New-York tribune., 1869-04-05

Coo ner cent lower. In making up his estimate
nf n Iaborers living here, he included barrel
of "St. Louis Extra" to represent the cost OF
Flour but ignored all other Flour Whatever!
IF any one believes that st. Louis Extra Is
the brand of Flour mainly consumed by our
Laboring Glass, he will judge this 1alr: IL not,
he NAV consider it smart, but not particularly
creditable to Mr.. Young or his master.
Let us, for arguments sake, assume the truth
ne Mr.. Wells's cOnclusion-that the residents OF
our cities and manufacturing villages are pay
ing 7S per cent. moro lin currency for their
food than than they did Gn gold) just before
onr late Civil War tcho receives the ddrdntdgeY
The cost of transportation has certainly not
increased in that ratio: so our farmers must be
receiving in the average about twice as much
lin currency for their produce as they diu VI,
cold) in 1860. Is this q National misfortune
Bear in mind that a large majority OF our peo-
ple draw their sustenance directly from the
soil-are sellers rather than buyers OF food,
If YOU say it is the Tariff that has made Food
so dear, do you not prove that Gen. jackson
was right in maintaining that the true way to
benefit our farmers was by such efficient Pro-
lection as would divert large portion OF our
Labor from Agriculture to Manufactures
And if it be now true that our farmers are TOO
we'll paid for their produce, how easy and
natural the process Of correction through the
depletion of our cities and the rapid extension
of our Agriculture
Mr. Wells quotes the Hon. John Pool of
n. c. rs saving that, on the sea-coast of his
State:
Salt which before the War could be bought for 10 to
90 cents per bushe costs from co to 20 cents per
busheL"
If Mr. Wells had appended to this aver
ment the simple fact that the duty on Salt mot
the increase since 1860, but the entire duty is
exactly eighteen cents per hundred pounds, he
would have afforded key to the general ac-
curacy and value of his statistics, and proved
himself a fairer man than he now seems to be.
No evil spirit ever evinced such repugnance to
holy water as Mr.. Wellss friends do to giving
publicity to the fact that the present duty on
imported Salt is exactly eighteen cents per hund-
red pounds.
Mr.. Wells complains Of the mode in which
his former statements have been controvcrted,
and takes care not to allud1 to the careful and
searching review to which they have been sub
iected by Mr.. Henry C. Carey-a review GER
tainly not inferior in candor and completeness
to any document that ever emanated from the
Commissioner. He says:
No one has challenged tho statements OF the Commits
soner respect to the profits and enhanced cost OF pig
in the United States and in Europe No one has disputed
the evidence he submitted showing that the present tH
monopoly as enables them TO dictate prices and TO
mulate profits that almost without precedent In the
assertion that present tariff lumber has unDeoes
sariy increased the cost OF all constructions OF wood
from the cottage Of the aborer to the fencing OF the aS
culturist"
To which THE TRIBUNE replies (and we
beg the Commissioners attention) that
l. If there be great profit in making Pig Iron
in this country, we still import it largely from
abroad, while every element Of its production
is most abundant and widely diGused among
u.s. No where on earth can Ore, Coal I'm
the mine,) Wood (for Charcoal) &C., &c, be
obtained more cheaply than in at least half the
States of the Union. If, then, Pig Iron Is too
high, let more people 90 10 making Pig Iron.
This is the precise end we mediate in uphold
ing ProtectiOn-a moro diversified Industry
through increased production at home OF such
staples as we have hitherto imported. If there
be profit of s. per tun in making Pig IrOn
,rhy do MT the Free Traders make Pig Iron
Suppose Mr. A. r. Stewart (for eXample) had |
for the last twenty years devoted his great |
wealth and rare qualifications for business to |
the production of Pig Iron instead of the |
importation and sale of Fabrics, can there |
DO shadow Of doubt that the country |
would have been at least One Hundred Mil
lions richer than it isl We believe it would
have been enriched by at least twice that sum,
md that our indebtedness TO Europe would
nave been so much less than it is. Does any
)eing on earth imagine that Mr. stewart, ana
4.
,apital in Iron-making il they believed that
more profitable than their present business
We want ~ Ovax, WIN, allure, or even drive,
hem into such pursuits as n-making, so that
hey may give more employment to American
Labor and endue it with more skill than it
now has. If Mr.. Wells will only convince
hem that Iror-maling is more profitable than
what they are now doing, he will do good
work, in which we bid him God speed.
II. AS to Salt, we know that it is largely
made in Michigan, in West Virginia, in Old
Virginia, and in other parts of our country,
and ought to be made in good many more
Kansas boasts of her Salines as prominent;
while Louisiana has a mine of pure Rock Salt
awaiting fuller development. If, in the face of
these facts, Mr.. Wells, by carefully concealng
The fact that the duty on imported Salt is ex-
actly eighteen cents per hundred pounds, can
persuade the People that "the manufacturers
" of Syracuse" have monopoly" he must be
a man Of rare genius. We, who desire the
rapid and full development Of our various Sa-
lines that rival those of Syracuse, so that Salt
shall be made in as many localities as possible,
hope that the duty may remain unchanged.
III. Lumber is a product of nearly every
State in the Union, and is especially abundant
at tho South, where rude Labor is cheap and