The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1873-07-19
ABOUT FREE TRADE "CLAP.TRAP."


The Ottawa Republtcan, we believe, make
no pretensions to being funny paper yet ii
articles On the tariff question are very anus
ing The following is the gist of an article o
nearly a columns length in that paper o
Thursday and is evidently regarded by til,
editor as settler. 1t is gwen with all ,h'
confidence and flourish Of an adolescent ora
tor in a district school debating club:
For the support of the government the pay
ment of the interest on the public debt and
say, one hundred millions of dollars annual
on the principal, a large sum OF money mus
be raised, which will not vary far from toul
hundred millions of dollars annually. Two
thirds or more Of this amount are raised from
impost duties. Now the question we put tC
these selfstyled frce.traders is, do you desire
to abolish entirely this tariff on imports and
introduce absolute free trade? If you do, will
you please state how you propose TO raise the
above sum of money, whether by direct tax
or otherwise? If you don't want to abolish
tariffs entirely, but want such only as will
produce revenue without protection, will you
give list of articles on which you desire thi,
amount TO be assessed?
Well, England raises about S17j0OO,0O0 a
ycar,-abOut as much as is collected by tariff
duties in this country-by duty on just five
articles-tobacco, sugar, coffee, tea and spirits
We should include these articles in our list
and possibly fifteen or twenty more that are
Classcd as Injuries, and then, if we still lack
enough to raise what revenue is needed
$l300O0,0OO a year arc cnough-wc should
put on Il duty of one, two or five per cent. on
every other article that is imported Il "hori-
zOnal" taritt-such as Robert }. Walker lev
had, and the one under which it was most
prosperous England expcnds about one per
cent to collect her revenue from imports
Under our cumbersome tariff, that covers SAC
articles, and which is but complicated sys.
TEN of fraud and robbery from beginning to
end the cost of collection is five per cent, to
say nothing of the endless frauds by false in
voices, lodging the surveyors, &c, Sc,
But we have not started ont 10 argue the
tariff question With the Ottawa RcDtjltcdH.
We should as soon think Of arguing about
logrithms with Il lunatic. The point To which
We call attention is simply this: How sud
denly this republican editor, with four-fifths
Of all the other republican editors and polit-
'al leaders throughout the country, wheel in
o line to support the tariff robbery, as soon
Is the anti-monOpoly movement Of the far
ners of the west begins to squirt towards a
'cry serious assault on the tariff as wellas the
abroad rObbcr rings
This is all right, just - it should be Very
'ew people are 50 blind in these days as not
70 see that tariff monopolics and railroad
are essentially one and the same.
They belong To the same natural order,
genus, species and variety 10 champion
Inc cause Of tariff monopolsts, therefore and
pretend TO fight the railroad monopolis'S is !
lypocritical and absurd The party that
lights for the tariff robbery is a monopolist
party; the organ that champions the tariff
'obbery, is a monopolist organ. They may |,
lowl as much as they please against railroad |
and cXtortion in the little town |
meetings, in the grand forum of the nation |
hey stand arrayed on the side Of monopoly
ganst equal rights, and there is where they !
re countcd-thcrc Il where their vote tells
here is where they belong.