New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1870-12-07
syOOKYS LAST FRIEND.


such duty would put four dollars into the pock-
eta of our American smelters for every dollar
il sent into the Treasury:
"There is no such Inconsistency as THE TRIBUNE I'M
ea In our demand that the tariff shall be levied for
revenue only and yet include imported goods the taxing
OF which will naturally place the foreigner at dsadyan-
tage with our home producers of tho similar hruco'
Taking THE TRmUSEs favorite pgron ilustIatloh' aS
stated by IT, We deny that In the case suggests our o
smelters would gobble up four dollars, whle one ohy
gets into tho Treasury Government here necessarily TAX
"a our own ironsmeters, their real estate on ner
capital and income and all articles Of theirs which
come under the internal revenue system Therefore,
when Il laysa revenue tariff tho foreigners pig ron
IL does but eauaze the scale between the domestic
and the foreign article competing in our market"
Comments by The Tribune.
The Eagle SAYS it denies" our statement as
TO the necessary effect according to its prln-
ciple) of q Revenue Duty on Pig Iron but
any obseryant reader will see that it does no
such thing. 1t admits the eifect-indeed, 1t
could not do otherwise-but pleads an Offset
Our makers of Pig Iron pay taxes to our Gov
eminent: wherefore, let us not tax them on
their product, but favor them by taxing that
of their foreign rivals. All right, says IHE
TRIBUNE; but this is Protection, not Free
Trade. A smelter builds a furnace in Nova
Scotia or Canada, and there produces Pig Iron
for sale in this country, under lower taxes than
Ours: The Eagle would "eQualize the SCALE"
by taxing his Iron on crossing the frontier, ana
mot taxing our own rival product Good
Right! Excellent says THE TRIBUNE. But
suppose your Revenue duty tcoutd MT equallze
"the scae:n what then Dare you follow
where your premise leads ? The Pig Iron
men of Europe get their labor at less than
half the prices paid by their American rivals
will You "equalizen that scale ?" and, if not
,Chy mott If you will not, either we must
stop making Iron to any great extent, OF our
Labor must come down to the European
standard, Or-what2 Please tell us how you
would have our people make Iron with labor
at 81 per day in competition with those who
hire their labor at an average Of sevonty-iive
cents per day, while Iron is brought to our
seaboard at lower average freights from Brit
ish than from our own furnaces Let US
clearly understand each other.
But The Eagle wants us to answer one
question, TO wit:
"why, in framing tariff, any more than in taxing real
estate should the Government consider any interests
but the one which is its sole legitimate concern that OF
raising reyenuep
AnSper.-Your assumption that the " sole le-
"gitimate concern" of a Government in franz
ing tariff is "that of raising revenue" is ut
terly gratutous. 1t has nothing back OF 1t but
your say-sO. We, on the contrary, insist that
| the true, legitimate object of every law Is the
| highest and widest public good One good end
| does not exclude another, as we see III the
preamble to the very first Tariff framed by
| Congress under the Federal Constitution, which
| declares that the passage of such act was re-
| quired for the raising of Revenue and for the
Protection of Home Manufactures. Gen. Wash
| ington in his first Annual Message, had just
said
"The safety and interest OF the People require that
they should promote such Manufactures tend to rem
der them independent OF others for essential parteu-
| larry for Military supplies"
To the same effect in his second Annual
Message, he says:
Congress have repeatedly, and not without success
directed their attention TO the encouragement Of
features The object is Of too much consequence not TO
insure continuance OF their efforts in every way which
| shall appear eligible"
| SO President Jefferson, in his second An
nual Message, enumerates, among the legiti-
mate objects of our Federal Government, these !:
"TO cultivate peace and maintain commerce and nay
CATION in all their lawful enterprises foster our fish
nurseries OF navigation, and for the nurture Of
man. and protect features pied to circum
stances preserve the faith Of the nation by exact
discharge OF It's debts and contracts eKpend the public
money with the same care and economy would prac
| tice with our own, and impose citizens
necessary burden; TO keep in all things within the pale
| OF constitutional powers, and cherish the Federal
Union the only rock OF safety-these, felOwczens,
the landmarks by which to guide ourselves in
all our proceedings BY continuing TO make these the
rule Of or action, shall endear countrymen the
true principles heir Constitution, and promote union
OF sentiment and Of action equally suspicious to their
| happiness and safety"
And again, in one of his later Messages, he
! says:
ITO what other objects shall these SURPRISES be apprO
prated and the whole surplus OF impost after the
discharge of the public debt and during those inter
walls when the purposes OF shall not call for them
Shall suppress the impOst aud gre that advantage TO
| foreign orer domestic pdnufdeiuresp
We might proceed indefinitely with these
citations from the founders of our Republic
Hamilton, Madison, Clay, Jackson, &C., &c
but why should wei Can more be needed to
show that The Eagles assumption is utterly
groundless, and that its collateral pretense that
Protection cOntemplates special and personal,
not general and National, benefit, evinccs ig-
norance while it means INSULT