and on the
profits which British officials and their
dependents wiring out of the ryots ol
Hindostan.
II