The Democratic press. [volume] (Ravenna, O. [Ohio]) 1868-1901, 1869-11-25
PUBLISHED EACH THURSDAY
IT r M 8 :

DCls CCl1t., " t1AO IlfOSb Ou1OuS
ly that the sun shines on to-day in any
country, civilized or uncivilized, be-
meath the sky. We shall realize an
abundant tariff with no interference
with the industries of the people, and
we shall have no more of this yexa-
ton, this annoyance, this sense of in
justice, sense of unfairness, in regard
to the action of the Government. A
protective tariff never can stand in
this country, because the American
people, above all other people, like
fairness. a
This is no untried experiment. The
nations of the world have tried it be-
fore us. England, in 1912, entered
upon the career of remitting duties
and found that her revenue kept stead
lily increasing under successive remis-
sions of duties. She has gone on un-
til last June she threw off at a stroke
about dozen or fifteen articles from
the tariff list, which enter into the
food of the people, wheat and rye and
corn and meal, bidding them come in
with absolute freedom into English
ports in future. There are less than
twenty articles left. England is rails
ing to-day as much revenue from Gus
toms duties as she ever raised. She
raised last year little more than
twenty-five and a half millions of
pounds sterling. Out of a gross rev.
enue of seventy-two and half pounds
twenty-five and half came from
customs duties; that is, from the rev.
enue on these less than twenty articles.
And this twenty-five and a half mil
lions of pounds is almost as much, in
proportion to her population, as we
raised the last year by our tariff which
taxes three or four-thousand articles,
and some of them at unheard of rates.
In 1854 the exports of England were
E115,S21 ,092 sterling. In 1860, only
fourteen years after that, the exports
were G225,835,0SS sterling, almost
double in fourteen years. The ex-
ports in 1854, per capita, were G3, los,
Cd. In 1868 they were G6 no shillings
and Cd. But the imports are the best
test of the prosperity of nation
Let nobody be afraid that we shall
bring in more than we export. five
can get q great many imports by
very few exports, / should think it
would be well worth the while to do
it. The imports per capita in Great
Britain, in 1854, were G5i los, Cd. In
1868 they were f9 Is, Cd. -.q.s
How is it about poverty? Why,
one of the most common taunts that
we meet with is: "fWhat are you go
ing to reduce our labor to the pauper
labor of Europe for?" implying that
it was free trade that made British la
borers paupers. In the first place,
British labor is not pauper labor. In
England to-day the pauper labor will
] buy more of the necessarics of life
than the labor of men in this country.
L would like to have any body try to
pick me up on that statement. 1t fur
nishes money enough to buy more of
the necessaries of life than the nomi-
nally higher wages of this country
But let US see whether free trade has
made England a pauper country or
not? Previous to 1872 one person
out of every eleven i'll the Kingdom
of Great Britain received during some
portion of the year aid from the poor
rates. In 1868 only one person in ev-
cry twenty received any aid at all
from the poor rates. Pauperism has
been ightened up in this period of
free trade from covering one-eleventh
of the.people until it covers only one
twentieth of the people. John Bright
wrote to {, friend that even in Lanca-
shire, Notwithstanding the dearth of
cotton and the great distress of that
locality, the wages of laboring men
have increased twenty-five per cent.
in this quarter of century of free
trade in England. -a-a
1 uO Sd1lO Asko OSSh SHSSA ~
in Germany, 81 4lO0 per cent. of the
revenue is raised on twenty-five arti-
cles. Prof. Perry made an elaborate
comparison of the duties realized in
Germany, under the old system, and
the new, showing that there, as in
England, the results of remission OF
dulles from the majority of imports
had been satisfactory. He closed by
saying that the industries that have
the highest protection under our tar
iffs now are the very oldest and
strongest, and richest industries in
this country: Look at woolens. We
began to make woolens two hundred
and thirty-one years ago, and made it
| profitable from the start. The weak,
industries can get no protection
They are not strong enough. They
can not control lobby interests enough.
!