The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1867-03-29
CURRENCY AND rAxAIIoN.
Foreign and Domestic Manufacturer.
From. a letter to The CAfeqco 4, fb,1,,..

1
Foreign and Domestic Manufactures.
| FTOusG a letter to the Chicago n fbtzss
The two principal defects in our pres.
ent system, which give the foreign
manufacturer decided advantage
over the home manufacturer in our
markets, have been pointed out by Mr.
| Wells.
1. Our internal taxation is crude and
oppressive. 1t is modelled after the
bar6arous system that existed in Eng
land thirty years ago, before the genius
of Gladstone had perfected the art of
taxation. We tax everything that is
| produced, or that enters into produc.
ton, directly or indirectly, by stamps
and by licenses, by an excise or by a
tariff. We not only tax the raw mate
rial, but each stage of its manufacture.
and culminate in taxing the final pro
duct. Taxes are duplicated, and redu.
plicated, and the consumer has to pay
the Interest, and profit on every tax
that has been paid, before the article
reaches him. The opposite system con-
sists in concentrating taxation on few
articles, taxing those thoroughly, and
letting the great mass go free. In Eng
land, the chief weight of taxation has
been thrown on not more than a dozen
articles, and while the sum annually
raised has not been materially dimin-
ished, the burden OF taxation has been
reduced one-halfs
2. The tendency of an inconvertible
currency to impoverish country, is
too often lost sight of. This tendency,
proceeds, not only from the stimulus
that is given to speculation at the ex-
pense of labor, but from the manner
in which prices are enhanced. Prices
are raised to a point corresponding TO
the highest fiuctuation of the currency,
and are limited only by the endurance
OF the public; while further addition
is made, as insurance against the-un-
certainty and insecurity of the curren-
cy. The effect of which is, to add to the
cost of manufacturing, as we'll as all
other branches of production, and to
make prices relatively higher in our
country than in foreign countries.
3. To these should be added another
fact which gives the foreign manufac-
turer an advantage over the home man.
ufacturer in the American market, and
that is the low premium on gold 1t is
mistake to suppose that the premium
on gold measures the depreciation of
the currency. The true measure is
the average advance in general prices,
and not the advance in any single arti-
Gle of merchandise, such as gold. And
in estimating the advance, other causes,
such as taxation and a war demand,
must be left out of view. The prices OF
many articles are above that average,
ofothers, below it. Gold was above
that average when the Stevens bill
drove the whole supply of it out of the
market, while leaving an active de-
mand for 1t to pay duties. AT the pres
ent time gold is below that average;
Tor the controlling influence in regula-
ting the premium is the demand for
our bonds in the European markets.
The premium on gold now measures
the value of our bonds, and not the de-
probation of our currency. If the above
conclusions are true, it is evident that to
estimate the precise depreciation of the
currency, is impossible. 1t seems GER
tain, however, that the price of gold
Nl35) Is much lower than that of most
other articles fmerchandise. It Itshould
also be remarked that's gold Is not taxed.
From these causes IL follows that a
dollar in gold will buy less in these
United States than in any other coun-
try on earth. This country, therefore,
is good country to sell in; and the for
eign manufacturer, having gold cur
rency, equal taxation and a low tariff
at home, finds the American market
one of his most profitable, notwith-
standing our enormous duties on i'm
ports. Nor could the tariff be raised to
any point that would relieve our
manufacturers of the disadvantages
resulting from the above causes. Be-
damage the home market by diminish
ing the amount of consumption.
The true remedy lies in another di-
rection. Return to specie payments
not by contracting the currency, but
by settling all past debts, that of the
nation included, at their present actual
value, and then begin anew. LET the
dead past bury its dead" while we
provide for the future. The manner in
which it can be done bave already sug-
gested. By adopting the method of set
Ting all past debts in greenbacks, the
annual interest on the national debt
could be reduced to less than SlOO, ,oOO.-
600, and, as gold would be the standard
OF value, economy would necessarily
become the order of the day; the ex-
pense of the nation could then be re-
duced one-half, and just system of
taxation inaugurated; the articles taxed
would be few, but those would be taxed
efficiently, whisky and tobacco could
be made to bear one-third of the bur
den; while the desire of the manufac-
turers to compete in the markets of
the world would ultimately settle the
tariff question in favor of a moderate
revenue tariff.
The demand of the manufacturers tor
return to specie payments is right,
The clamor of the bond-holders, on the
other hand, proceeds from a desire to
bag the remaining thirty-three per cent
OF speculative profits. The Just claim
of the one ought not to become a foun-
dation for the swiudle of the other.
q GN0rv fn U,ffn