Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1875-04-08
EDITOR OF THE HERALD /:

wish to prolong our controversy; there is
no necessity for it. If I have failed TO
clearly define my position as II free trader,
regretif, BUT am not surprised. am
not in the habit OF expressing myself in
writing, therefore it not strange that
should sometimes express myself obscure
". But permit me to make one more effort
to set myself right in an important point
where you seem to misapprehenu me.
/ When said that the protectionlst, like
Actaeon. We're eaten by their own dogs,
did not mean to apply the fable to manu-
tacturers indiscrminately, but 20 TIE pro-
tectionists, or rather the protective sys-
TEN. l believe that rce-tiade is the true
policy Tor the manufacturers rs it is for
the farmers, i'll fact. for all men. And
am confirmed in this belief, because it is
taught by all political economists whom
the world has recognized as good authori-
| ty; and many Of the sag;icious manuf;lc-
turers OF our own country are it's advo-
| Gates. ! read not more than two years
ago lecture delivered before {. Boston
audience, by large manufacturer Of
| Massachusetts,, i'll which he plainly asser-
ted the belief, that the time was near at
hand, when tie doctrine of protection
would be as thoroughly exploded as the
| belief in witches and ghosts-that it was
equally contrary to common sense. And
john Bright, whose reputation is world
wide, uses these words .'the doctrine OF
i,a IL ntr, f,f
| beg pardon of my friend OF the Democrat
for mentioning John Bright whom he
holds in such contempt. He thinks that
the doctrines of such men as Bright and
Mill and Adam Smith do net apply to our
country. Harry is not singular in this be-
lief, since our distinguished chairman of
the committee of Ways and Means, the
Hon. Mr.. Boutwell, says that the science
of political economy is not cosmopolitan,
it Is only national
cannot reii ain from noticing an idea
of yours, Mr.. Editor, though do it at the
risk of firing your patience and that of
your readers with a very dry subject. l
allude to it in no spirit of CONTROVERSY
though | believe it to be true only in a
qualified sense-but because it throws
some light on this subject, and furnishes
food tor thought, You think that !, glut-
ted market must enure to the benefit of
the consumer. This, under Il protective
tariff, is but a transient benefit. and not
always certain. When the inevitable gIut
comes, those myriads OF mushroom manu-
facturers that have sprung into eXisteEcc
through the hot-bed system of protection,
all go under, and the untold millions OF
capital, thtt, under free-trade, would have
been invested in something permanently
profitable is wasted. Is not this one
great cause of our present money famine
The old established manufactures, that
needed not, but have proiited BY the tar
if, suspend operations. or run half time.
And when the country slowly and painful
ly RECEIVERS from the shock. prices go up
again. and so we swing round the circle OF
panlcs and ftlsh-times.
Last summer,of In the carly fall the grea
iron masters OF Pennsylvania and Mary
land met in convention to devise some
remedy for the low price Of iron. and the
result OF their deliberations was to dimin-
ish the supply Of pig-irons Suppose the
farmers wonld resort TO the same remedy
for the lew price of their products. And
suppose system of ''cofn laws" that
would shut ont ali foreign competition
would euaole them to put up the price of
their -four, beef. pork. Sc, until they have
fleeced lis as numerically as they have
been fieeced would they not be equally
justitiable Aud if The salt boilers and
iron maslers-those Democrats of Penn
sylvania, of whom my friend Harry speaks
would dare to complain, how ready and
apt would be the farmers answer s.your
salt ard iron are almost as necessary to us
rs oul bread and meat are to you;" by
what rule OF justice then should We pay
starvation prices ami not receive the same?
Such retaliation might couch the eyes of
the protectionists to see the injustice Of
protection.
But still more notable proof that a
glutted market does not always benefit the
! consumer occurs 10 my mind. A few
4 y
panies of Lake Superior, by miscalcula-
ton, produced more copper than our home
market required. Through the monopo-
ly of our tariff they had kept up the price
of copper to about 40 cts, whilst the same
copper. mined on the opposite shore of
Lake Superior, i'll Canada, was delivered
in the London and Liverpool markets at
20 odd ceLts. Did they throw this surplus
upon the home market, and let the Amer
can workers in copper have the benefit of
the gliit? They shipped to England; sub
mitted to the loss there, and kept up the
price at home! Is that the way to build
up our manufactures How can the
American workers in copper and iron com
pete with Eng lands manufacturers under
a system that puts them at such disadvan-
tage? 1t is thus by free-trade that Eng
land drives our manutacturers from every
market but our own, and our commerce
from every sea. Our once boosted COM
merceis reduced to mere ccasting trade.
whilst every steamer that links our shores
with other lands, sd Is under a foreign flag
Mr.. Editor, l know tina. you are con-
stitutionally democrat; and though you
are slightly befoeged on frec-ira.c, am
certain that events are rapidly engender-
ing that will drive you to the full heights
of frce-trade. where your vision will take a
wider sweep. There is no logic so inexor-
able as the logic of events; and whilst it
drives certain class into the wrong, just
as surely does it impel another and a
better class, into the right. For the same