The Emporia news. [volume] (Emporia, Kan.) 1859-1881, 1867-02-22
PRoTEOTTON.

w hen the new taFlH Dill WAS adopLod Dy
the Senate, both Pomeroy and Ross were
recorded as absent or Dot voting. This
may have been because they do not know
what their constituents desire of them in
she matter; or perhaps they were en-
gagged in the canvass at home. At any
rate, it is high time that We we're pre-
pared to express some opinion on the cub
ject. The present vaccilIating policy of
our government is most disastrous.
THERE'S no doubt that, at present, Eng
land can manufacture iron ware. cloth,
aud many other articles, cheaper than
We can do it in America. That is sim
ply because labor is cheaper there than
here. On the average, We pay to all sorts
Of laborers fully four times the wages
paid there. The consequence ID that
without protective impori-luties, our
manufacturing interests are PROSTATE
under the feet of English capitalists.
But do We obtain any cheaper wares on
that account? Far from it. The Eng
ish manufactures are in the hands of
comparative few men, and these are
combined in a complete and powerful or
gauization for mutual interest. When
ever protective tariffs have been repealed
in this courtrY. they have Immediately
gorged our market with goods, at such
prices as to totally ruin our manufac-
turers. and then, having the game in their
own hands, they suddenly advanced pri-
ces TO a most txorbitanL figure, to which
we helpelesslJ submitted.
Let US see how it works. We raise
wool and cotton, which we ship in the
raw state to Eugland; We also ship bread
and meat, probably a thousand pounds
per aunum for each operative. and re-
ceive in return manufactured goods, we
pay for all this vast series of transfers ;
doing this while coal-beds OF incalcula
BILE extent lie under our very feet, and our
water power is sufficient to do the manu-
facturing of the entire solar system
What sort Of economy Is this
To ship to England ton Of wool and
half ton of food, and to return the
manufactured product. costs at Least
$4,000; the annual tax which we pay
for each operative whom We employ in
England. That is far more than it would
cost to import the laborer himself.
A purely agricultural country is always
] poor country. l. is at the mercy of 1
3 thousand chances. With manufacture
unprotected, foreign war with n ara
time nation finds US in a wrelched dilem
ma. We mus: either do without necessa
ries, or else erect factories with lh,
assurance that they will be useless when
ever the war closes. The late slave states
, most still ipgly illustrate tie principle
With rich soil and a mild climate, al
the older states were growing poorel
year by year; they built up no grea
citiesi no thriving inland villages, nc
densely populated communities, threaded
by the avenues of commerce, and glow
ing by tie light of intelligence while
cold, barren. rocky New England was
becoming rich and great. During the
war, the people shivered in butternut.
and their few hastily improVised manu-,
factories collapsed at its close.
Look al Europe. Russia, with her
''bar barous tariffs" has become the most
powerful nation in Europe. A hundred
years ago, her people were little better
than savage nomads. wandering over a
frozen desert. Her government, founded
by the ilIustrous Gear Peter, settled upon
protection as her true policy, and has
adhered to it through good or evil report.
Now see the result territory vasler
than all Europe. manufactures, commeic &c,
civilization, and boundless wealth. auc
military power. So.
A hundred years ago, Spain and Tur.
key were great and populous empires
with all the departments of industry active
and prosperous. In an evil hour, they
accepted the help of England in some
foreign complication, the latter exacling
the ulVarying equivalent of free trade
We can see the consequence. With their
populations beggared. their manufactuiet
ruined. their power and prestige destroy
ed, these two nations are hanging on tn
very verge of xtiuclioD, completely unde
the feet of the "Nation of Shopk eepers,
and having no hope or promise for thu
futu.e.
We must not repeat their folly. w
want. TO see great manufacturing towns
growing up all around US. We want t
see our wool, our fax, our leather, woiket
up into their appropriate fabrics at gu
very doors. We want TO keep our agri
+ cultural products and our raw material
al home, and import men instead of mer
chandise. That is the way. and the onl.
> way, to grow rich, prosperous, and pow
erful.
Let this policy bs definitely and per,
manently inaugurated, aud the result
; could hardly be told. Our coal shaft
I -.vjI hr;nv ~ H. snrfaoa ,,niiroit.S