The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1866-02-13
The Interests Of American Industry.

The Interests Of American Industry.
LETTER FROM MAJoR-GENERAL JOHN W. GBABY, IN
FAVOR OF Protection TO EVERY BRANCH OF
HOME LABOR.
The following letter from Major General John
w. Geary will be read with marked attention by
the people of the entire Commonwealth, evinc-
ing, as it does, noble regard for the interests and
prosperity OF the pursuits of peaceful labor, and
declaring in favor of that protection from which,
alone the Government can derive the necessary
revenue for ITS support, without resorting to
direct and oppressive taxatlon:-
To the Editor Of The Bveaing 7ete0rdph:-
Sir:-AsI am constantly in receipt of many
letters, asking substantially the same question,
namely, Whether i am IN favor Of protective
tariff, desire TO avail myself of your widely
circulated journal Tor the purpose of briefly
expressing my opinion upon this subject.
am in favor of the encouragement of Home
Industry, and of extending such protection to
American manufactures as Will make us entirely
independent OF any foreign county. Our true
policy should be to supply our wants, 50 lar as
we can, from our own resources, thus giving
remuLerative employment 70 our own people
instead of reducing their wages, by compelling
them to attempt to compete with the illpaId
labor of Europe.
BY means of protective tariff we develop the
resources of our country, increase the value of
property, open up new sources OF wealth, multi
ply the pursuits OF industry, create good mar
ket Tor all kinds of agricultural products; In
word we set In motion q system which, while it
benefits all classes of the community, does no in
Jury to any. Nature has been lavish of her Gifts
to us. She has given us mountains of iron, mex.
haustible fields of coal, bounteous supply of
the precious metals, while our soil and climate
are capable OF producing almost every variety
found in the vegetable kingdom. American
genius and enterprise have given to the world
most OF those grand inventions in machinery,
through whose agency the world has been revo-
lutionZed.
1t would seem that we possess all of the ele-
ments to make us a great and independent
nation. To ignore the existence of these great
natural advantages is to be blind to our own
interests; to fail to improve them, and to profit
by them, is to pursue a suicidal policy. The
interest on portion of our national debt must
be paid in coin. Is it wise to deplete che coun-
try OF all the specie it produces annually and to
cut oil the fountain which supplies us with a
hundred millions of revenue? To attempt this
policy is to render ourselves unable to pay the
interest upon the public deOt, and which, in the
end, would compel us to resort to reputation.
The man who eXpends three times as much as
he earns will soon be reduced to beggary
Nations cannot escape disaster unless they con-
duct their affairs upon the basis of sound prac-
tical wisdom.
To sum up this great question, in brief, think
that protection to every branch OF our industry
is impeTatively demanded and ought to be a6vo-
Gated by every true friend OF our country.
Very respectfully, your obedient servant,
JOHN w. GEARY.
Harrisburg, February 10, 1866.