Wyandot County Republican. [volume] (Upper Sandusky, Ohio) 1869-1903, 1870-03-11
A National Debt as a National Bal
aN[ ance Wheel. 50 yjet

a NafiOnal DEBT as NdliOndf Ddi-
QN ance Wheel. #ag Ztstl
We do not assert that a National
debt, as applicable to all peoples, is
a blessing, neither that debt, in the
abstract, or as applicable to indii
tiduals, is a blessing. The history
of this Repupiic, however, shows
that its palmiest days have been
days Of governmental Indebtedness.
The jealousy of party is such, that
while an Indebtedness exists, the
party in power is compelled to prac
tice economy of expenditure, where
as u full treasury is temptation to
official extravaganza and a corrup
ton fund for the greed of public
and private dishonesty. a..
A National debt removes oDjec-
ton to paper currency, and blunts
opposition to a tariff. The Demo-
cratic party watch words, with the
Government out of debt have been
s.hard money" and ''free trade" and
the penalty ever paid for agitation
thereof has been stringency in fl
nance and paralysis in domestic in
dustry. si1il .tofiEQ slaHG hQ
: ~Governn1ental indebtedness af
fords the best possible base for
sound currency, whether bank notes
or treasury issue, for every man
who handles dollar is directly in
terested in the protection Of its
credit, while he has a confidence
in credit for which he, to a certain
extent, stands sponsor @,i'1'i ..4'"
fg Indirect taxation through q Tar
if, is the least burdensome of any
system Of taxation, as, to great
extent, it is voluntary upon the tax
payer. A Tariff also cheapens the
manufactured article by producing
competition. Free Trade would
destroy home industries, and leave
the field for foreign manufacturers,
the moment they were masters OF
the field, they would dictate their
own terms. Men are not yet SO
Punselfish as to graduate their asking g
price according to the cost Of pro
duction, but they will ask all they
can get, regardless Of cost of pro
duction. 1t is the boldest of fal
iaciesI to claim that Tariff, neces
sarily, enhances the cost of an arti-
Gle.
In the proper adjustment of q
Tariff lies the labor of the states
man. Take the very familiar case
of the iron interest. The article Of
pig iron requires protection, but il
should not be SO protected as to
put it in the power of tile manufac
turer of that article to dictate sucl
terms as to parallze all manufac
lures produced from pig iron. The
Tariff, therefore, upon pig iror
should be so, laid as to allow a rea
sonable profit, and at the same time
not injure the varied interests thai
are consumers Of the article and .tc
which pig iron is an absolute neses
sity. .ra=..... ........
Men bound their vision by theil
Town narrow interests. Every man
ufacturer thinks the world of pro
ductive industry revolves around
himself. 1t is against this selfish
ness tue trainers of Tariff much
contend But Congressman con
suit the interests of their particular
districts and States, and in the gen
eral scramble each looks cut solely
| for himself No wonder, then, 6
law with radiations so diverse an6
interviewer with every fibre of in
dustry issues from Congress badly
balanced If each manufacture
and each Representative, would bu
seek a common good the country
might hope for a ''judicious" Tariff
As it is while the benefits of a Tar
iff are conceded, its proper arrange
ment is a work that requires no
only integrity of purpose and unset
tishness Of optics, but consummatt
Judgment and acumen. -a.
| A public debt removes the Tariff
measurably, from party platforms
Now and then a Democratic gather
ing resolves against a Tariff, but il
is rather the echo of the old watch
word. interpolated to satisfy u fos
silized party sentiment, and it il
tucked away under stereotyped plats
itudes that have come down from
the past,t to whichDemocracy clings.
A Tariff, under a public debt, thu
other as necessary evil, has come
to be conceded.
The puzzling question alone re
mains, what shall the Tariff'be ?Tht
term free trade is still banded abou
but it's advocates admit the necessi
ty of aTariff for revenue; so that, in
fact, there is no purely Free Trad,
party. The advocates of a Higl
Tariff, which looks solely tc protec
tion,and would let revenue take care
of itself, are in a hopeless minority
| Our great diversity of interests, in
cident to immense eXpanse Of coun
try and extremes of climate, render
a High Tariff an impossibility. Blu
it is possible to so levy Tariff 70
reve.lue, with incidental protection
as shall give the desired result of in
come to the treasury and protection
to American labor against the pau
per labor of the old world
~A good story is told Of
Tioga county merchant who agreed