, 1866-01-21
THE TARIFF.
Protecton's Rebutter to +, 4
Eastman.

! AAOtECGlb0S AtUultGr 10 r. A
Eastman.
Tho Present TariG-Dexree Of Protec
lion Adorded-1ts Rcyenne QuaJitlc
-Ffoflts Of MRnufacxurIn=-Ilow t,
Kedacc Them.
Editors Chicago Tribune:
The intelligent reader who had the patienc
10 wade Though the last letter from F. A
Eastman, Esq.,. must feel like cxclaiming, Il,
pennS's worth okbread to an iutolerable dea
OF sack ) an OUNCE Of truth to a ION o
rlgmarole, ounkam asd false assertions. Hai
he taken the advice OF his friends. he xonlt
have remained in his "hole." There Is NJ
role that would become him 90 well As II
1cnce. The prodIgal never wasted his snb
stance In riotoua living, as rapidly az tb,s
young man Is disposing OF his reputation a
political economist. It Is shockmgly ems
ciated now, and If be don't soon turn over =
new leaf he will never return to cat a fatted
calf or anything else.
/ The proper audience for tue ttrefofnder o
F. A. Eastman to Protection" cau only be
found in the classic faubourg Of St. Kiieub,
bin. No assemblage of sorereigns less intel
lfgent than the literary and scientific "Greeks,,
would properly appreciate 1t. II was eyi,
IDENTIFY written from that standpoint, and
should hare been flrst rehearsed there. VIII.
ness such expressions as the following: uThe
Government receives no sustenance, and the
consumers Of the iron pay 3 bounty to Penn.
sylyanIa of $50 on every ton Of manufactured
iron." ssTa1ing Illinois for the benefit OF
Massachusetts, employer compelled to
I pay three or four prices for his stock, must
| screw down hts workmen OF hold them to cx-
cessiTe hours Of toil.' Operators arc bare]r
paid enough to keep soul and body together y
No positive improvement In the condition
| Of the working classes" ssEmploye,s tepe.
ments growing more and more coutracted
| and dismal" Glass legislation and the
| tariff making the rich immensely richer, ana
the poor deplorably poorer" "The tariff Il
| bounty to the manufacturing nabobs.' ;,
1.-THE people can trnco 81 Of every Is into nj
pockets Of the monopolists." s'The anger Of
the people is rising, and when the storm
bursts, Protection and his 1ofd1y clients will
experience It's crushing power.n "Fnns to
the breeze the tag Of multiplication and au-
ti-nonopo1y! md strike now and every day
blows for liberty OF trado," &c.
But as must .economisc space, refrain
from farther cu1line those fragrant flowers
from the gentleman's stump speech, for It Is 8
regular old fashioned Copperhead harangue
for the great unwashed. Il must be said Of
the production, however, that the "good
things 1t contains are not new, and the new
things are not good" but it shows that the
gentleman Is blessed with good memory and
an easy conscience, to place before Republican
readers such rehash of worn ont Coppe1head
p1atitudes.
b1r. Eastman requested me to come out
from behind my fncognito and meet him with
the visor up. While should be most
happy to accede to his request I nm con.
strained to SAY that compliance is not
prudent. The force Of an argument in The
public estimation very materially depends on
who Is behind it. While I refnoit under !
mask the relative values Of his Arguments and
Hflne will be measured by their respective
is not impossible that his high position and
great popularity would give to bis statements
i prominence which my standing would
scarcely command, and place me at 4 SERIOUS
disadvantage. 1prefcr to let the popular ar.
bitramcnt rest simply on the merits of the
| popularity or personal consequence.
Mr., Eastman makes the following asse1.
tIous:
4
high that The domerhc manufacturer ts getting ioul
pnccs Tor his iron, and stfl is beyond the reach
competition. Here il Is all In nutshell: Trade I.
sestftefed when the duties do not admit Of the i'm
portattou Of iron, and the Government receives nc
sustenspce, and The consumers Of this article pay
bounty to Pennsylvania Of eco, more Ct less or
every ion manufactured. Snch Is the case to-day.' :
FIRST. What are those enormous duties
Take, for Instance, railroad bar-iron. Tue
tariff on foreign railroad bars Is fourteen dol
i In tnr, fH1nr
enue tax upon the domestic article Is $500 pei
ton. Add to this the tax Of $40 per ton on
pig iron the tax On coal, ta1 On machinery,
on salaries, ta1 On sales, licenses, stamps, and
The whole will aggregate not 1ess than So.00-
the manufacturers insist that It comes to SO
Reduced to gold the domestic tar Is s6.d0
Deduct this from the tariff. af $t4 per ton and
The protection is S7.G0 per ton on railroad Iron.
This Is the residuum oftruth after skinl1ning
ot Eastman's ffosh. But have omitted men:
tio1 Of all The taxes levied On tho aztic1es
consumed and used by the opera:
tiycs engaged IN making iron, aud
mining coal. The manufacturer Is obliged to
pay higher wages to his hands In consequences
Of nli the special taxes levied on What they
purchase, and This makes another serious re-
luction from his protection against tho for
eign manufacturer. need not 70 over the
whole catalogue OF iron, but the protection
on each article and the draw backs In the shape
OF internal taxes, licenses, &C., bear about the
same ratio to each other rs that shown in ro-
.Inanufacturcrs TINT they were better oli aud
| cn1oycd more " protection" under the very
moderate tariff Of 1886 than under the pres
cnt tariff, with the multitude Of Internal taxes
deducted thcrefrom. Lave no doubt but
this Is the actual truth. What becomes OF
tic assertion that the manufacturer Is getting
four priees fos his iron! Such mendacious
statements can only be characterized rs Esst-
,ndnisMs, .....r ....
SECOND. "The Iron manufacturers is getting
competition" all through bis letter Mr.
Eastman conveys the idea that the present
tariff Il not competitive but prohibltory. ]
find, by referring to the financial report Of
Secretary McCulioch, that during the year
1Sf,4-5 ending June &C, the imports Of railroad
iron amounted TO g, ,sos, ,6W insoice value In
Europe for bar iron imported, =: IL, $50 pig
iron nearly s679. .2Gb, aud Of all kinds Of Iron,
&IO.631, 40 invoice vnlnc In gold.
If the protection Is prohibttory, or $40 per
ton, how happened 1t that nearly twenty mil
lions worth Ii gold was importeds The Gov
eminent derived q revenue fhcreftom Of over
eight millions Of dollars in hard coin. How
did :. .Pcnnsylyanfa greed" receive a bounty
of SEQ per ton on this vast importation!
Tu1Rp. or cotton goods OF all kinds during
tho eaule fiscal year there were inpnrtsd
Ssc,G51 900 Forth-at foreign valuation, tn
gold, which yielded revenue Of Sle,;go99 ,3
profits made by the New England cotton mills
amounting Afr. E. inserted In former
letter from 200 to 500 per cent. II this is 80,
how happens It TINT nearly t*cnty-sonr mil
lions worth lin gold) of English and French
cotton goods we're imported Into this country
In the lGce Of a prohlbitory tariT?
FOURTH. Offax goods there were imported
from Europe $40, 4S3, ,0oo Invoice gold value,
paying duty Of nearly FIVE millions.