The Portland daily press., 1870-01-05
Justice 10 Publishers and 10 Printer

Justice TO Publishers and 10 Printers.
1t is remarkable fact, which the public at
large may, at first, consider impossible, that
the United States laws, so far as they bear on
printers and publishers, actually favor Eng
land, at the expense of America. In plain
language, Congress pays bounty to English
printers and publishers in order that they may
break down American industry in the same
branch oftrade. While nearly every other in
terest is directly protected, American printers
and publishers are indirectly Disseminated
against.
The reader will ask, in amazement, how this
can be. The answer is, that while every ar
ticle used in manufacturing book, is heavily
taxed, foreign books are allowed to come in
under duty, comparatively SO trifng, that
it is CHEAPER, in most cases, to make the book
abroad, than to manufacture it here. Not a
book leaves the American press that does not
pay, at least, fifteen separate taxes to the gov
eminent. The consequence is that a book
can be ordered in England, and imported into
the United States, that will not cost, after
paying duties, freight and all other charges,
more than half of what similar book, manu-
factured here, would cost.
Such of the American publishers as care
only to make money, and regard neither the
development of a home literature, nor the
claims of the artisans and workmen connect
ed with the trade, are availing themselves Of
this state of affairs, and are flooding the mar
rment, almost to the destruction, of Ameri-
can book making. Perhaps we cannot blame
them; tor self interest must rule in business.
Blu: things are fast approaching point
when all the various industries, that have
hitherto lived by book-making, from the pa
per-maker down to the printer and type. set
ter, will be literally starved out. America
owes nothing to England, that our working
men must be impoverished to enrich hers? Is
native, homegrown, American Literature
of so little importance, that Congress must
thus lesislate to destroy it, by transferring the
whole trade of book-making, as now threat
ems to be the case, to London? While other
industries are being carefully nursed by pro-
lection, Is this one, perhaps the noblest OF all.
to be slowly bed to death? In the barbar-
Gus middle ages, a horrible mode of execution
was invented; the victim was laid on his
back, and heavy weights piled ON him till he
died; is book-making in America, in like
manner, and for no crime of its own, to have
its lite pitilessly crushed out?
We cannot believe that this thing has been
been done Intentionally by Congress. 1t has
happened, we are confident, by accident. In
laying taxes ON home-manufactures the vari-
Gus industries that open into book making
were taxed, one after the other, without a
corresponding duty being laid on imported
books. This was blunder in two ways. 1t
was not only unjust to American industry,
as we have just shown, but it killed the
goose that laid the golden eggs" Just as
fast as books can be made at home, the inter-
nal taxes, sought to be collected in this way,
will diminish. Literally, the present laws,
to paraphrase poets metaphor, takes a shill-
ing out OF the treasury to put penny in.
The remedy is easy. 1t is pointed out by
petition, which we believe is now in circula-
tion, TO LAY A SPECIFIC DUTY OF NOT LESS
THAN TWENTY-FIVE CENTS A POUND ON ALL
IMPORTED BOOKS, either bound, unbound, or
in sheets. If we had space, this week, we
could show why, in this instance, at least. a
specific duty is the best, but we have already
taken up enough Of the time of our readers,
at least for to-day. We may return to the
subject, however, on a future occasion.-Pe-
terson's Detector for January 1, 1870.