Clearfield Republican. [volume] (Clearfield, Pa.) 1851-1937, 1868-02-06

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Of his own labor
1t is the right Of every man TO ex-
ert his powers Of body and mind foi
his own good. 1t is necessarily, there
fore, right of every man TO take the
products of his own skill and labor
and exchange them freely for the pro
ducts of the skill and labor of any
other man in the world, on such terms
as the two may agree are for their
mutual benefit,
This free exchange Of labor concerns
only the two, and cannot injure eth.
ers. No one has the right 10 NEEDLE.
No Government ought 10 meddle with
or hinder this free exchange.
A Government has the right to take,
by taxation, so much only as is neces-
sary for its support. 1t should do so
by making the burden of taxes bear
equally on all. III Government af-
fords special favor or encouragement
to one form of labor, the other forms OF
labor are neglected and thus positively
discouraged In this country the
Government cannot give any special
encouragement or favor TO agriculture,
because We can furnish the products
of agriculture much more eheaply
than they can be brought hither from
any part of the world Our country
has more than three-fourths of its peo-
pie engaged in agriculture SO that
our government eannot,if il would, by
any discriminating tax-laws, protect
as it is called, or favor, the great ma
orlty OF those who live by their hon
est labor. In trying TO afford special
protection or favor to any OF the other
forms oflabor, it is clear that the GOV.
ernment is making laws for the good
of only a small minority, and impos-
ing positive and unequal burdens upon
the great majority-tbe farmers. The
Southern farmer produces, say bale
OF cotton he can exchange this, in
the markets Of the world, If the Gov
ernment will let him, for at least two
tons Of iron. But the Government
steps in and imposes a heavy duty on
iron, not for the support Of the Gov
ernment, because it would get more
revenue by means of lower duty, but
for the special benefit of the iron mas
ters Of this country. The result is:
The Southern farmer gets only one
ton of iron for his bale OF cotton. The
Northern farmer produces SO many
bushels of wheat. Left free 10 ex-
change it with the blanket. et.malers Of
the world, he could get for the same
quantity ofwheat, two blankets where
all the clothing OF his family.
The poor man requires as much
warmth, nourishment, and shelter, as
the rich man. The rich man needs no
more tea, no more coffee, no more
sugar, no more blankets, no more
fuel, than the poor man. In the pres.
ent system ofduties, therefore, the rich
man pays but little more than the
poor man. 1t is worse than this,
for the highest duties are put upon
the coarsest fabrics, which the rich do
not. but which the poor must use. A
woman cannot dress in the cheapest
manner without paying a tribute Of
several dollars, out Of her earnings, TO
the manniacturers--a class provided
for wealth. When a Government dis.
tributes the burdens OF its necessary
maintenance so uhcqually, it does not
tax it robs.
The income Of tho Government is,
of course lessened by high duties; for
revenue is got on the goods which
come in, and the aim of Protective
duties is to keep the goods out. The
people pay more that the Treasury
may receive less. Not only is the
farming class, and with it the great
body OF consumers, including the me
ohanics Of the country, made to suffer
by system of Protective duties, but
the nation, in its collective capacity,
is impoverished. No doctrine can be
more fallacious than that which main
tains that thewealth of a country can
be increased by restraining a majority
ofits inhabitants from obtaining for
their labor the most they can.
Protective tariffs are carried through
Congress by combination Of private
interests; the sugar-planter is won
over by a duty greater than the
cost Of producing sugar elsewhere
Theron master, the cotton and wooden
manufacturers, receive severally their
separate advantage in tho way OF
special favor TO their occupations
and, joining forces, they roll the unjust
law through, to the wrong of all the
rest of the people. These classes are
a small minority even OF the people of
their own States; they are all put
together, a very minute minority of
our whole people. Every farmer,
every planter, every laboror, every
carpenter, mason, sewing-woman, ev-
cry worker ia this country, every
consumer in fact, except the few who 4
derive a profit from these petted oc-
cupations, is robbed daily and hourly, |
and their earnings are put into the 1
pocket Of the favored few.
In a great number of instances, the
effect Of these Protective duties is the
grevious oppression of the poor. Tho
duties imposed on foreign coal cause
great misery in all our large towns on
the Atlantic coast through the doar-
ness Of fuel The duties on iron, which
have made it enormously dear, bear
heavily on all classes All kinds of
have become oppressively
dear through the effect of Protective
duties. Paper, the great vehicle of
knowledge, has been exorbitantly en-
hanced in price by the same means
bringing a dollar into the