The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1870-11-22

the uu Just, wasteful, AMI dishonest system
alre,1y prevalent in the collection of the in
teI,t.l revenue into fields now free from it,
IT, Tribune may wish more scope for a
scheme which has already made many con-
Nigts and countless perjurers We are free to
say we don't. Shylock found il impracti-
cable to get his pound of flesh without some
effusion of blood. And we should certainly
lose more, both in money, which is the
life-blood of commerce, and in official ant
private honesty, which is the life-blood of the
State, than we should make in taxes. Where
fore we propose to derive revenue, for its
own sake, merely from foreign imports, in
such wise as shall yield the most good aud in
fiict the least harm, instead of continuing
the present system, whereby q minimum of
money goes into the treasury and a maxi
mum of money comes out of the pockets of
the people.
And now. let us examine the consistency
of the I3ibuue. In the same issue which ac-
cuses the World of recresncy to the principle
of free trade, the Tribune thus asserts its
own fidelity to the principle of protection
"But let the Republicans frankly, promptly say,
yes, we did restore and mautain protection to
fall with the work of our hands, and they will
rally TO their standard thousands who nave hitherto
opposed them."
What are you really proud of telling lies?
Look here! The average duty on salt is 10S
per cent. in bulk and S04 per cent. in bags.
You say you have maintained protection to
home industry. How is it that we imported
during the fiscal year ending June, 1870,
749, 916, AGA pounds Of salt from foreign coun-
tries, amounting to 81, 49, ,95S. Are not your
friends in Onondaga injur to that amount
How can you say the virtuous, suffering and
industrious salt boilers of Syracuse are pro-
tected in their home industry when you did
not protect them enough to keep the
pauper salt of Liverpool, Turks Island, and
Sicily away?
Here is railroad iron, the duty on which is
20 cents per 100 pounds, or 30 per cent. in
average. The largest manufacturers Of the
home made rails are the most eminent ad-
herents to the cause of protection. How,
then, can you say you have protected this
branch of home industry when you allowed
to be imported during the fiscal year of 1870,
COG, ,6S5, $40 pounds, costing abroad $780,
1876? How is this for protection to industry?
But the work in hand, as we show, is not
home protection, for that is impossible unless
you prohibit importation entirely. The want
you are trying to crafty is nothing less than
home ro6beTy-impudent robbery of the many
to enrich the few. Here is some proof:
salt consumed in this country was last year
about 5000, 900 bags of 100 pounds each.
Of this we imported 1900, 900 bags, and paid
upon it about 81, 100000 into the Federal
Treasury. We consumed II, 500, 600 bags of
home made salt, and paid upon it about
$4,000,000 to the treasures Of the few
dozen salt manufacturers of this country.
This holds good more or less with every
other dutiable thing, and the Tribune ac-
knowledges it when it says in its facetious
query
81 see thai your tariff bill imposes duty of 20 per
cent (or whatever the rate may beg on foregn-made
iron, while you assess no tax at all on homemade
home
made iron, and II we import half a mcn tons, and
make ut home two million tons, 1t seems to me that
according to your logic) you propose to take
s7,5e00 600 out OF the pockets of the American
sumers OF iron and give our iron.masters 900
OF 1t, putting only 81 5OO0 600 into the Treasury.
Now the robbery tariff is not pure and
simple protective tariff, for we prove that it
does not protect, but it is a tariff to put up
the sliding scale of the robbery, as the tariff
we propose is a tariff to put it down. Thus
| by charging 10S per cent duty on salt the
sliding scale robs the people of 81, 900, 900 for
the benefit of the salt people If the duty
were reduced to 80 per cent it would only
rob them of So, 100000 and if reduced to 10
per cent. it would only swindle them out of
| q paltry $400, 900.
The sliding scale on pig iron was 50 during
1870, and the robbery sf the people for the
benefit of the pigiron makers, who made,
as the tribune says, 100000 tons, was
$4,000, 600 gold, Oh $4,000, 900 currency.
We once more say we wish to reduce this
sliding scale robbery to its lowest possible
limits, and, as We emphaticaly said we can
not entirely extirpate the evil at once, but
we do intend to mitigate it with the view of
extirpating it in the end Now let the Iri-
6atne tell us, if the tariff now in existence
manages or means to protect home industry,
why its party maintains duty of 1OS per
cent. on salt, which allows nearly q third of
! .ue salt consrtrned to come in from abroad?
THE ELECTIONS.
From the ~ Y. Evening Post.
! Fyervbodv knows-for we read IL almost