Port Tobacco times, and Charles County advertiser. (Port Tobacco, Md.) 1845-1898, 1875-12-03
How Ii Works.

lofGoY. Groome and heli2Ie thai bis -&2tIoI
Ep nrprrnrsrS viii be conscientious.
How 1t Works.
Whether the Democratic House of Re
representatives. will be able to do anything
towards relieving the industries OF the
country from the iniquities of our present
tariff system, and re-establshing the good
old doctrine of Free Trade, with a tariff
only for revenue, remains TO be seen. But
any man, who has examined into the mat
ter and reflected on it, it seems to Us, must
come to the conclusion that no more i'm
portant action could be taken by them
looking to the welfare of the country
Protection to the extent of prohibition
has had full and fair trial during the
past fourteen years. And what has been
the resultl After a period of ephemcral
prosperity, a season of prostration has
followed, and what points the lesson the
more strongly is that the prostratisn is
greatest among all those industries which
were most carefully protected" Take
for instance the muslin manufactures and
the iron interests. On muslin the i'm
port duties, or the protection charged
by the tariff vary from 81 to 40 per
cent. yet none has been imported and the
factories have been closed. So with iren
Our monstrous tax on imported bar iron
has had the effect of reducing its importa-
ton from 196,000,000 of pounds, in 1872
to about 100000 in 1874, vet the vas;
majority of the iron mills are at 4 stand
still, and thousands and tens of thousands
of laborers, together with their families
are in a condition OF terrible suffering
without any prospect of relief during the
approaching months of the winter. This
shows the effect of protection" upon those
who are protected. It actually destroys
their business. But who can in a week
or month tell of the wrong and injustice
it does 70 the million who are not engaged
in that particular business, but have 70 be
consumers of the protected articlesi Let
us take any article as an example-say
coal-one which the State of Maryland is
largely interested in and which is slight
ly protected" by our present tariff, and
see how it works injustice to the mass oil
the people whilst il enriches few mine
owners in Allegheny county and the GOA
region of Pennsylvania Last year W,
imported into this country o,59s tons Of
coal, which paid the United States at 81
cts. a ton, say $4,000. During the same
time the people consumed largely upwards
of 90, 100000 tons of bituminous coal, the
price of which must have been enhanced
to the consumer at least one half Of the
import duty of fifty cents levied by the
tariff, or, say 20 cts. per ton, making the
amount of $5,000,0 900 which went into the
pockets of mine owners. Thus the people
pay $5,000,00 to enable the Government
to collect the tritie of $4,000, Is that
just, is it fairl But this is not the worst
of this iniquity. Like two-edged sword
it cuts both ways, and what we have said
shows but small proportion of the loss
on this one article. This coal from abroad
comes from New Foundland and Nova
Scotia. Both Of these countries are sterile
and unproductive in an agricultural point
of view, though having a considerable po-
pulation. They raise no wheat, but con-
sumo annually 100000 barrels of flour,
which at, say So per barrel, would be So
100000. The vessels which brought US
this coal, also brought us fish, &c, and
carried back this flour, besides corn, pro-
visions, groceries, SC, in proportion. All
this trade in consequence of this tariff is
lost to New York and now goes to Mon
treal. Thus, not only are the people com
PEELED to pay S5,000,000 more for their
coal than they could buy it for, except for
this tariff, but they lose an additional
trade, with all its ramifications, which
may safely be estimated at over 5000, 600
more, and all to enable the United States
to collect the sum of $4,000.
Now let us look at the other side of the
picture, and see how free trade has work
ed in one of the few instances in which
the tariff restrictions have been removed
Up to 1872 the import duty on raw hides
was 10 per cent. That year we imported
raw hides amounting to 81, 1884, in
value, whilst in 1875 we imported of hides
free of duty, $18,536,8 worth, an increase
of largely over 80 per cent. But this is
not all. In 1872 we exported, sold abroad
of tanned leather $2,864, 500 worth, whilst
in 1875 we exported $5.942,23S worth OF
the same article, all increase of over 100
per cent! Thus by the Government fore
going the trifing duty of ten per cent. on
this article, dealers largely increased theiI
business, a much larger number of hands
were employed in tanning, who in turn
give us back more than the loss of duties
by the increased consumption Of sugar
spirits, tobacco and a hundred other arti-
cles, which they were able to purchase be-
cause employment afforded the means, and
all of which paid the Government duty.
Here we have fair illustration of the
evils of protection on the one side and
of the blessings of free trade on the other.
The one impoverishes the consnmers-the
largest class--and enriches the rich-the
smallest class: whilst the other, by pro-
noting all the industries, ''like the gentle
dews of Heaven, blesses alike the rich and
poor"