New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1869-08-07
POLITICAL ECONOMY Y.
BY HORACE GREELEY.

.
divide naturally, in the contemplation of Political
Econouv. into two distinct classes-1 That wherein
nearly twice as much labor would be required to
double tie present product; 2 That Yhieh
is subject TO n different law. .TEIs, il we should re-
;uire twice the amount Of Iron we now buy or use'
II would probably cost at least double what we now
nav for the s.paller quantityi whereas, there are
many fabrics of which dixie newspapers the NUMBER
or quantity furnished might be doubled at m9eh "SS
than double the present cost Hall century ago.
when Plows and other farming implements were
mainly made by hand their fabrication probably
cost more, per piece, per dozen, per score IN this
country than in Europe: whereas, apart RON ghe
cost of the raw material, we probably now make, by
the help of steam-power and costly, complicated ma
chinery nearly every farm implement, edge-tool.
screw cut-na &c. as cheap as they are made abroad
some of them even cheaper and all OF them
cheaper than we possibly could if we bad not
steady market and q vast demand That articles of
this class have been and are cheapened to the mass OF
our consumers by reason of Protection TO Home In
dustry is not doubtful; while it is probable that
majority of our consumers are required to pay more
dollars mot days work. products) per pound or
per tun for Iron, Wool, Salt Steel and few other
rude bulky staples. than if, in the absence OF
Tariff. we mainly imported them Wherever Ma
by Manual effort, and 100000 tuns of the prodnct
costs one hundred times much as 1000 TINS there
Cheap Labor tells and nsures lower price; but its
influence is much less sensiby felt in the production
of most Wares and Fabrics wherein Steam and
Machinery have full play, and which are cheapened,
not by low wages but by the extensive demand, ana
the signal efficiency Of the means whereby that de-
mand is satisfied II is probable, indeed, that Ameri-
can ingenuity and invention, applied to the produc-
ton of Iron and Steel may increase the efficiency OF
the labor or other force employed therein rendering
each days work. each tun of coal twice, or even
thrice as efficient as they are-and this antici-
patton rests upon and is justified by past achieve
ments but such trumphs contingent, and not
likely to be promptly realized; while the advantages
of larger and steadier markets for most Wares and
Fabrics are instant and papable The People must
decide whether we to surrender either imperlled
department Of our National Industry TO be over
whelmed by foreign competition OF shall eifectually
resolve to protect and preserve them both.
Our Revolutionary fathers were frank as well as
sagacious and realized the wisdom Of saying exactly
what you mean. Hence the preamble to the very
first Tariff which passed Congress under the
Federal Constitution declares that such Tariff was
required for the support of Government for the dis
charge Of the debts Of the United States and for the
encouragement and protection Of domestic mdRgdc-
lures" The duties thereby imposed were generally
quite low but there no equiyocatiOn or conceal
ment AS to the objects for which they were levied.
But why protect especially Manufacturer
answer. For the same reason that we fortify our
chief harbors and frontier posts rather than the
mountains and prairies in tho heart of country
We defend the National Industry, like the National
territory at the points most exposed to assault or
where an enemy could do us greatest harm The
bulk and weight of most Agricultural staples forbid
their transportation to remote markets except at
ruinOus cost. The abundance and cheapness OF our
arabic lands, with the intelligence and efficiency Of
our labor, aud the excellence of our farming
machinery and implements, secure signal advan-
tages to our grain growers and render them mpreg
nablc 20 direct European competition. If Europe
would give us all the Indian Corn and Hay we want or
would consume, we jud not transport them TO our
inland consumers 80 as to afford them as
cheaply as they are now supplied. The
transportation of most Vegetables and Edible
Roots 90 Potatoes Turnips Carrots, Cabbages,
&c.-is rendered so expensive by their bulk,
that few of them would be brought hither from Eu-
rope for sale under any but the most extraordinary
circumstances Potatoes in moderate quantities
reach us from Bermuda and from Nova Scotia; the
Canadas proiicr ms cheap Grain and Timber; while
still send to the farthest East for Tea because
that article ombodes larger value in given bulk than
almost any other product of the soil; but am conf
dent that we should have commenced its production
years ago. and that we shall soon ascertain that we
could long have grown it cheaper than we have i'm
ported it. SO with Raw Silk, Willow for baskets,
&cl Sugar, aud some other unmanufactured easily
manufactured products of the soil, with which we
could have supplied ourselves from domestic sources
cheaper lin labor, if not in money! than we have i'm
ported them. We have persisted in buying abroad
from habit, lack of consideration, and because the
establishment or naturalization of new branch of
industry always costs something at the outset, while
Trade Rles easily IN the grooves worn smooth by GUS
tom and Oiled by successive realizations of profit.
Even Cotton was made at loss by our people until
Whitneys Gin-which would never have been in
vented had not the culture been previously natu-
rallied in our so-reduced at once the cost of
production by fifty to seventy-fye per cent.
We have yet some Agricultural staples to root
firmly IN our soil OF extend over far greater area
thereof yet the general truth, earnestly and
frequently proclaimed by the fathers, abdes-that
our Agriculture is mainly 10 be benefited and
strengthened by bringing ample and steady markets
nearer and to the doors of farmers. Give
them purchasers at hand for Vegetables, Edible
Roots Fruits &c, and they will cultivate their land
better exhaust It less and realize far greater returns
and profits per acre. than they could while depend
ing on remote markets. they were compelled TO grow
crop after crop Of Grain. They viii now reclaim and
cultivate the rich bottom lands which, being satu-
rated and sodden with stagnant water have hitherto
been neglected as worthless or intractable - and
they will realize more from an acre Of vegetables or
small fruits than formerly from ten acres of grain
and thus mainly. will Protection benefit our farmers,
as was originally anticipated and sought
49," But why do Manufactures need ProtectOnp
is asked to-day, as though it were a novel question
Iauswcr:
/. Because of the relative DEAFNESS of our Labor
tnn OF nnnd Bar Iron we mnN rnnuhlv estiinate ~