Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1870-05-18

curious American machine makes as many
hundred mounds. and crowds the market
with cut nails; much better for use, at a
price onlv 4 little more than one fourth OF
cent per pound above that OF bar iron.
Through an American machine, too, almost
as intelligent as appeared OF old the auto,
matOn chess player, and attended by chllo
only, the long iron wires are changed In the
twnkling of an eye to wood screws, superior
to anything ever before seen, and for much
less than half the former cost.
! Steel. the elder brother of iron, by the
slight additional protection afforded in the
tariff Of 1861, has been so far established as
an American product as to sensibly diminish
its Present. cost. The Bessemer steel, made
from pig iron, is one of the great and most
beautiful triumphs of science and the new
process of melting wrought iron in hot
bath Of pig iron, and thereby converting the
Whole mass into steel, promises to revolu-
tlOniEe prices, and place steel on par with
iron. Protection stimulates human genius
and produces wonderful works, but free trade
relies not upon sweat of the brain, but upon
sweat of the brow alone, measuring its pro-
ducts by the measure of past generations,
and desires to slumber and to be let alone.
Protection means progress, or individual and
NATIONAL advancement. Free trade means
where no manufactures exist there none ever
ought to exist. IL strikes the forge, the
Dom. the engine with paralysis
Ii must be conceded that it was not alone
the advantage of numbers possessed by the
North which enabled the Government to
achieve a victory over the late rebellion, but
it was also its mighty auxilisries, in the
shape of water-moving and steam -propelling
mills and machinery. The force of the free
States was thus moro than duplicated, and
this gave them power and Vigor TO conduct
the prolonged contest with less expenditure
and more assurances comparatively, day by
iay, of ultimate success. The seeding States
were stronger at the first shot than at any
day thereafter. The loyal States girded up
their loins year by year, and at the close oil
the contest would have regarded it almost as
a holiday to have been afforded fair oppor-
tunity for deadly grapple with one or two
of tho hrst-rate Powers of Europe Foreign
Toes rather than kinsmen were bungered
alter. Our Army and Navy were not only
large, but they were in fighting order, espec-
tally If only ordered to aVenge national inju-
ries, received while our hands were tied,
and because they were tied. Our mills,
fcunderies, and machinery remedied all
deficiencies almost as soon as known. This
additional force, beyond all doubt, had been
created by tariffs for revenue with moderate
for protection, which dis
were most OPPORTUNITY invigor-
ated by the act of 1861, and, it may be
added, were subsequently largely increased
In any contest which the future may have in
store for with any foreign Power, espec-
tally a maritime Power, this auxiliary force
will be vastly more important. If we mean
to accept and hold the rank of frst-rate
Power among nations we cannot forego the
many advantages of manufactures and the
arts. Here lies the loyal road 10
to power and independence. During the late
contest the people of the South, with more
cotton than all the world besides, were dis
tressed for even common sewing thread. 1t
was like the story Of
Water, water everywhere,
Nor any dron 10 drink
To maintain an undoubted independence
our role of construction must embrace all
the indispensable articles. from the least to
the greatest, from a needle TO an iron-clad
ship. Our national pride demands that we
shall not now, nor at any time, abandon the
foundation of our strength at home and our
security abroad by the imbecility of treating
the doctrine of protection to American in
dustry with legislative contempt.
CONCLUSION.
Shall we not, from the considerations pre-
scented, and from proper regard for the
present position of the American people, all
agree
Firsf, that it is expedient TO rely mainly
on duties upon the impOrtations of foreign
for revenue to support the Gen
raj Government
Secondly, that in levying these duties such
prote ction should in all cases be
given as will favor the consumption Of home
made md hnrna-rroxrY, produets
Thirdly, that such articles as are usually
grouped among the necessaries Of life, and
such raw materials as we do not produce.
should bear the least amount Of taxation in
any form2
Fourfhlv. that having to some extent exc
ated for agricultural products home mar ket'
it ought not to be surrendered and made free
to foreign rivals, near OF remote, who have
never contributed to the support OF -""H =
fIffhfy, that American manufacturers
ought not 10 be forced by free trade to de-
mand such terms of workingmen as many of
the latter came to our country only to escape
from?
Finally, the Republican party has the
destinies of the American people in its hands,
and it should not subordinate them to the
of every other country filled with
cheaper capital and cheaper labor. Labor
here is not only honorable, but here obtains
its highest rewards and it should be our
mission to perpetuate this national distinc-
lion. The marvellous accession of force
added TO the productive power of nations by
and the archimedean leverage of
the mechanic arts, must not be wholly aban-
1Oned to our rivals. The aptitude of our
people for all the useful arts their inven-
tive genius, displayed IN the past and so
full of promise Tor the future; the vast
theatre wherein they are called to operate
and find scope, deserves something more than
the cold disregard and the heartless indiffer-
ence of free trade. The recently emanci-
pated population of the South should be
with grander opportunities than it
has hitherto had, both OF profit and culture,
BY which its best examples Of intelligence
nav hope to rise above the universal level of
he old cotton plantations Let the energies
f our whole people be put in motion, by
aaking industry and enterprise prosperous
all directions-of the pillow, the loom, and
ae anvil-and thus give assurance at home
I'D abroad that the year of our deliverance
not remote, when all debts, public and
Fivate, will have been honorably discharged,
al when to be an American will ce to be a
eizen of the happiest, freest, and foremost
n;ion of the world.