Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1870-04-29
DELusfvE sYsrEM OF PEorEc-


MuSg has bcou said and much has been writ
lea on what has been termcd It's blessings re
saltisg from, the protection Of llpma Industry
IN this country. As general rule we have
long regarded such blessings as delusT'n and
a shsst 10 oil but th9se whose inter es,s are pro-
testsd. How can Il be otherwise when the the
ory Of Protection is basod'on the assumption
tbs, the scarcity Of an article Of eonsuu'rtioA is
bsttsr that plentiful snpply.
Congress has passed laws which prohibit the
importation Of foreign productions BY the e1tor-
tica 81 excessive duties. The object Of tins leg
lsiAtion is simply to diminish the supply OF such
articles, and thus BY creating scarcity In the
rssrkst enhance its cost 10 tho consumer. IL is
quits svidcrt that the blessings Of such sys,em
II taxatiou are wholly on one side that Of the
y oare.r. II the eon.umers IN general are
blssssi thereby we fail 10 SEQ it.
IN tLis eontrOvsrsy, the adyo Gates of Protec-
t,oa very plausibiy rSfes to the price Of the ia
versd article, but they carefully avoid the men-
tcu Of the qaanfity Of goods received by the
putehapr for the Prise paid. There are, Of
ssurss, two sides TO this controversy; relates
n The producer comprising a small class Of the
population, the other relates to the consumers
who In the main are by far the largest and most
important body Of citizens.
The produc or accumuiates Just in proportion
- he sells his products at hiRh price. The
price Of his products high just IN propo rtion
70 lhsir scarcity. II Is plain therefore, that, So
far 80 regards him at least, scareity euriches
hin. Applying this manner Of re ,soning to
each class ofiab6rers individually, the scarcity
theory is deduccd from it. To put this theory
IL practice, and to favor each class or labor, an
artificial scarcity is produced in every kind Of
produce BY probibitcry tariffs, by restrictive
laws, by nonorolies audby similar measures.
3ech iegislatisn is one sidcd, and exclusive in
iss character. A just system of Isgislation
should and ought to regard tue consumer as woll
- the producer. The consumer is rich in pro-
PARTON as he buys at low price. : lie buys at
low price in proportion to the abundance Of
The articles in demand in this manner abund-
Ance enriches him. With such self eviden, re-
salts, it plain that the theory Of abmahes must
eonmend itself in preference to the theory of
scarcity On these grounds we advocate a tar
~ Eor the purpose of raising the revenue only,
Of ths many.
Dot it will be said, IL tho tariff be reduced We
shall be inundated with foreign goods and pro-
duee, and our gold will bo drained from the
souuisy in payment.
What Of that Nan is not fed in e0in H.
SSas not dress In gold, nor warm himself with
silver. Il matters little whetBer there be more
la.a lat iha H.I l..
m1rs bread in the cupboard, more meat in tht
lsrdsr, more clothes 10 the wardrob. and NOR,
fael in the yard.
IL may be. asked, IL we aecustorn oursclv vel
~ depend ou foreign countries for oar supplies
ef iron. for Instance, what shall we do in case o
war with such countries To this we reply, W,
shall be complied to produce iron ourselves
But i! may be said we shall not be prepared
there will be NO furnaces in blast, no forge.
ready. True, Hsiller will there be at any timc
when war shall occur thatthe country will moi
10 already filled with all the iron we shall wan
until we can axe Il here. The COME derate:
did not lack iron in The late war, although they
labored unasr Disadvantages IN It's manufac
tAres from viii ch We can never suEer. We ma,
very arRe-is ask why We should manufastur
iron oarselss or paw 10 or 50 per cent, To tn
esuse we may some day have quarrel with ou
hardware merchants.
The substance of the argument is inst here
there Is radical autagonism existing between
the lIer and the buyer. The seller wishes
scarsity Of the article offered and the supply di
miuished. so that the price may be high.
Phe consumer wishes i. to be abundant an,
the supply to be large, go that the price may b
low.
The laws Of our country. in justice, should re
gard q tariff on the commerce Of this nation, on
y for raising til, necessary revenue. Instead {
% ding, they take part with the producer an
sslier against the consumer for high aga. n.
low prices; for scarcity against abundance ft
IN oppressive and burdrnsome tariff against
Just and equitable system Of ia xstion. The az
tion Of our National Legislature has been logi,
ally based upon the theory that this nation is rio
10 proportion to its wants of every thing. Su.
10 the theory Of scarcity based ON the unju
system Of Protection.