Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1875-03-25
EDITOR OF THE herald,

in Shenandoah, than for the same brooms
made elsewhere. feel assured that Mr..
Lantz did not start his broom factory
upon basis SO narrow. He doubtless
expected to compete with all other
factories, and give us as good brooms, for
the same prlce,as we could buy elsewhere.
He has accomplished that, as 1 know by
experience, therefore he deserves, and
hope will meet with success. On the
same ground must the merchants and
mechanics of Woodstock stand or fall. 10
give them our custom merely because
dwarf them forever, and make charity OF
our business and he who transacts his
business on the charity system will soon
have no business to transact, and 70 chart
ties to bestow. And that business MAN
who does not as general rule, buy where
he can buy on the best terms, will very
soon find himself hustled aside and thrown
ont of the race. am sure 1t is the rule
orr merchants adopt when they make
their purchases and he would he & narrow
minded merchant Who would deny the
privilege to his customers, and here let
me remark, that stair and legitimate
profits" is Il very indefinite phrase. The
buyer seldom has the means to determine
what are fare and legitimate profits but
when he finds that he can purchase %
per cent cheaper at one place than at
another, self interest, or common sense,
call it what you will. very soon decides
his course
Suppose all other communities would
act upon the advice that you are giving
TO ours-go into manufacturing, make
| for themselves, though at an advanced
cost, the things that they need, and keep
| their money at home some OF our i'll
| dustrics would come to II sudden stand
| still. For my own part. Would have to
pull up stakes, OF starve at home; and our
! Woodstock Manufacturing Co. would
| dwindle to very small affair.
| | am not opposed to home industry, it
would be IL insult to the commonsense Of
any to suppose that he was, but am op-
| pos, d to any industry that taxes all other
| industries to make it profitable. AS for
that old argument Of the 'protectionists.
! that we ought to permit our infant manu-
| factories to milk us for ii wlie until they
become self-sustaining, time and events
| have so fully exposed its t;illacy, that lam
surprised to hear you Use it. Abou. the
close OF the last ce ntuly, or the beginning
OF the present, our. manu- facturers asked
the modest duty of 10 per cent until they
could get under weigh, and compete with
| foreign labor and skill. Now, after three
quarters of a century OF getting under
weigh, they demanda duty ranging fl ON 80
to 100 per cent to protect them from foreign
competition. Sut this is human nature.
or at least, manufacturers nature, and you
will find it the same i'll Woodstock OF
New England
M, Mr.. Editor. you are altogether
wrong: leave trade free; it will find lis
profitable chanEels as inevitably as water
finds its level do no. restrict it. either by
tariff, or your m.l,ler method OF moral
suasion.' AS the farmer mast lai,e that
which he can sell in the open markets Of
the world. though it be not broom corn,
so, lei every other class follow such pur-
suits as will not require u bonus to make
them pay. This, confess. will compel
us to buy many things a5roll, that we
cannot make at profit at home, but that
is Il kind of compulsion that will not kill
our town.
You think am wrong in mining the
tai lift as one of the chief causes of our
present distress. | believe there are two
great causes tor it. to which all other
causes may be lily trace d, mean, our
inflated currency and orr snicidai tariff.
do not name demonstrations for that
is sectional and means only the ruin ofthe
South, for ii prevents all rational govern
ment and while it stamds-especially the
fifteenth amendment-political economists
will search in vain for Il remedy that will
restore our lost prosperity. But van
der from the subject. | wish to show
how tar the tariff is to blame in bringing
| about the present hard times. We have
no reason to doubt The reports that come
| to us from all quarters. that one fourth
| the labor of the country is out OF employ.
that the fire is out in one half of our
| furnaces. that operatives by thousands are
| fed on charity, or wander from city to
| city in search ofempoy ment That there
| is distress in all this you will reltlily adj
nit. but what is the cause? Intlationist
tell lis it is want of currency, but they
| forget that our currency is four times
| greater than it WAS before The war; thai
ii is as large as il was at any time since.
when the manufacturers were counting
their profits by the million, in faut, since
| the crisis, it has been increased 26 millions
and may be increased still more No, ii
is not the want f currency; the cause
may be found in pithy phrase, 'protec-
ton docs not protect.
Mr. Editor, there is an eternal fitness in
the order Of things that man canno
change, and the great Ruler has said the
way of the transgress0r is hard,' and Il pro-
tccrive tariff does tranSgress every princi-
pie ofjpstice and equity. The great minds
that have fairly exhausted this subject
have come to one conclusion; that manu-
factories built up by the hot bed system OF
protection, will manufacture for the home
market only, and sooner or later that mar
ket will be glutted, and then comes ruin.
IT that ruin fell only Oh the wealthy cap
| italists who have made their fortunes by a
plunderng tariff, it would be a righteous
| h,,t. ffn Cal n.
upon the poor operative. whilst the mil
liomire runs his mill half time to dimin-
ish his hopes, and bull up prices to their
former figures. Will the time ever come
L. e. .,.I l,oi.