The Ebensburg Alleghanian. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1865-1871, 1869-01-28
Our Washington Letter.
WASHINGTON, Jan. %, 1869.


The present has been a week of more
than ordinary interest in Washington. In
the Senate, on Monday, the Finance Com
mittee reported bill embracing the views
of the Committee on the question of re-
sumption of specie payments by the Gov
ernmcnt 1t will undergo the process of
discussion, after which the country will be
presented with the result of the Senate's
deliberations.
The Senate, on Tuesday, passed tie
blouse Copper Tariff Bill" which gives
protection to those engaged in the devel-
opment of the copper deposits on Lake
Superior. Much anxiety was evidenced
in the passage of this bill 1t was plainly
shown that, unless the Government would
afford adequate protection, the working of
the copper mines must stop. With COM
mendable promptness, Congress came to
the rescue, mainly through the indefatiga-
BILE exertions of Senator Chandler, of
Michigan.
Although Pennsylvania may not be di-
richly interested in this bill, her manu-
facturers are encouraged in the adoption of
the policy involved in it. If the copper
interest Of Michigan requires the helping
manu- VI Tue GIC 1IOH air Wal
interests of Pennsylvania demand like
protection against foreign competition
Congress will certainly not be disposed to
shield the former, and permit the latter to
be over-ridden by the poorly paid labor of
England The Senators and Representa-
tivcs of Pennsylvania in Congress should
be unit on a question involving so much
Of prosperity or depression.
Permit me to say here, that in Senator
Cameron you have one whose sleepless
vigilance never tires in defending and
promoting the manufacturing interests Of
his State. His lifelong devotion to the
protective policy has signalized him as the
champion of a protective tariff. In the
next Congress, he will have colleague
who fully sympathizes with him in the adj
vocacy of this great principle Together
they will be host in battling for a tariff
system, upon the establishment Of which
the future advancement of the Keystone
State SO much depends. The Republican
| Pennsylvania Representatives in the House
will be no less true to their constituents,
in advocating and voting for the enact
ment of law absolutely necessary to Sc
cure protection to home manufactures, and
| the development of the mineral resources
| of the State. No one of your members
understands this question better, or is more
thoroughly acquainted with the practical
working of protective laws, than Mr.. Nor
rell His own interest is identified with
that of his people, What secures his pros
perity secures theirs. There is a reciprO-
city between them. Under such circum-
stances, the people of the 18th district are
in no danger of being misreprcsented.
| have listened to, and read in books
and published speeches, finely expressed
| thnnrios thio toriF question. | have
lived long enough to have seen the opera
tions and results of the two antagonistic
systems-of merely revenue system, and
Of a protective system-and | have been
convinced, that it is idle to talk Of the
prosperity of the laboring man, if the
manufacturer is not prospering at the same
time. AS an Illustration, L put the case
to your readers, and ask them to imagine
the consequences of the sudden and imme-
diate discontinuance of the operations of
the Cambria Iron Company, and other
! kindred works. Why, in less than six
months your town of Johnstown and ad-
joining boroughs would become depopula-
ted Real estate would only have NOM
inal value. The inhabitants, dependant
upon labor for support, would leave for
some other locality. The merchant would
follow his customers. All branches of
trade and traffic would "die out" The
farmer would be deprived of home mar
ket for his produce, now selling at prices
| equal, in the aggregate, to those paid in
New York or Philadelphia, and which the
consumer is abundantly able to pay from
the proceeds of well paid labor.
Let each citizen of Cambria county look
this question fairly and squarely in the
face, and examine for himself, closing his
ears to the sophistries of demagogucs, and
the hypocritical professions of trading poll
ticians If he will do so, I apprehend he
will coincide with me in the opinion, that
the interest of capital invested in manu-
factures, and in the development of the
mineral wealth of our State and the inter
est of Labor necessary for the utilization
of that capital, are one and inseparable. To
the securing of protection Of both capital
and labor, protective tariff is iudispensa-
ble If we would have protective laws,
we must elect representatives favorable to
their enactment. Such, only, are to be
found in the Republican party.
The House of Representatives has given
emphatic expression to its views on the
questions of subsidies in bonds and money,
and land grants, by the Government, in
aid of railroads. While the expression of
the House has been in opposition to grant
ing subsidies, it has been no less decisive
in favor of land grants to improvements
calculated to open up to settlement the
vast unoccupied territory west of the Mis-
s:ss;ppi river. And why should not such
| .rr.,nts he nnnln 2 Invn we not the eyi-