The Iowa plain dealer. [volume] (New Oregon, Howard County, Iowa) 1867-1895, 1869-07-09

its cost to the consumer (less taxi being
made up Of the profits and charges of the
various traders and forwArders, agents
and brokers, through whose hands it has
passed on ito way from the interior OF
China to the interior Of the United States
1 scdns to SAGE tie millions on MILLIONS
thus ann ualty erpended-I believe use.
le'siy 'ca'tefaAy expended.
| Mr.. Greeley maintains that the
money paid for the transfer of an
article produced in another country
to consumers in our own is I" use-
lessly. wastefully expended" In q
carefully prepared treatise, these
words are not lightly used, and we
are bound to suppose that they arc
carefully weighed and fully meant.
Now We dissent entirely from that
position, and think that our readers
will also dissent. If tee can be
produced in this country at . cost
less than its cost in China PLUS the
cost Of transportation, then tho bal
ance 10 uselessly spent. If not if
it will cost more money to produce
. pound Of tea here than to buy it
in China and import it without duty,
then every dollar expended for
transportation il we'll invested, and
a result is clear saving of tho diff
ference between the cost of the i'm
ported end the cost of the Ameri
can ten. Unless this country can
produce tea cheaper than It can be
imported it is sheer throwing
away Of money to try to force ito
growth by any hot-housc process.
This, then, is one limit beyond
which no sensible advocate of pro-
lection will go Unless we have
reason to believe that BY protection
We shall ultimately be enabled TO
produce an article cheaper than it
can be imported, protection is simp-
y throwing away money. Moreover
it must be remembered that We do
throw away money during every
year that this process Of establish
ment requires. To take Mr.. Gree
ley own illustra tions, If We under
take to Establish tea culture here,
we must put on such : duty ~ will
make it pay to grow tea in this
country Mr.. Greeley says that
one million Of Chinese are engaged
in producing the tea which we
bought in 1867 for twelve millions,
and that he would have two mil
lions Of Americans engaged in grow
ing that same tea now they must
receive enough to live; therefore, .
our tea must cost us 1T least .
thousand millions of dollars. The
difference, 988 millions . year, We
must temporarily throw away in or
der to establish the tea culture -,
Suppose it takes 10 ten years to
bring the tea culture to sueh point
that We can produce tea cheaper
than it can be imported we shall
then have thrown away $3.50 mil
lions, and it will take some ccntu-
rics Of successful tea culture to
make up that little loss !! We take
Mr.. Greeley's illustration the more
readily because it presents in strong
tight principle which al protec-
tionists overlook. Thus, If it can
be proved that We shall ultimately
produce our own cloth cheaper than
it can be imported, we must remem-
Der that during the whole time of
protection for the establishment of
that industry we are throwing away
precisely the amount Of the tax
OF course We are speaking Of . tar
If for protection = tariff for rev.
.enue rests upon different principles.
The question is whether IN the end
We shall make more than We have
lost. In some cases undoubtedly
we shall; in others, as in the case
Of tsa, undoubtedly We should not,
and it would be nonsense to attempt
it. Every tariff for protection,
therefore. ought to be supported
FIRST BY proof that the article can
ultimately be produced here more
cbeaply than It can be imported,
and second by an estimate Of the
time required to reach that poict,
the yearly loss by taxation mean
while. and the ultimate saving by
the establishment Of : new branch
Of industry. II the balance in
any case is in favor Of protection,
we'll. If NOT. protection is . waste |
Of the earnings of the people.
Mr.. Greeley seems to consider al
merchants, agents and trsnsporters
as useless burdens upon the produ-
Ger Perhaps they are, if it is de-
sirable for ns all to live Is the saw
ages do !; producing only what we
consume. But if civilization has
in it any virtue. it is in the marvel
ous system Of commerce, which
brings to the door Of every man the
productions Of every other climate
or laborer, and thus enables the
whole world to realixe the most per-
feet division Of labor-each state
or section or country producing what
it can produee the most cbesply.
It seems to US that We owe 70 this
same system Of exchanges all that
is most valuable in our modern civ
ilixation. The producer represents
n a