Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1873-08-23
IHoyPRoTECTroN.


the defense of the rich and ssucy iron mon
opolisls. 1t modestly afirms:
9The only reason on earth for the present
hish price of iron Is, that the supply is not
equal to the demand. And If tbs Memphis
4ppeaI and those who believe in the free
trade nonsense embodied in the paragraph
quoted at the head of this article, will read
more and declSim less, they will know more
than theg do now, and not be 80 liable to
mislead their readers"
A man may read all his life snd have
very little knowledge at last, if he does no
clear and sound thinking. If our con-
temporary desires to keep abreast with The
progress of American and European thought
on the question of iegislasipg money ont OF
one mans hand into another mans pocket,
simply because the other man wants
the money whether the property
owner is willing to give it or Tot,
it must cogitate more and dogmatize less.
Let us analyze the Times statements
aTne only reason on earth for the present
high price of iron is that the supply is rot
equal to the demand" High as the price
is, it is not satisfactory to the pamperea
monopolists. At late convention in
Cleveland, Ohio, the National Iron Manu-
facturers' Association resolved that " In the
present condition of the iron trade 1t is de-
sirable that the production of metal should
be curtailed as far as possible until a Inore
favorable market Is established" Reading
snd thinking men naturally inquire how
long it will take the supply of iron in q ma
ton of forty million industrious farmers,
mechanics and manufacturers to equal the
demand for the construction of rail-
ways, steam engines, and all other pur-
poses, while the producers of this g metal"
''curtal the supply as much as possible"
and are protected by law Of Congress in
this infamous conduc.? If the Times will
''read more and declaim less" it may OBJ
tain better understanding Of this great
question of class legislation. During the
war with Great Britain, from 1872 TO 1Sl6,
our sesports were closely biockaded, and
we suffered from the scarcity Of iron, steel,
salt, and many other necessaries of life;
and during the administrations of Madison,
Monroe and Adams, there grew up pref
ty strong protective tariff feeling and par
ty, under the lead of Henry Clay as
the father of abe American System"
Manufacturers Of salt and iron bad not
then learnt the dirty trick of putting out
their fires to lessen the supply of these nee
essaries of life, and avail themselves of
high protective tariff to rob the people of IN
told and unknown millions Of dollars. 1t
is within the knowledge and memory of
many yet living that indefinite millions of
bushels of boiled salt have been made and
sold at Syracuse and Salina, in New York,
at six cents bushsl exclusive Of the State
tax; and the best coarse salt, made by solar
evaporation, was sold at from ten to twenty
cents busbei of ffty-six pounds. One
hundred acres Of sunshine to make salt costs
no more now than it did fifty years ago,
but protection and monopoly enable the
producers of salt to sell this article much
cheaper TO farmers in Canada than to farm
ers in the United States. What does the
Times think of such protection?
Is Gen. Wilder good authority as to the
cost Of making iron in Tennessee in COM
petition with England? If so, the labor
ing men Of the State who work for fifty !
cents day to raise corn for fifty cents a
bushel and often less, need "protection" far |
more than iron operatives, who, according
to the Times, get three tines ifty cents .
day for their services. The Times says:
"Let us suppose that the Roane Iron
Company had the capital. Of the Dowlais
Works, Wales; and that stockholders |
would be satisfied with dividends of 81 to
per cent; that they could command labor
at 40 cents per day, instead Of $3.50; that
skilled labor could be had ct 3S3 per cent
cheaper Than they are low paying; whai
would be the price that they could turn out
rails at and make profit? The Welsh rail
can be made for $40 per ton at the mills,
and this price includes profit"
II the Welsh rail can he made st $40 a
ton and yield ''proht," does not this fact
amount to demonstration that tax on
the importation of foreign iron is sought,
not because iron cannot be made in Ten
nessea as cheap as in Wales, but to enable
the manufacturers of iron to pay their
laborers two or three prices for work as
compared with what farmers Gin afford to
pay for an equal amount Of skilled labor
and then have ten times the profit
left for themselves that farmers recsive
This kind of class legislation is simply
bleeding the cultivators of the soil to death
to gorge q few monopolists with their
blood. Congress cannot legislate money
out of one mans hand against bis consent,
into another mans pocket because he wants
it, without making the transaction practi-
cal robbery. If one class of citizens deserve
all other classes deserve it quite
as much; hence, your protection"
amounts to nothing as a gain to any one,
unless as trick with a big bounty for few,
and a heavy tax on the million to
pay it. These tricks have been played too
long already, and the intelligent farmers are
coming to the front TO run the government
a few years in their owD interest. Glass
legislation has had its day. The invalua-
Bile sciences of production, whether of
metals, miner ais, textile fabri s, or agricul
tural staples, are better understood Low
than ever before. With this unprecedent-
ed power of production, there is associated
a thorough knowledge Of all possible ex-
changes of one mans labor for that of an
other, whether direct or indirect, with a
clear perception that all EXCHANGES
should be as free and easy as