Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1872-01-18
THURSDAY. JANUARY IS. 1872.
Free Trade vs. Protection.


partie. hoisted for his motto. Free trade |
auI sailors rights. God defend them.
while the other equally impre with the 1
liberal principles for which he was periling |
life. flunr to the breeze this a. his idea
Free trade and sailors rights. Tyrants |
Offend them The contest was a long and !
bloody one. perhaps the most holly con I
tested of any 10 be found in our naval
records We have thought that the poliii- |
e.l contest between Free trade and Pro
lection will be d long and severe one, and
IN the end. be as decisive a regards the
ptriie, or persons Immediately concerned,
a. Wa the one between the Essex and the
Phoebe No American however can read
m. account OF thar battle without having
his .vmpa,hies stirred within for the gallant
Porter. Nor can he resist the impression
thlt the American did not have fair-play;
bi. in this more peaceful combat the
reader, nor the student of American poll
tie, need se exercised by any such ieel
ipg,. for each Of the parties arrayed on this
question of free trade and protection claim
90 be- and are the real friends OF the conn
tsv. Since the death of Henry Clay. there
has been growing feeling in favor of
more liberal tariff. and nearer approach
- free trade NJ one believes in perfect
freedom OF trade. IL everything. but one
party advocates = tariff ior protection.
while the other desires that what revenue
4 -l,.. J. iax- fal, IL Ia
out any such object in view. Nc Henry {.
Carey of Philadelphia j. the most noted
champion OF protection in this country to-
lay. Horace Greeley, perhaps i the
second on the list. but Judge elley Of
Philadelphia. whom our readers or most
of them have seen, Tor he was here in the
summer OF 1861. and addressed them on
political subjects. is one Of the afle=t OF
this cla,. of thinkers. We have before as
Tor protection. Judge Kelley saws shat that he
was once free trader. but-iu 1859 he
was convinced by Mr.. Carey that he was
wrong and since that time he has never
been troubled by doubt.
We will confess that TO our mind this
question of tariff j. 10 be the absorbing
question OF the day. All the talk and
Scoldng as to whe .her this man or that
man gets this Office or that office. or
whether President Grant has appointed A
few more of his wifcS relatives TO unim-
p7rtaui offices. than is good policy. i of no
sort of consequence. This matter of pro-
lection i one that Affects the business of
al the people. and has TO DO with their
VA re-. their bread and butter. daily. and j.
therefore the most important question 81
all the questions yet 10 be settled.
The Evening P,d an able iree-trade
Journal asserts that protection IS the baue
of the ShiHhuiiding interest in Maine IN
an article di>cuSsin. the bills introduced In
Congress by Mr. Lynch and Mr.. Hale of
or district. relating to this important
Interest. it calls Mr.. Lynch's bill a nice
scheme" and the perfection of the pro-
iectiVe principle; 1t is simply to tax out
@; existence shipbuilding, then 10 restore
it By direct bounties." OF Mr.. Hale's plan
Il says; 1t is erroneous in principle be-
cause ii di>criminates in favor of special
interest. while the evils To be remedied are
general Ii admits that by admitting
cordage. iron. copper. sail-duck and many
other articles free OF duty. the cost OF ship
building may be reduced perhaps seventy
five per cent. while TWENTY-FIVE per cent.
would remain TO plague the shipbulders.
IL further says Before the war the cost of
building ships was s35 or $40 per ton and
the tariff has increased the cost to seventy
dollars, while they are building vessels in
New Brunswick for s35 per ton.
Then the Pos, goes on TO generanze and
it says the relief of the shipbuilder in
wolves the principle OF the whole tariff. Ii
says shipbuilding has flourished during the
period when free-trade tariffs prevailed
and has been depressed during the periods
OF excessive protection. To prove this it
cites history a. follows:
In ISIS the registered tonnage of the
United States was S5i. 294: il had RAPIDLY |
risen to that point in the few months sue |
eeding the war. and before the protective
tariff was applied in lsl6. From that date
until 1892 the shipping interest was de- |
pressed. The lowest point was reached i'm |
1880. when the registered tonnage was |
nearly three hundred thousand tons less |
than it was in 1915. notwithstanding the |
remarkable growth of the country From |
1882 to 1913 a liberal tariff brought the |
shpbuilders a return of prosperity. and |
the tonnage increased to more than one |
million. or about forty per cent The |
policy was then again unsettled. and the |
shipping interest did not increase in pro- |
portion to the growth of the country. |
But after the more liberal tariff policy of |
1871 the business grew with remarkable |
rapidity. In 1855 the registered tonnage
was more than two and one-half millions.
When the war began the registered ton
mage was 2.642 .62s. The only two notable |
exceptions to this rule. that the shipbuiid-
ing interest has prOspered Just in proper
ton to the approach to free trade. were in /
1923, when the cotton crop nearly doubled.
and caused great increase ia commercial
business; and in 1856 and the two or three
years following, when the change from
wooden to iron shipbuilding began. and
financial panics Frustrated all business.
In Is4s. also. England adopted free trade
in shipping. which temporarily affected
the business In the United States. The
rapid decline Of shipping under the present
tariff Notwithstanding the general growth
of the country. needs no comment ct this
time.
To support shipbuilding we must have
comRaerce. and to have commerce we mast
not place legal prohibitions upon it. The
reduction Of our export business since 1851
may be directly traced to the tariff. With