Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1877-12-05
Revenue and Protection.

Absolute protection Is absolute pro-
hibition. Absolute protection is.
therefore, tho destruction of revenue.
A tariff SO high as to shut oft all i'm
portations is tariff squarely opposed
to all revenue. TO give revenue,
something must come in. TO give
much rcV"rNe, something, or rather Il
good many things must come in
pretty freely. To get the largest
revenue, we must abandon the poll
cy OF protection entirely. 1t is be-
ginning to be apprehended that the
pe,ting of industries, at this period of
our history, is n luxury which, as a
great, impoverished people, we can
not afford. We have learned, at least,
that protection cannot keep industries
awe WIlGu tllt lllalhct IOI tueil pIOu'
ucts is insufficient, and that we are
paying much more than we ought to
pay for goods, while the man who
produces them Is not benefited. -
Some OF our industries, which have
beeu utterly overshadowed by protec-
ton, have died ont. An illustration
of the working OF protection, in in.
creasing the cost Of goods to the peo.
pie, can be found in almost everything
we wear a SILK bat, for instance,
which ought to ccst, at lis best, no
more than five or six dollars, now
costs eight. The duty OF sixty per
cent. on the plush aud other silk en-
ployed m likes the silk hat a luxury and
nobody is benefited. We pay three
dollars more for the hat than we ought
to pay the hatter himself does not
at all increase his profits, while he
finds his business cut down to its
lowest mark compatible with con.
tinued existence, for only rich people
will buy silk hats at the price. A
low tariff Oh the matcrial-say y
tariff Of twenty per cent.-would III
crease the revenue, and so cheaper
the hat everybody could af,ld to buy
it, and thus set all the manufacturers
at work. Forty millions Of people,
with every man and woman OF The
number heavily taxed to keep alive
our wooden industries, while then
gates ale shut down and their work
men unemployed, do not form very
edifying spectacle. The people have
petted the manufacturers good many
years. They have submitted to q
taxation for this purpose that none
but a prosperous people could stand
Now it seems to us that it is Time tol
the people to take care OF themselves,
-,ltnc Ior the fostering mother ii
push the birds out of the nest. We
have built q wall around us-a wall
of protection. Our manufactures are
lying still because they have no mar
ket. They can get no market out
side, for with raw materials taxed, as
they are in many Instances. they can.
not compete in the markets of the
world. Ag in, they can get no mar
kets outside, because what those mar
kets have to give us in exchange IS
shut out by ''protection." Trade is a
game ofgive and take, and we can
not shut out the products OF other ma
tons if we hope to sell them our own.
We ask for no free trade that will be
inconsistent with a tariff that will give
us the largest revenue but it seems
to us that the policy OF taxing the
people of the Uuited States for the
protection of industries that have be-
come bankrupt under the policy, or
have ceased to find sufficient market
at home, is about played out From
DIR. Hollands "Topics of the Times )"
Scribner for December.