New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1869-11-27

vssltb The difference is the same as that between
at-,,,t,n, tbo Erie Canal upon the resources ana
,red;t of the State and attempting to construct
nducing every one to dig out 80 much OF tue Oou d"
trsyorsed his own farm or wood-lot 80 ,
Let me farther eucidate my difference Win 'n0
Free-Traders by an incident that seems 10 mo 70
bov that their idea of cheapuess is mole-eyed ana
SaT'.iwa A citizen Of North Canaan, Conn, had
always opposed Protection as Calculated 70 enrich
tbe manufacturer at the expense OF bis own class
I.ho trmors prior TO 1872 when he contracted for
oIoor;rc one hundred acres of his woodland at $40
nar acre in addition to what could be made OF the
wood Before this job completed, the Tariff OF
that wear was passed; and now a furnace was put
into blast and the production of Pig Iron from
charcoal commenced in his neighbOrhood, when the
iron-nakers paid him $50 per acre for the WOOD on
two hundred acres of just such land as no had tnat
year paid $40 per acre for clearing. Here was ul
ference of 5000 made to farmer between having
Dur Iron made at home and importing 1t; ana that
farmer was enabled TO see that Protection benehted
others than manufacturers.
The whole country is thckly dotted with cases es-
sentally like this For instance bought, eighteen
months ago. rugged wOOdot from which the WOOD
had lust been cut and which was largely covered
with the shrub known Laurel tRhodOdendron, or
Xalmia) which would gladly have extlrpated. that
trees might replace it. l naturally inquired for
,ome use to be made of ths shrub and learned that
mandatory in Connecticut, forty miles away,
would buy il at So per cord-ess than must pay for
IA CONVEYANCE thither. Had that factory been In
nv neighborhood, my Laurel would have been
property whereas it is now merely obstruction and
nuisance And it would be difficult to establish in
any rural ncighbOrhOOd a factory that would not
give value to many products substances previously
worthless, If not worse.
These. then, are my general deductions from the
{,rfb int bp
essays:
|. Protection is another name for Labor-Saving
through Cooperation, by bringing producer and
consumer nearer each other, enabling them to inter
change their respective products directly and cheap
lyinstead of crcuitOusy through several lntermedl
ates and at great cost Tn thus reducing the proper
ton of exchanges and increasing that OF producers
in community. it inevitably increases the aggregate
product Of human effort and thus enhances the re-
COmpense of Labor AS Canals and Railroads have
increased production and wealth by reducing the
cost of transportation so Protection achieves the
same end by shortening the distances for which trans
portation is required.
H. Protection has been seen, In the case of the
French production of Beet Sugar, to call into exist
ence a department of Industry, with signal adj
vantage to all concerned. The people Of France
consume far more Sugar than they did or could
afford to do until its production had been naturalized
on their own soil. They supplied cheaper than
they ever were while they procured their Sugar from
abroad the labor which produces it is better paid
than it was OF could be in the absence of this indus
try the fertility of their soil has been increased and
even their annual product of Grain and Meat has
been enlarged, by the naturalization among them OF
the Beet culture, whereby the earth is pulverized
and fortified to a depth without precedent and the
following crops of Wheat largely augmented, while
the leaves and resduum of the Beet subsist and fat
ten large numbers of Cattle. And so far Is 1t from
truth that industry protected calls ever for
more and higher Protection, that Raw Sugar OF excel
lent quality now sold by wholesale in France at an
average of five cents per pound, and its producers
ask no Protection whatever, but acquiesce without
objection in an excise internal tax on their pro
duct fully equal to that borne by the Cane Sugar pro-
duoed in the tropical colonies of France
Ill While there has been advance in the average
prices Of our Agricultural staples since the passage Of
our first decidedly Protective Tariff in 1874 there is
no single Manufacture protected by that Tariff and
by its Protective successors which has not been re-
duced in cost to the great mass of our consumers
and that reduction is generally greatest on the art-
cles which have been most stringenty persistently
protseted. Iron and its Manufactures. Wooden
Fabrics Of all kinds, Window Glass. DE LANES,
aGinpbams and even Salt, illustrate this truth
" While it is certain that we already produce
very many Wares and Fabrics, such as Edge Tools,
Nails ShOvels Spades, Satnets, Cassimeres, Sheet
iugs Prints De LANES the less sumptuous Shawls,
Clocks Watches. &c, &c.-far cheaper than Europe
over afforded them till we began to make orouTselves
cheaper than could now obtain an adequate sup
ply abroad if we had not natuTazed their produc-
ton on our own soil-it is probable that some arti
ces like Pig Iron whereof the cost inheres scarcely
at all in the material employed. but wholly in the
quantum of labor required to produce them, Will be
produced at lower gcOst abroad than among u.s.
and that, though we have cheapened, and shall
doubtless continue to cheaper them, by discoveries,
by inventions by larger aggregstOns Of capital and
bya ripper experience. yet-the discoveries and in
ventions of our people being speedily appropriated
by our foreign rivast is probable that so long as
Labor remains relatively dear in this country and
cheap in Europe our producers of these articles will
be sharply rivaed sometimes undersOld, and, In the
absence of Protection, might be- as they have hlth-
erto been undermined and broken down by this I'M
fair uneaual competition. To me, il seems clearly
not best for my country, for Labor, nor for human
well-beng that such prOstraton and collapse OF im-
rortant branches of our National Industry should
be permitted and hold that its legislative proven
ton by tax on the foreign rivals in our markets OF
our producers of wealth is iustfable and beneti-
cent as the fertilization Of our coasts and harbOrs
against possible foreign aggression.
v The true benefcent relation of the more adj
yapced OF perfected to the less developed and imma
ture industries Of diverse nations seems to me one OF
friendly announcement, not depressing, destructive
competitiOn II for example) the people Of Liberia
sbould desire next year to start mandatory Of
Plows and other Agricultural Implements, ] could
wish that the plow-makersIof Europe and America
would make TO that factory present of approved
patterns and labor-saying machines, and IN every