The Bedford gazette. [volume] (Bedford, Pa.) 1805-current, 1870-04-07
TARIFF BuNCOMBE.

ID the nope oI DahtiiS AtttiC S@Pit1A
for its party. The duIness Of its dis
oaisitions is varied only by the strik-
ing Inconsistencies which they present.
II one breath the editor lauds his par
tjsans in Congress for reducing thedu-
ties on tea and coffee so as to save $780,
O;y9. ESQ 10 the consumers. In the next
he PRAISES them for attempting TO in
crease the duties on other articles so as
10 add s60, ,OO0, 900, or more, per annum,
10 the burden of indirect taxation
Tea and coffee are classed among the
ier,1-isst iron, copper, cotton and vol
len fatrics, salt, sugar. &C., are among
the necessities. The would-be aristocrat
of the Inquirer proposes to allow arti-
cles of luxury to be imported at low
rate Of duty, but would impose high
tax on those importations which are
necessary to the comfort and happiness
OF the great mass Of the people. He
would tax the iron and steel in the
miners pick and shovel, in the farm
er's plough and spade and axe, in the
necha1ic's plane and saw ana hammer,
in the manufacturers machinery; he
would levy a duty on the lanneis and
cassimeres, calicos and muslins which
clothe the people; hewould extract the
savo- from the meat of the day laborer
by taxing salt out Of his reach; but as
Tor Mr.. SiIkstocking's coffee and Mrs.
Whitekid's tea, let them come in scot
free. In the face Of all this, he claims
that his party is the friend of the poor
man! His impudence is as astound-
Jag as his inconsistencies are glaring.
In one Of his articles, this wonder
fuI political economist takes occasion
to insult the Kemble Coal and Iron
Company and the Coal operators of
Broad Top, by intimating that they
are mere pensioners upon the bounty
of the Federal Government and that
their profits consist only of the taxes
wrung from the people by an exorbi-
tant tariff. This is what he says:
tsu e ta 1.,Ff ioh
now foster our manufactures would, in
a few months, stop the furnace al Rid
dlesburg, close the mining operations
in Broad Top and consign Us to the
poverty and idIeness of the free trade
era Of years ago."
Now, this is simply false. Nature
has so endowed the fave red region Of
Broad Top that the fortunate capital
lists who have invested. and who may
hereafter invest, in the coal and iron
business in that section, are, and will
be for all time to come, entirely inde-
pendent of the aims Of the Federal
Government. Furnaces will flourish
here because the iron ore is the best in
the world and the coal to smelt ii is
convenient. Coal operations viii
henceforward be remuuerative because
the furnaces will afford them a certain,
Uniform and continual market. he
H4qairer in declaring that the success
of the furnace at Riddlesburg depends
soley on the contingency Of continu-
ance Of the present duty on iron, has
dealt the material interests of Bedford
county a severer blow than if it had
said, in 50 many words, that the in
vcstment Of capital in the iron busi-
ness in this region is precaEious ven
ture. 1t has, in effect, advised capital
of pig iron in Bedford county, depends
altogether on the charity of the Fed
eral Government. 1t will not do,
therefore, for the Inquirer, in the face OF
this grave blunderito call it by no harsh
er name to charge the GAZET1E e with
opposing the best interests of all our
railroad, mining and manufacturing
interests" The GAZETTE declares that
the God Of Nature intends this region
to be the sea. Of prosperous iron works.
The Inquirer denies that the natural
advantages of cur section are such as
to ensure a fair return TO the capital
isl on his Investment; it scOrns "the
Divinity that shapes our ends and af-
fects to believe that the profits Of the
Bedford county irOn-maste- will only
he the crumbs that fall from the Con-
gressional table; ii would have the
world TO believe that our iron men and
coal. operators must be mendicants
crawling at the feet Of congressman
and exposing their sores to be licked
ny the dogs of the lobby. The GA
zETTE has g better opinion Of the spir-
1t and intelligence Of the entcrprising
men who are engaged in developing
the hidden wealth of our hillsan val
leys and much higher appreciation
of the intrinsic valne of that dormant
wealth soon .o be viyified, tariff or no
tariff. With this correct statement of
the case, we are quite willing that a