The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1877-08-18
SOMETHING WRONG.

s HOW Il lldtlDH Ciiii Dc Impoverished oNCi
, production Is one of those things which Stuar
e Mill says he is unable to comprehend Yet tn
| present condition of this country presents
, distinct case of national starvation in the mds
, of national plenty. With abundant labor anc
f capital, enforced ideness prevails; with TEEN
ing and generous crops, want Of remuneration
is complained of; with everything that nature
bounteous hand can offer to make us a pros
porous and contented people, the universe
| complaint is hard times" Where is tn
philosopher to furnish lis solution Of thi
enigma?
A well governed nation, political scientists
tell us, should resemble well ordered family
Apply our present national condition 10 ;
large, well ordered family Say it is compos
ed Of twenty-five or thirty members, most o
whom are engaged in pursuits for the common
support of ALI Some are raising wheat, corn
potatoes fruits, &C.; others are spinning ant
weaving; others making shoes; Others educat
ing and inStructing the rest, and so on, the
whole aiming to meet every eXigency and
want. 1t happens one year that the crops are
over-abundant; the cardcrs, spinners, weayers
clothes makers and shoemakers have laborcd
so ndustriously as to double what the family
nccds,-ln fact every article of use or luxu-
| ry is in excess. Under such circumstances
what would the family naturally do? Would
they sit down and whine about nothing to do
and hard times? Hardly Like sensible PEG.
pie they would probably stop work and 90
a-tishing; or have celebration or get up Il
dance-in short, give themselves to hcalthful
amusement and recreation.
Evidently overproduction cannot impover-
ish that family nor laborsaving machinery
work them an injury. These would only tend
to bring them more leisure and case-morc
time for amusement or to read books, study
and improve their minds.
But the family we are picturing is supposed
to supply within itself all its wants. Our na-
ton is somewhat different. We produce many
things that we don't want, but which we pro-
pose to exchange for products of other nations
that we do want. Is it true that all the other
nations are ovcrstocked with the products that
we have in excess? South America China,
Japan and the South Sea Islands offer fair and
even high prices for many of our cotton and
wooden goods that we have in excess, and
thousand of people are dying in India for want
Of our breadstuifs, while they are anxious to
exchange for them many Of their own products
that we are paying high prices for~silks, cof
fee, sugar, tea, spices, drugs, &c Is there not
perhaps, some fault in our system Of exchanges
in our tariff and navigation laws? Our ma
chincry for the manufacture of all the pro-
ducts Of cotton, wool, iron, leather, &c, is said
to be so superior to that of Europe and Asia as
largely to overbalance their cheapness of labor.
Yet by reason of our tariff laws those countries |
us in all the important markets of
the world Our national legislature has passed
laws that stimulated the overproduction of
articles we do not want but which the world
outside of us do want and then has put such
clogs on the wheels of commerce that we can
not send them abroad. Our navigation laws
have so hampered the building of ships that
even our coast trade is carried on in foreign
vessels, and our ocean tonnage, in 1860 exceed.
ing that Of any other nation, is reduced below
that of Spain or Italy.
Our well ordered family" in such situa-
ton, would hesitate less than two minutes
what TO do. If they wanted articles from with.
out in exchange for articles they had in excess
within, they would instantly remove every bar
rier or clog to free exchange and make it on
the best terms that were found practicable |
And this is just what our country must do
Rather than let our excessive crops, cotton and
wooden goods, and so on rot on our hands, re-
move every barrier in the way, send them
abroad, and sell them for what they will fetch. |
Instead of bowling ut congress for cheap mon
cy when money is already cheaper than ever
known in the history of the country, let us
camor for free trade in ships, for that will
bring low reights; free trade in articles of for
eign production, for that will create demand
for our own products in exchange and free
dom TO weave and spin, without tariff restric-
tons and clogs, whatever we can exchange for
articles of necessity or luxury that we want
from abroad. There is no prctence that IN
hesc suggestions we have even approached
solution of the problem with which we started
out; but we believed train of thought has been
touched that leads in the right direction