Cleveland daily leader. [volume] ([Cleveland, Ohio]) 1865-1873, 1866-01-20
British Free Tricks OfIs46
and the Warnings of 1865.

distress, it may be well to look back to
some foreign efforts to influence our indus
trial and financial condition in years not
long gone by. We allude especially to the
so-calIed HBritish free trade" efforts,
which may more fifty becalled the endeav-
ors of a powerful class of British capital
lists, whose reliance for continued power
and ascendency must be largely on their
manufactures, to maintain that ascen-
dency as toward this country by talking Of
free trade Uhite carefully protecting than
selves.
In 1910 the first move of importance
was made in this direction by q report to
Parliament of a committee of which
Joseph Hume was Chairman. How ready
he would be to inaugurate real free trade
may be judged from his wish expressed
some years before in Parliament, that "the
manufactures of the continent might be
strangled in their cradle"
The keynote to this experiment was the
statement of one of the witnesses exam
ined before that committee q. D. Hume),
he said: "There is a very strong impress
sion in all foreign countries that we have
risen to our present prospect y through
our system of protection, and that they
have only to adopt the same system in
order to succeed as we have done; and
hat he would remove the protective duty
on cotton manufactures for the sake Of
holding out to the world an example"
That is, decrease the tariff on cotton,
or any other well-established manufacture,
in order to do away the every strong i'm
preston" abroad, that protection had made
England rich, keep up protective tariffs
on whatever products of English work
shops needed them, and mGgnaninaoUsLy
cry "free trade"
In the parliamentary Report of Com
mittee," published in England, vol. 8, p.
SO, may be found this testimony. In a
report of Nj. Hume's committee, pub
lished for circulation in this country, it's
not to be found. 1t was not adapted to
our latitude" as the almanac makers say.
Another witness before that committee
(P. Dillon said: Every great objections
lie to ad valorem duties; they are con-
stantly evaded. Few attempt to deny
that when they make returns of values,
they make false returns" This is not
found in the report for circulation here.
Of course it was for their interest that we
should keep up the ad valorem system,
whereby importers of British goods could
better defraud our revenue.
The changes in the British tariff were of
so little moment, that the average of
duties for two years before the Wanted re-
vision of 1910 was f22, 627, 494, and for two
years after f22, 100, 1886.
When our tariff was reduced in 1916,
whatever may have been the motives of
some of its supporters, it was intended to
encourage the importation of British goods
and British influences were largely brought
to bear. On reliable authority we have a
list of subscriptions of persons and firms
in Manchester, Glasgow, &c, amounting
to &I2, GOO or SEQ, 600, pledged to this end;
and over 81, 900, 600 of British money werO
said to have been spent in Washington to
shape our revised tariff to suit their inter
ests. The result was, that while our aver
age imports for five years, from 1912 to
1916 inclusive, had been $l02, 9,456, that
average for the next five years, after their
revision, rose to 1921, 1863, 044. OF this vast
increase England largely gained the benefit,
and then came the crash of l847, with its
failure of capitalists and distress of the
poor. May we not take warning now2
During that session of 1s46, while Con-
gress was engaged on the tariff, a base
ment room of the Capitol was used for
showing samples of British goods, and
estimates were made of their prices, and
singular statements of the effect Of the old
tariff in increasing those prices.
Such shameful use of our country's
Capitol might we'll be buried in oblivion,
were it not full of warning needed by us
to-day.
There Southern members of Congress
were taught the mystery whereby an ar
ticle sold for six cents a yard was increased
four cents a yard in price by an odious
duty for the benefit of Yankee monopol-
lists" and thus was inflamed a bitter hatred
that has since blazed out in a terrible re-
bellion, to which British capitalists readily
furnished their Alabamas and ShenaL-
doahs to sweep the ocean as pirates fitted
out by foreign neutrality. British manu-
f%acturers made skilful use in 1876 of
Southern jealousy toward the prosperity
of the free labor of the North, and the
South gave forty-eight votes, seventeen
from Virginia, for what might fifty be
called the Manchester tariff.
Now that slavery is gone, and the in
terest of free labor is one all over this
country, let US beware of deceptive free
trade cries and foreign plots against our
industry, and learn to give fair and living
protection to all branches thereof IN the
"live and let live" principle.
The need of watchful vigilance now may
be seen blythe following extract from alet-
ter of our American Consul at Liverpool
to a gentleman in this country last May
"Great efforts will now be made by Eng
lish capitalists and manufacturers to in
duce US to reduce our tariff, and permit
them to do all our manufacturing they
are beginning to stir this matter already
"They will struggle hard to break
down our tariff"
'There will be a terrible pressure put on
the Government"
The Mining Journal, a large and able
English sheet from London, Dec. 10, says
in its report from Statfordshire: 1.-THE for
NAL constitution of q Free Trade League
in the United States is a very hopeful
sign. 1t is very hard for jewellers in an
other land to judge of the prospects of
such an organization, but it has clearly
many things in its favor.
1.-THE representatives from the South are
almost sure to vote for il, and it viii be
strange if the West does not. = >
Should these anticipations prove true, we
may expect a very large trade with that
country"
1t IS significant that these foreigners
suppose the south to be opposed to free Ia
Dor, and therefore that it will stand under
the shade of its old prejudices and vote for
their interests. We may see them mis-
taken. The South wants manufactures in
its new condition. AS for the West with
its thousands of workshops, its growing
wool manufactures, its great iron business
of some $35, 100000 yearly, and just be-
ginning, its difficulty in sending its pro-
duce abroad and need of home market,
we Judge our people will see their interest
in manufactures here, rather than encour-
aging the Every large trade with England
which SO ~rejoices in prospect these free
trade advocates over the water, especially
as such trade would add a avery large >
debt to our heavy burden of that kind
abroad.
Any arrangements for mutual good on
the part of England or any other country
should be met in a generous spirit. Any
are an S&en; DUr II tn4y choose 70; DO I
so, it should be borne in mind that thereby
their interest, so far, is one with ours, and
that our prosperity will be solid only as
our home industry tbrives and our policy
is shaped to that end. WEsTERNER.
The Conflict at Richmond, Kentucky.