The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1873-05-17
ABOUT MoNopoLIEs AND FREE TRADE.

| Eui!OTS II rec IFuUeT-- w I'LL your pcIihissioH
desire to advance a few ideas upon the sub
ject of "monopolies," which so universally
occupies the attention of every thinking per
son in the land. This is a subject upon which
have thought, and about which havetalked
for number of years, and the basis upon
which it rests-the foundation of the whole
mattcr,--is none other than that of "Cdpitd'
rs. Labor" The principle of action in all
the various operations included under the
name monopoly" is identical with the one
that caused the slave owners Of the south to
seek for new territory, into which they pro
posed introducing the system of slavery, and
when prevented from doing so, to declare wal
against the U. S. government. 1t is the prin
cipe of Knight makes right; own indi
vidual prosperity, no matter what the result
may be to other pcople,-and as all will adj
nit, is sure to end disastrously. Much has
been said of late concerning railroad monopo
| ly, and very many persons, going no deeper
than the surface, suppose that this is the only
public institution of our land that makes
enormous profits at the expense of the produ.
Ger and laboring man. But this idea is IN
erroneous one, and far from the truth. The
fact is that our national existence, our very
government, and our political systems are
organized upon the principle of monopoly
Our commerce, our manufactures, our bust
ness transactions Of whatever nature, so soon
as they enlarge and expand into definite pro-
portions, are carried on upon this basis. We
find as the universal political motto: $40 the
victors belong the spoils" Tradcsmen com
bine to undersell and break down other men
in the same business, in order to reap double
the profit in the end; manufacturers hold
conventions to consult how they may adj
vance the price of their wares; in hard times
men with money to loan will rather loan one
half of it at 90 per cent. than the whole OF it
at 10 per cent, in hope to keep up the pressure
and create an increased demand The opera
tons of the rings in large cities illustrate
this point.
NY purpose at present, however, is to show
the direct connection between udtt0nal pro
tectice tariff, and the railroad and manufac-
turing monopolics as they at present exist,
First, then, let us see how a national pro
tective tariff came into existence. Away back
in the primitive ages, but a short time after
the feudal system had given place to a gov
eminent more allied to civilization, the plan
of levying a tax or tribute upon the goods of
strangers was adopted as means of aiding
in the support of the government etc As
home manufactures sprang up, the wary work
men saw that should they manufacture at
competing prices, the foreign trade would be
shut out; and thus as the government would
have TO receive revenue from some other
source, the tax would fall directly upon them
selves. Hence they prevented this and put
money in their own pockets at the same time
by combining and raising the price of their
merchandise to the same, or nearly the same,
as foreign goods, plus the tariff. In time,
when the wickedness of this tribute system,
Ga direct outgrowth of the tcudal SYSTEM
when all men were but so many bands of rob
bers, the strong compelling the weak to min
lister to their wants. began to be recognized
and moral people began to agitate the over
throw of the same, the crafty, cunning
tinancier found a new name and a new argu-
ment with which to blind the eyes of the
innocent and unthinking He proposed to
call it a'protectice tariff, and used all the sub
tleties of logic that fertile brain and greed
of gain could concoct, and thus raised train
of followers who were eagerly crying out for
the continuance of this wonderful boon to the
human race % like the man described by
Patrick Henry, who cried "beef, beef" Many
of us remember how we were taught in school
and read from our text books, that 1.-The gov
eminent imposed the revenue tariff to protect
home manufactures and bring the prices of
foreign goods up to the cost Of home pro
ducts" What a lie that was, And that same
argument is being used today by many peo-
pie who believe most implicitly in its truth.
OF course it took ages to bring this system of
monopoly to perfection, as it stands upon our
statute books to-day, but every candid man
will admit that the above reason was the
handspring of action in the rise and progress
of the revenue and protective tariff as it now
exists.
In my next article | will endeavor to show
how any system Of protection to the manu-
features Cor products Of this country is not
only detrimental to the interests of the nation,
but IN fact downright robbery. B.
Stokes comes to the surface once more. On
Monday, the Supreme Court Of New York
having decided 9rainSt GRANTING him a new