The Vinton record. [volume] (M'arthur, Vinton County, Ohio) 1866-1891, 1871-02-16


lures in England 50 increased the
price Of wages, and opened SO widely
the door to honest livings by honest
toll, that the landlords complained TO
Parliament Of the increased price of
wages, and Parliament, with a stu.
pidlty and tyranny peculiarly English,
enacted a statute to the effect that no
person should apprentice his son or
daughter to trade unless he was nos.
sessed oftwenty shillings. This strike
at the poor laborer was not made by
the manufacturers, but by the land.
ed aristocracy. The gentleman
seems to tear capital in the manufac>
turing department as though il was
dangerous to society and the country.
lie talks of 'iron men," as though
furnace men were cast iron men and
salt men as though they were CRYSTALS
lied. Yet the gentleman will find that
the men Of this country who do most
for the poor and unfortunate are these
who invest their money in the me-
chanical departments, and the cen,le-
mans lamentation over tn e poor, can be
directed against ,cealhy agricultural
lists as well as wealthy manufac turers.
In short, this persistent effort of cer>
tain politicians to array one class of
our people against an other is all
wrong lie who attempts to incite
hatred and jealously, to beget strife
between labor and capital, is an enc.
my alike to both and to his people at
large. There is naturally no strife;
there should be none. One industry
is dependent on another; properly
combined they are mutual aids to each
other, and all that the most ardent
friend OF protection asks is, that labor-
the same amount of labor-in.. each
and every industry, be protected alike.
Iron, salt, or coal. does not ask that
q days labor in the furnaces or mines
be protected one farthing above a days
labor in the tannery or woolen mill
But England's policy on iron has
been similar to that on wooden goods.
In 1910 she levied an import duty up>
on bar iron, Of Sl2. 50 per ton. This
continued until 1882, when it was in.
creased to Sl4, during which time a
great many kinds of iron were entirely
prohibited. In 1903 she increased her
import duty on bars to $2l, and per-
mltted some kinds of iron, as cast and
hammered iron, which, had formerly
been prohibited, to be admitted under
high duty. In 1906 she increased her
tariff on bars to $27, and in 1919 rails.
ed it 1872 80 per ton, where il remain.
ed until 1886. In all these years, from
lolO to 1886, England never lowered
her tariff on iron. She had seen the
effect on her wooden manufactures;
she knew success must come; she per-
sisted and success did come, and to-
day she can rule the iron mari kct oI
the world.
But the gentlemen say ys duty on i'm.
ports is, in one sense of the word, q
tax. Who ever said it was not2 He
says the consumer pays it by paying
enough more for the article to cover
the amount by way of duty. Admit
that. He says tariff on any, ,articlt
of q class manufactured in America
increases the price as we'll on the arti'
cles at home as on the particular arti.
cles imported. Admit that too; and
admit that tariff protects home manu-
factures whenever the duty is levied
on articles of a class manufactured
here. | will further admit that if A
bays an article manufactured in Amer
lea, ol class upon which there is q
duty, he pays more for it than if there
was no duty on the class to which il
belongs, and yet pays nothing directly
to the government. And | will admi
that tariff "for revenve alone" mus
be levied exclusively on articles i'm
ported; not manufactured in this coun
try. What more does he ask2 Now
ask the gentleman before he sendi
his speech to his constituency, to in
ject into it q little matter by way o.
explanation. We have two classes Of
articles: lst Those paid for and con.
sumcd by our people which are moi
produced here; I'd. Those paid for
and consumed, and produced in this
country. A duty on the first class is
revenue tariff. A duty on the latter
class unnecessarily aprotection. wish
the gentleman to say If the free trade
people would levy a duty on the frs,
class alone2 If so-if they are in
in earnest-we must look for the arti
cles that will bear duty and produce
revenue. We have first, coffee, sec
ond, tea-articles that are extensively
purchased by our people, and the gen.
tleman must bear in mind that his req
enue tariff must be levied on articles
purchased and paid for or there is no
revenue. And to tea and coffee / add
few nuts and spices and tropical
fruits. What more, sir? Ostrich feath>
ers, ivory, and but for a recent preju-
dice against the article, we might
have added Chiness fire crackerG =
Here ends the list of articles on which
we can levy revenue tariff. Coffee
and tea must bear the burden of this
tariff. Our people pay now, or did
last year, about Sl2,000,000 on coffee
and about 80 900, 900 on tea. And
who paid it2 1t is a tax, says the gem
tleman. | ask, who paid itl The cons
sumer, certainly. Those articles may
have been considered luxuries some
time ago, but that day has gone by
To>day they are regarded as necessi-
ties; their price is question ofdomes.
tic economy in every household in the
land, in the humble cot Of the laboring
man as well as in the palace of the
millionaire. Rich and poor alike feel
that these articles are necessities, and
they feel directly the weight of this
tax. Yet the gentlemen who argue
revenue tariff would Increase this tax
to make it meet the demand Of the
government. We must have revenue;
but sir, tea and coffee should be admit
ted free-free as air. Providence has