Charles City intelligencer. [volume] (Charles City, Floyd County, Iowa) 1864-1866, 1866-04-26

to make it equal, and shouts /" Monepo.
ly ~ to decry our manufactures,
strikes at our infant enterprises, builds
up mighty rivals, and deserves execra-
ton. l venture reply, and propose
to " .....# #.....I .f ~.
/. Examine into the charge of mo-
nopoly. ". ."
2 The theory and practical results
, of free trade. # .-f .,a"
3. The true policy and Just demands
> of the agricultural interests Of the
, Northwest. 7fiar
MONOPOLY.
Monopoly is a most convenient term
of reproach on the lips of free traders
who find it more convenient to excite
prejudice than to answer arguments,
it meaning exclusive advantages or
control by production or sale. 1t is
easy to prove that free trade tends di.
rectly to establish foreign monopoly,
while protection will distribute the
benefits of trade and production at
home s..' -. a......
A hundred years of direct and indi-
rect production, by the British Govern
ment, Of their manufactures, has
! brought together well-skilled labor,
and making an alliance with money
ed power has secured colossal fortunes
which at the first opportunity would
be launched upon infapt enterprises.
paying larger interest for money and
meeting heavy internal taxes, and with
out government protection. .tr..
! Great Britain has had long expert
ence She controls her own markets,
and has the power to combine her mer-
chants, ship-masters, and capitalists to
break down any rivals. She has moth
ing to fear from unfricndly legislation,
and experience has given technical
and business skill which sways capi-
tai that will forego returns to day, if
on the depression or ruin of our indus
try she can in future dictate prices to
her rival as in the past. .-l
The power of capital cntices the
; strong and controls the weak. In the
e language of Edmund Burke, "Thc
/! capitals Of Great Britain are the great
: instruments of warfare against the
4 competing capital of foreign countries,
and are the most essential instruments
; now remaining by which the suprema-
, cy Of our manufactures can be MAIN
tained." Our labor costs thirty per
cent. more than hers and cash capi-
tai is fifty per cent. dearer but by
protection our workmen became so far
: skilled, and aid to such an accumula.
: tion of capital by skillful management
that certain articles are made cheaper
here than in any other country There
! are, Of this class, printing presses,
: sewing machines, lndia-rubber goods,
: reaping and moving machines, forks,
. hoes, shovels, cut nails, combs, tacks,
and clocks. Who believes that if Great
Britain alone manufactured these arti-
cles that they would be as cheap as
now when we can defy her competition
in the markets Of the worldg Repeat.
/ edly has she broken down rivals to con.
, troll the markets, and nothing is plain
er than this, that the spirit which for
babe the colonies to manufacture be-
fore the Revolution, aud has used the
power Of genteel bribery to break
: down our tariff, was to establish a for
: eign monopoly, whose establishment
: could be measured by the dependence
Of labor, and their regard for us by
} the prospect of nantional destruction.
If, then, tariffs create a monopoly.
it is one in which the Government and
the whole people have an interest, fur
: nishing articles for taxation and Civ
ing scope for enterprise and Diversity
ing labor, establishing independence
: and thrift by those methods approved
+ in the history of the strongest and
I wisest Governments Of earth 1t is
5 our first duty to secure to the nation
: those privileges TO which the endow-
ments of nature give title to. dis
criminate against another Government
is to invite labor on our own soil to-
be better paid, and where the citizen
may find a fair field for his industry
) and skill. Is it then the monopoly Of
I trade or a section? Not at all He
D may at his option work in leather, at
, the forge, in the cotton or woollen mill,
+ whether citizen of Maine or Iowa.
I There are no special permits for the
? purchase Of cotton or wool or leather.
: Water-power, from the Merrimac to
e the Missouri, can be obtained for a tri-
/. vial sum. In Pennsylvania, coal lands
: by the acre can be bought at the ratio
of one mill a bushel for coal in tile
, mines and iron ore at one penny
ton. The untold mineral wealth Of
: Lake Superior and the iron mountains
of Missouri are awaiting purchasers
J at nominal prices. From the meeting
of the turbid waters of the Missouri
! TO the leapng Minnehaha, there is wa
ter power, virtually free, sufficient to
weave clothing for all the people on
the globe, and coal sufficient in the
State of Iowa alone, by the testimony
of geology, for domestic and maufac-
turing purposes to meet the wants Of
e of all civilized nations, which can be
bought at the price of a New Jersey
: peach orchard or New England pas
ture by the acre. Where is the manu-
! featuring monopoly? Capital from
J abroad and skilled labor are more
q than welcome. Theprotection of law,
, national pride, and every social inter-
est, invite competition and summon
5 capital, enterprise, and skill, to share
r the dividends of mechanical industry.
What is more delusive, then, than this
cry of monpoly when all the avenues
/ OF trade on our own soil are alike open
! to every capitalist or free-trade croak-
er, native or foreign?
: THE PROPOSED ASTIDorE.
turn to the antidote Of monopoly
: free trade--most wonderful panaceu
for nations ills, as If the physician.
prescribing in sickness, ever took his
own medicine. 1T is not France with
, her annual tariff duties being next in