Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1876-01-13

reduction in the quantity manufac
tured at home? Would such q result
start up with new life and vigor ou
silent factories and deserted rolling
mills p
II it is true that the domestic manu-
farturers, through the unrepealed higf
tariff, were enabled to put into theil
own pockets the amount of tax which
the repeal of the Internal revenue tax
took off from the articles ia question,
(boots, shoes, clothing, manufactures
of iron, steel, glassware, &C., why is
it that every one of these articles, ex.
cept, perhaps, boots and Shoes is
cheaper to-day (gold) than ever before
If. as a rule, the amount of impost
duty is added TO the price of all goods
sold in the country, of the classes SUBJ
ject to impOst duty, whether imported
or manufactured at home, and that the
high duty goes into the pockets of the
manufactures, then the repeal of the
tariff duties would taEe seven dollars
per ton off of pig iron, leaving it ten to
twelve dollars; one per cent. per pound
of the present price of bar iron, leaving
it Oaly one dollar and thirty cent per
hundred pounds, and thirty-four per
cent. off eight-cent cotton cloth, leav-
ing it five and two-tenths cents per
yard, II price below the cost of produc.
tion in any country on the globe.
The Commercial AYERS that, taking
off the duty of iron, steel, clothing, and
woolen and Gotten goods, would be
taking away so much from the impo-
sitiOn upon every mans means of liv-
ing and yet, in the very next para
graph. Congress is asked to restore the
duty on tea and coffee, because the
history of the last three years, after tn g
abolition of that tax a false and shall
low cry of the deinagoues for "a free
breakfast-table,' shows that the price
to consumers of these great staples has
not been lessened a single cent
If, in this case, the benefit of any re-
ductiOn OF duty on our part is at once
pocketed by the countries exporting
would not the avarice of the foreign
manufacturer and domestic importer.
in cOllusion with the domestic manu-
facturer, take advantage of the reduc-
tion of duty to add the amount to the
price Of their goods, and thefeby in
crease their profits? Avarice affects
humanity in all countries about in the
facturers, in their anxiety to make
money, would take advantage of the
repeal of internal revenue taxes. in
fer that the foreign manufacturer would
act similarly, if the irnpost duties were
repealed or lessened.
fully agree with the proposal OF the
Commercial TO re-enact the tax upon
tea and coffee, which is all pure reve-
nue., to tax luxuries even higher than
is now done, and to enact well guard
ed income tax upon all incomes ex-
cee1ing, say 81 900 per annum.' If
these changes were made, enough rev.
enue would be obtained for an ecOnom-
ical administration of the Government,
under Liberal Republican successor
to General Grant, and we could bear u
few years longer the Oppressively high
price of twenty-five dollars per ton for
pig irOn, two and three-tenths cents
per pound for bar iron, eight cents per
yard for muslin, and four dollars for a
pair Of good pegged boots, even though
we be conscious of the fact that the
enormous average of forty-nine per
cent. ad Ualorena' of these prices is 'ex-
acted, grinding tribute, to the avariee
of our manufacturing monopolists,
through the operation ofan oppressive
tariff The average price of pig iron
at New York fOr the years 1857, 1858
and 1859. under the revenue tariff of
1857, IF 20 per cent. duty. was about $50
per ton in gold. Under the present
duty of 81 per ton, which il over 40 per
cent, the price of pig iron is less than
$50 per ton in gold, and the average
price under the duty of SO per ton, inn
posed by the tariff of 1864, was less in
gold than under the 20 per cent. duty
of 1857. During these years, from
1865 to 1872, the production of pig iron
in the United States was increased from
931 $50 tons in 1865 to 2,S56, 1858 tons in
1872, and the price in gold per ton is
les than ever before. This condition
of things is true of nearly all the lea6-
ing items of protected manufactures,
in the face of the stubborn fact that la
Dor, and the bread and meat that sus-
tain labor, are higher now than they
were then.
Let The improvement of our curren-
cy restore confidence, as we said it
would, and eur now silent factories
and deserted rolling mills will not
only give US cheap goods. but will fur
nish our idle labOrers with employ
ment they never will obtain if the
goods must be manufactured abroad,
and imported, i'm order to obtain an ius
creased revenue from reduced levy.
@. l.. p.
BELLAIRE, O., Dec. %, 1875.
Correspondent Cincinnati Com
mercial.