The Manitowoc tribune. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1866-1878, 1873-11-20
rne transportation question.

There is a solution to the transporta-
ton problem that has not been much
talked of, but which seems to us to 60 far
toward complete settlement.
The problem, stated briefly, Is this !:
How shall We, at the least expense, ex-
change the staples which we grow for
the manufactures which we need OF
course there is but one answer that ad-
mits of immediate application: reduce
the freight tariff But there is another
answer, which, if more remote in Its ap-
plication, will be more salutary ard per-
manent bring the staples and manu-
features nearer together. There Is only
one way to do this. We cannot carry
our fertile soil to France. England,
Mas achusetts, Connecticut. and New
York but we can adopt a policy which
will gradually but surely attract hlther
manufactures to supply US with almost
all we need There are some things
which cost nothing, or next to nothing
for freight. as jewelry, knick-knacks,
TOYS, bijouterie, and those fancy articles
In which the French SO excel. We shall
continue TO buy most OF these abroad.
But we ought to manufacture as near our
Western farms as possible, all articles OF
utility and necessity, all solios fabrics. all
tools and implements that are bulky and
expensive. We have, here in the West,
leather, wood and iron, wool, coal and
metals of all sorts; we have muscle, too.
that can be hired for less than the cost of
average freighting to the seaboard.
Suppose we were to abolish the GUS
tom houses and repeal the Tariff, as the
Chicago Times desires; what then
Their Western laborers would leave their
coal and metals sleeping in the ground !;
they would devote themselves entirely to
crops, breeding their wheat in-and IN,
till the exhausted ground refuses to yield.
They would send their crops to Europe,
paying bali their value for freight, and
receive in exchange such coarse cloth as
they could afford to wear, paying the
freight back again Thus they would be
IMPOVERISHED, and would grow poorer and
poorer every year. till we should make
the land desert, or learn once more to
dress in the untanned skins OF wild
beasts.
How is it now2 The Tariff acts as a
fertilizer for manufacturing. The drone
of planes, the whirr of spindles, the buzz
of saws, and the racket of wheels wake
echoes in every State. The factory and
and the farm shake hands and become
acquainted. The weaver and the plow-
boy hail each other at their toll. Every
Western factory saves freight and helps
to solve the transportation question.
Every mill wheel is an ally of the reaper.
Every forge increases the value OF all the
wheat within hundred miles.
Who is so dull as not to be able to see
that the Hubbard reaper factory OF Min
neapolis will be an auxiliary of Minnea-
polls tarmers-that is, assuming that 1t
will produce a tool that will be In de-
mand ? At Elgin, Illinois, is one of the
largest watch factories in the United
States-turning out four finished watches
a minute. IF it had not been for the
tariff of 25 per cent on watches, Elgln.
instead of being a thriving city. would
still be houseless prairie, and our peo-
ple would be sending their staples TO
Europe to trade for watches. At South
Bend, Indiana, is a sewing machine fac
tory that turns out three finished ma
chimes minute 1--WE make the statement
on Mr.. Colfax's authority that saves Ell
ther TO the maker or purchaser the
freight that would otherwise be paid on
such machine from New York. In Hart
ford, Connecticut, Cheney Brothers turn
out some of the handsomest and most
durable ribbed dress silks that are made
in the world. black and colored, and the
Tariff enables them to sell far cheaper
than any foreign house. Of course this
country thus saves just the freight of
some of our staples to Europe, and of
the silk back again. Were it not for the
Tariff there would be no yard of silk
manufactured in this country.
The lesson for cur people to ponder,
then, is this Every factory implies a
number of mouths propoTtionea to its
product Bring producer and consumer
together, and the question is solved. 1t
the hand of the farmer was near enough
to the mouth of the artizan, there would
be nothing for Senate. Window and his
good committee to do. To achieve that
result completely which has been so aus
piciousy begun. is the work of Protec-
tion.-Ninneopolts Ninn.) Tribune.