Daily Ohio statesman. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1855-1870, 1866-07-10
NUMBER 3.

tion-the adjustment of duties with o rea- 4 {
sonahlr regard TO the difficulties and the
wants of Tthe infantile industries of Ameri-
Ca" And this is all tue protection to
which the people ofathis country ever will
submit, or 10 which the judIcious friends of
the manufacturers ever will lay claim.
+ Nor can it be forgotten thar the manu-
iacturers, who are most voracions IN their
demands, have already profited by reduc-
tiOn of internal taxation. BY the revision
of the Internal Revenue act during the
pr sent session, tfie country has given up
$75O00,000 and the extent to which manu-
facturers have profited- BY the reduction
may be inferred from Mr.. Raymond state-0s
ments when discussing the new rate Of duty
on railroad iron;-,r f,-,r,.t ..,...,.
sd'The duty on railroad iron was raised
last year from $l2 40 per ton to $15.75, ex-'
pressly for the reason that the internal duty
amounted to $40. That internal duty
had been taken of, and yet it was pro-
posed now TO- raise, the duty on imported
iron 70, ,$22.50, equivalent to an increase of
$6.75 In addition to the $40 of internal
| tax taken off, being an increased protec-
tion Of SIS 10 per toni .L .y-1.lI 10 +.
80 Rapacty could hardly go much further.
To obtain reduction of taxation bearing
upon themselves, and at the same time and ia
for their own benefit to levy heavier taxa
IIOu upOil Jue COIutIluHlLy3 WOulu seem W u
be the ne Plus ultra of monop0lizing it,
genuty. Sharp it may be, and selfish IL
undoubtedly is : but the tariff which rests
upon sharpness and selfshness. or into
which these qualities largely enter, is not
likely tobe permanent. 'Ai' DIla a3'i
20 And here; again, Mr. Wilson's council
merits attention. If the manufacturers
were prudent, they would be content with
the tariff as it is rather than jeopardize the
protection they enjoy by constantly and
greedily struggling for more. For all
practical purposes the existing scale Of
duties is sufficiently high to stimulate do
mesticyproductiOn That under its opera
tion the great body Of manufacturers have
reaped bOuntiful harvest of profit is I'M
deniabe. The dividends declared by iron
companies and by the corporations of
Massachusetts and Rhode Island, during the
war, were large enough to satisfy any ord
mary appetite, although in many Instances
exceeded by the earnings of last year.
What more would they have? IIslit be-
lieved that the American people may be in
duced to guarantee continuance of ex-
orbitant gain to every capitalist or corpora-
ton that may engage in manufactured
Or that any right exists under which
manufacturers may knock at the coor of
the Capitol year after year, with claim
for such an alteration of duties as shall
| yield them all the profit they require?
True wisdom dictates a very different
course. 1t suggests a contented acquies-
cenee in duties so moderate in amount that
they shall offer guarantee of pcrmanence,
aud so reasonably adjusted that they shall
not challenge constant attention or pro-
woke etor,s for their abrogation. The
West, be it remembered, is the growing
power upon this continent. And the
West, we are confident, will not patiently
allow itself to be impoverished, that
MPssieurs Monopolists may gather gold
without hihdrance or limitation.-Neae
Y Ork Times (Repab.) )'"-s. .lI.iU U.s.. stlo