, 1866-01-17

1 LASALLz, H., Jan. 10, 1866.
Editors Chicago Tribune,
Since the question Of free trade vs, psotec-
tion Is fairly opened for discussion Ii your
columns, l beg your permission to say word:
The advocates Of protection copfound two
tiisttuct things n the statement Of their case,
.riz: ;...., 80 -.
What j. sor.' tho poeunlary iuteres. Of The
individual. and ~
What Is sound policy fol The Government.
: 1t lsquite apparent that the two, are not
necessarily identical. As, for Instance, It is
not tor The pecuniary interest OF the citizen to
maintain An army and naYT IN time Of peace !;
but 1t is sound policy for the Government to
do so. It was not for the pecuniary Interest
Of the individual to Incur tho expense Of put
ting down the late rebellion but 1t was wise
to do 30 on other grounds than those OF profit
and loss. :.
think the protection1sts do not attempt
to show that the consumer 81. protected man.
uiacturea Eeaps any advantage; they arc aat-
1sGed to maintain that he suffers no loss, Ad.-
hitting that this Is true, We must conclude
that the mass Of the people have no pecuniary
interest IN the question at all But DENY
that the lnteEests of a particular class can he
artinc1a1ly advanced except st the expense Of
somebody in other words. the people at large
aafs 10 Pay 1ae expense Ct projecting their
our manuiacturers cannot compete with tha
superior capital Of foreign countries. Var7
well, let rs turn Our attention TO what paws
Us best. and wait until We can acquire capital
70 maintain the competition. II small catitai
Is TO be protested against large capital, why
manufac1ufer, or merchant, or farmer be
'pIotectedn until he can do ns we'll In his
buHlnees as tho man Of larger meausY Tba
Idea Is 80 opposed to true Democracy that no
one viii advocate 1t. Why should men insiat
On investing the,r money in Improbable en-
up their losses? There are at this day dion.
sands Of square miles Of excellent coal, and
thousands Of tons Of excellent orc iu our own
country, located where 1t Is Improbable to
dcveloPe them. The day Will come when
tsey WI be wanted, and when 1t will be tor |
somebody's Interest 10 work them, but shall
We, protect" men who are IN haste to EN-
bark IN what will not pay, and who imagine
that the country requires to-day that partlcu-
Is there, then, any argument In faver OF
Frotect3on on the ground Of national policy
Ihe practice OF the English md French
Governments and our Internal revenue sy5tem
demonstrate that 1t is not necessary to rely
upon imports for rercnue. There arc nul-
utude Of ways OF raising money no morc bur-
dfnsome to the individual than tariff: taxes
upon sales, licences, and stampa ara, some Of
them Is tt on the principle Of preparing Tor
war In time Of peace that we must foster man
ufactu7cs and establish our Independence from
foreign nations? admit thns this argument
mas torcc, but deny that II Is applicable to
ourselves: We have just passed through d
war that has put I'LL our resources to the lest;
and the report Of the Quarternaster General.
recently published, states That that officer
was able to supply himself with every article !
that he needed, OF American manufacture,
with tho exception Of blankets.
It would appear, then, that American man
uiactures are sufficiently firmly established
to meet great energcncyiTand that they can
supply the wants Of the nation without fur
ther fostering care; and that there Is nothing
to be said IN favor Of protecting them on tho
score Of policy.
In fact, manufacturers and all other enter
prfses are being established In our country as
last ~ they viii pay, which is the test whether
they are needed or not +; and when they will
not pay, Let men abstain instead Of calling for