Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1871-1872, 1871-09-27
FACE TRADE--REVEsUG gEFoRM
VVhst 1t Nzsans and What II
Means to DO.

la the forthcoming number of the At
ldHtic Monthly for October appears an
article on the suOiec: of free trade and
revenue reform BY the Hon Edward a skin
son, the more salient features Of which We
present below
IN reply to the address given By David
a. WeIIs in Cincinnati on the 27lh Apcil
Hon Z. D. Mansfield makes tna folio wing
dem md: Let the aoles. men Of the tree
trade party prepare 3 brief plain tract, which
shall stais In plain terms what their prin.
olpies are and what effect they sxpscs iasm
to have on American industry"
will reply separately to she two distinct
demands
First What are our priuciples
The capital, or, in other words, the pro
duct Of labor saved for future use, even OF
the richest countries, is no, more shan
equal TO two or three times the value of the
annual product and such capital il, of
necessity, mainly controlled bY a few rhe
theory Of protection is to enforce temporary
scarcity aud a distribution of annual pro
duct under the force Of law in such na0ner
that few are supported At the expense o.!
the many. The theory OF free exchange Is
to promote the greatest abundance, and
distribution meddled with By the statutes
only so far as the protection of the ignorant
from fraud makes statutes necessary. Album
dant consumption being the main object
Ia view, how has 10 been secured From
the earliest historic dates mainly by means
OF exchange; without exchange scarcity
would be the common rule. The free-trader
alleges that there must BE- the utmos. pos
sibe liberty in making exchanges ; the pro
tectionist sthrms that exchange must be re-
s'ricted, both claiming to secure the same
end, nAmel J, abundance. The entire force
OF the protective argument consists in sub
stantiAlly limiting the term manufactures"
TO the production of iron aud steel in their
crude or primary forms, and to the produc-
ton Of textile fabrics from cotton, wool,
and fax, These features for they have no
right 10 be called manufactures, being TO a
much greater extent the product Of czp-
tai in the form of machinery than of the
hand constitute Out q an all part Of the IN
dlstry of the country, and give employment
70 but small portion Of the lAborsrs engag-
ed IN the true work Of manufacturing the
whole number Of persons now employed in
all tho iron mines and rolling mills, steel
works, cotton, wool, and fax mills combin-
ed, being less than the number of i'm mi
grants who annually land upon our shores
which latter class are az once absorbed in
protective industry Now, upon the absurd
supposi.ion that the establishment of free
trade policy would close all the iron works
and textile factories in the land, there would
be no more difficulty in absorbing these
lsborers 10 other employmsnts than there
now is in finding work for the immigrants
exoept SO far rs long coutinuancs in a some
what monotouous class Of employments
might have disqualified them for those re-
curing greater Versatility. If steel were
tree from tax the increased consumption
might require the whole force OF s.eel
makers 10 become steel users. The present
effect OF the tariff tax upon steel rails may
be found in this fact. The best steel rails
now cost IN Detroit, for use in the United
States, 500 to sos, gold, per ton at Win
dsor, on the opposite aide of the lake for
use in Canada, $40 to $75, gold, per ton.
Difference, $50 per ton, or at 100 tons 10
the mile, $4,000 per mile. The coat of
steel rails in Canada is now about the same
as the cost of the best iron rails in the
United States. IL is perfectly safe to say
that if the railroads of the United States
could obtain 900 toms VI steel rails
about years supply-at $75 per ton, the
saving OF $50 per ton in one year would
constitute fund more than equal TO the
capital invested in stsel-rail mills and neAr-
ly if not quite equal to the entire invest
ment IN al the steel works in the United
States and such sun invested NJ 6 mar cent
would also yield an income sufficient 70
pension all the men now employed in sncb
steel works at more than 81 mar a. e., a.
term Of their natural lives; or if annI;ad 10
the pension of all the men employed =. ,he.
stesl-rai mills, ii would give them a, Is".,
$1,000 year. This from one Years saw.
ings.
The next argument of the prOtectionis,s
is, that, because wages are high in this
country, the cost OF al our product must
Slso DO high, and, conversely, that the labor
Of other countries is psuper labor, and there
fore the cost of their product must be low
Hence, il is alleged, we must exclude the
product Of paupsr labor, lest our own be de-
graded. Tho free-trader may admit all the al
legged facts, bat must deny the conclusion,
since il is almost universally true that high
wages are paid only for that Intelligent e
aud skill which resaIts 10 low cost of pro-
auoss' aud also that pauper or igorsut labor
costly and dear, II has been well said