The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1872-09-14

! "There's Kenney, tho foreman; ask
him. replied Dennis. "He means t.
start for the far West, to try farming, anc
others will be fools enough to follow him
Fever and ague will do the business fol
some of them, and the others will struggle
for bare living, unless they are lucky, fol-
farming is trade that is not picked up al
once. They'll know how the owners Of
Vulcan feel to-day, when they get into the
hands Of the money lender, and are sold
out of their improvements on mortgage
for money borrowed at thirty per cent
It's just about as bad too for those that
stay. Hans and Hicks, and Rhodes, and
Thomas, and dozen more of you farmers,
have been making money out of the fur
mace, improving your land, but you will
sell no more timber, and do no more haul
ing at odd times, nor make wages at coal
ing when farm work is dull Potatoes will
| be plenty and cheap, for you can't sell
them to each other, and Grimes can't eat
! them all, and your butter will be melted
and your eggs added before you can carry
them over the mountain to town. Every
body will have to go but Grimes"
And what" cried teamster, "will
Grimes do?"
Why, he can't sell his house and shop,
and he can't give them away, so he will
stay and preach free trade to the pole cats
that will prowl round this deserted vii
lage.'
"Good, good" exclaimed a number of
voices "good for him; hit him again.
Yes, it is good for him, why not? He
will get cheap iron, if he carries it on his
back from town, but there will be no
horses to shoe, and no wagons to iron, and
no repairs to make. Food will be cheap,
too; potatoes ten cents bushel, eggs five
cents dozen, butter ten cents a pound,
and everything else in proportion, but
there will be the trifling drawback, that
he can't trade as much as will keep him
alive with the half-dozen farmers who will
stick about the mountain year from now.
1t will be free trade well illustrates; that
is, paying cash till your money is all gone,
for what should be had in exchange for
your labor, and then burst up, go to
smash, starve. Or clear out for. the Rocky
Mountains
"It's the gospel TRUTH" said one of the
farmers, and nod and exclamation of as
sent ran through the crowd.
I" But said Grimes, stoutly, "if it's
bad for You and me, and this neighbor-
hood, it's better for the country anyhow.
You can't deny that
" I do deny it, said Dennis. "Before
we started in to make iron here, free-trade
had run up the price of British bars to
ninety-five dollars a ton, and some of you
will remember how hard times were, and
there was very little product of American
iron. Well, Congress gave the country
protective tariff, imposing duty of twen-
ty-five dollars ton on imported iron, and
we started into the business, and I'll say
it myself that we have been industrious
and careful and that we ought to have sue
ceeded, and did for time succeed
"All can bear witness to that" said
Kenney.
"And l will say too" said O'Neill,
" that these we employed were faithful, and
honestly earned their wages, and am
sorry they are thrown out of work.
"They'll find something else to do"
said Grimes.
" I'm not done yet" replied O'Neill.-
" The effect of the tariff was to start I'D
the American works, and iron got cheaper
in price, but we should have done we'll
had there not been change in the tariff
which cut down the duty to an ad valorem
of 80 per cent, equal as the. English iron
is valued to about So or $40 per ton, and
the British manufacturers have lowered
the price of bars to forty dollars ton, for
the purpose of breaking US all up. The
consequences are that the American
manufacturers are ruined, Vulcan furnace
and FORCES have changed hands, you are
all out of employment, and in years
time property here wont be worth a red
cent
But. the country will get cheap iron
anyhow" said Grimes.
"Not so," said O'Neill. "Mark my
words. By the time the American
iron workers are all ruined, and domestic
production ceases, the Englishmen will be-
gin to put up their prices, and the iron
that they now ship at forty dollars will
cost the people of the United States
$40 a ton. It's bad way to get
cheap iron to depend upon but one market
to buy it in, and that foreign market
If you must buy your iron in England, it
follows that you must sell your grain to
England, or whatever product you have to
offer, and then you come in competition
with the grain-growing countries of the
world, many of which has cheaper trans.
portation to England than you have
Don't you see that under such a system
you would find yourselves buying very
dear and selling very cheap, and getting
less iron for your grain all the time?''
cts all true" exclaimed farmer in
the crowd.
However," said O'Neill, "I did't in
tend making speech and Grimes shall
have a chance now.''
"You reason it out very fine," said
Grimes, "but it is almost too fine Every
man wants an advantage right away, and
he don't care about a profit that goes all
over the settlement and waits two or three
years before it knocks at his own door,
"You mean to stay replied O'Neill,
"that you could get your slice of bread
easier if there was no loaf; that a penny
near at hand looks bigger than a dollar
little piece away; that it's bad policy to
cast your bread upon the water, and that
a resolute free-trader is not enough of
Christian to forego an immediate profit
for greater future reward. Well I'll
leave you at that, and here's my hand, for
FL not see you again soon, perhaps never"
Goodbye" exclaimed one and all,
and voice exclaimed "three cheers for
Dennis O'Neill," which were given with