Sunbury American. [volume] (Sunbury, Pa.) 1848-1879, 1871-04-08
TnE Du6riNs Tatellioeneer of last wee

SUNBURT, APRb 5, 1871.
THE DahriHs Intelligeneer of last week,
appears'to have 'come toa second sober
thought on the Tariff issue. As the Mtelli-
gencer is Democratic,papcr,w We copy the
following abstracts, to show that the editor
is not disposed to favor any such suicidal
questions as free trade, TO ruin the prosperity
of his neighbors and the people of this
State, as some OF his Democratic cotcmpo-
rarics do. And as that paper is located ia
the midst of an iron and coal district, we
cannot help but admire its Independence in
entering its protest against the folly Of its
party in advocating the doctrine offreetradc
and exposing the fatal results that would
accrue from such course Perhaps it
would be we'll if our neighbors Of the Deo,e-
crat would give this matter little more
serious attention, and lay before its read
ers the true condition Of things, instead of
attempting to pull the wool over theireyes.
The Irtelligencer replies to an article in
the Harrisburg Patriot, radical free trade
Journal,in the following pertinent manner.
THE TARIFF AS AN ISSUE.
ION the vital question ofthe tariff we have to
assume tn the Democratic patty is n unit,
white the Republicans are divided. .'-Pa.riot,
March rs, 1871. .t
The above is an extract from ei, article,
the tone of which is calculated To place the
uemOcratic party i'll an attitude this paper
j. not willing To assume. We have maiR-
taued heretofore, and now insist, that the
tariff question is not and cannot be made "a
strict party issue. Local interests will Just
as certainly be maintained by representa-
tives of particular districts as that elections
ire held. TO make an effort to coercc the
democratic party as n whole into an adop-
iion of the views of certain class of states
Inen, will, in our judgment, end disastrous
ly.
While our mountains yioh coal and iron
ore, our valleys and praires the serials our
hill sides wool, our sandy uplands cotton,
and our mountain streams continue to
furnish cheap motive power to operate our
cotton, and woolen mills, so long will di-
versity of interests continue that will de-
nland peculiar management of the tariff
question. To refuse to foster the iron and
coal interests of Pennsylvania, is to destroy
them, and turn adritt the thousands Of
operatives now employed in these branches
Of industry. To what will they resort !?
10 the plough : Pray if all who are now
iniling in our furnaces, forges, fouRdcies,
machine shops, rolling mills, coal and iron
mines, are driven to agricultural pursuits
by reason of the prostration Of our iron in
terests, who will be the consumers To
conpetc with the lily requieted labor Of
Europe, is to reduce wages in this country
to such q standard rs would place our
hardy sons of toi! in n ten fold worse con-
diton than the laborer Of the transatlantic
States. To drive them to farms, is to de-
stroy cities, towns and villages, ami leave
the farmer destitute of market for his
productions To adopt free trade, is to
resort to direct taxation to secure the means
to carry on the governmct. The article in
the Patriot, starts out with a false assump-
ton, quoted above, and after advocating
free trade says "politicians~ have APP
preached its considerationn---t the tariff
question-''yery gingerly for tear of offend
ing some local or selfish intcrest'-ard
further it says: '1'he principles of the
Democratic party on the tariff, as wch al
on all other national questions, are net
modified by, mere geographical or local iu-
terests. y 1t will be the hghtb Of folly to
expect that the Democratic party in the
next National Convention, will abatc ore
ut or title in the platform to serve the
timidity or crafty the selfshness of a small
portion of the people Of Pennsylvania.
The latter sentence has reference TO the
recent repeal of the duty on coal aud salt,
but underneath lies the essence of the po-
sition assumed by the Patriot, viz: That
The tariff must and ofneccssity will be made
n national party issue. In conclusion, the
writer of the article makes this declaration
--"The Democratic party will bc Obliged
to maintain its position on this question
The tariif--"even if it be necessary to
ignore Icuueyl~onin her Candidate and
the policy ola few her timid ponlicia,,s -
To this, we say, that if the Democratic
party expects to be successful in the next
NATIONAL campaign, ii must, and will ignore
the dictation of politicians who are insane
upon the subject of free trade. To insur,
success, the interests of not only Iennsyl
Nluia, but ofall the other States must bt
.nsidered and respected. 70 boldly aud
dntantly ileut in the face Of Pennsylvania
t,Iat the Democratic party intends to ignOr,
her people and her interests, and say t,
her-''wc DO not want your votc''--is l.
invite certain destruction to the party. T.
destroy the productive interests of Penn
sylvania is 10 destroy the interests of moi
only the other States having kindred pro
dactions, such as Missouri, Tennessee aut
Virginia, but it is II, destroy the interests q
the states that produce the meats anC
bread stuns consumed by the latolcFs j.,
her mines and workshops, and the c!othin,
worn by her people