The Wheeling daily register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1864-1878, 1878-02-23
Free Trade and Resumption.

l have not given great amount oil
time to the study of the tariff, Tor L did
not think there was a producer or me-
cbsnic in the land that could intelligent
" oppose protective tariff, but the
manufacturers and laboring men have
very little voice in the administration OF
affairs. True they have votes but they
don't count. Nearly all Legislatures are
bought, and results In the greatest evil
to the greatest number, and the Ameri-
can voter is the great hoodwinked, who
ls being forever deceived. Great Britain
has almost accomplished in the year 1878
Whist she ignomiaiously failed
to do one hundred years sgo.
She tried to make us dependant
psupers to her sristocrscy but
Washington, the Continental Congress,
and Continental paper money fooled her,
and Great Britain bsfti ed and beaten, lett
our shores-lett us free, but how long?
What her bsyoneis failed to do, her gold
has succeeded in accomplishing, in fsss
making US a nation of beggsrs. She
regulates our finances, she frames our
tariff laws. The tariff of 1872, imposed
duties on 1000 different commodities,
that millions OF our people were employed
in producing The Wood" tariff pro-
posed to strike 1900 articles from
the present list; those 1900 articles to
enter our ports duty free, and the remain
ing SO to be dutiable, but with the duty
on them reduced from 10 TO so per cent
below the rates fixed by the act of'l872.
And this ia called "a bill to promote
trad. and commerce." "a bill to sggra-
yate destitution," would be more sppro.
pirate. Wood d Co. tell US that with
the duty struck of these 1850 articles the
American public will be abet to purchase
them cheaper than before, and the public
will therefore be benefited.
There is something contemptlbIy
feeble in this argument but the
apostles of free trade do not
seem to perceive it. Is not this
public, which free traders say will be
benefited by getting these 800 articles
cheap, the very people who produce
similar articles IN this c0untry2 And II
home mechanics are idle because the
class of goods they produce can't be i'm
ported At price lower than such mechsn-
les can afford to make them here, where
is the benefit? And If the home me-
chanic, through being idle, lie unable to
purchase food for his family, where
is the farmers benefit in giving
one half or two-thirds Of his
produce TO shippers in freight charges
for carrying his grain to foreign mar
ket
Under the Wood tariff bill the market
would be glutted with goods, as it now
il, and Fernando Wood and his fellow
tree traders would tell Us as tle gold
bugs now do, that there ia an "over-pro-
daction," when little reflection will en-.
able any one to see that the glut in the
market is not caused by over-production,
but by a system OF political economy
which prevents producers from consum-
ing.
There is no branch OF business in the
country which win not be more or less
injured by the proposed tariff bill should
it become law. To the workingmsn it
means low wages
There are men in our midst who are
getting ready TO advocate Free Trade
In the Wheeling Mtsiligcncer Oct. -,
1877, there appeared letter from DR..
Jepson (then in Englard) OF which the
| following is IN extract:
| Everywhere 90 free trade IS preached
! in my ears, and IT'S blessings 10 America
! pictured in such brilliant cOlors, that you
! need not be surprised 10 hear Of me lee
| turing against the tariff on my return.
Would il be perfectly safe TO do - in
| Wheeling" 1t is astonishing to hnh how.
| deep an interest our English friends have
| in our future progress! Alter all, Is II
perfectly certain That we are right ana
| they wrong on this issue? The question
| won ii not he al severed In the All rmatiNe,
tuink, by every citizen OF Wheeling
| even.
Ii seems astonishing 20 this worthy
doctor TO find how deep an interes. our
English friends have in our future pro-
gress. Students OF history, who know
what England is, and what she has ever
been, ard how she has invariably treated
the Door and down trodden, Low with
| her gold she has bribed and bought what
she could not obtain by brute force, will
not be astorishcd. Our English friends
took 20 deep IN interest N our future
welfare that they sent S5OO,OOO over and
! il 1873 bought the characterization OF
our silver dollar. On, yes, it Is astoni5h-
ing what an "interes!" .hey do take, not
| ONLY IN our future welfare bu. on their
original investment in our bonds! They
would close every work shop, Pu. out
every furnace fire, shut Up every coal
mne, and throw every home mechanic
out OF employment. The htcliigcncer III
commenting on DR.. Jepson's letter uses
this language ave are OF the opinion
that the days of what is known asa high
! tariff, are numbered in tins country. But
this decline can no. come until our
money rests upon solid specie bssis."
Yes, that's about it, we think we see
the niger in the wood pile. Free trade
and resumption mus. go hand il hand.
Whist fools we are, and what is thought
of US Is well set of in the following
dialogue between the frauds.
Free Trade Well, Bullion, you Temem
| Der that in old Roman times the sacrci
| augurS who dew wondroGS prophecies
from inspections OF the entTails of birds,
! became finally so convinced 81 the ab sur
| ditv AMI Il ,e!cssreSS OF their work that
! they could not refrain from laughing in
| cacn others faces when they met IN the
| streets. That is the way | feel when
meet you. Ifthere is pair Of oil frauds
! and humbugS unhuOg, we are the ones.
| How we can keep NJ our iarcical teach
| iugs much longer | do not sea.
Bulliun-Come, come, keep stsfl upper
| llp, old fellow. We are not dead yet;
| neither are the fools. We can rely upon
tle stupidity OF the conservative classes
for "A lease OF lie Yet. Then, all said and
| done we are not complete nuiSances Ru'-
| lion isuS iul tor International exchanges
and Free Trade Will be all the 90 in the
! millennium.
! Free Trade-Oh, yes: we both have our
| places: but these are certainly not as ruiz
Ing forces IN THIS land and time. The tan
! OF 1t Is that we both fool tue people in eE-
! acily the same way and with pre- cisely the
same argument. You persuade III, poor to
! vote the nSalveS 10 destruction by voting
! for specie. ain ord r TO enhance the pur-
! chasing power Cf the dollar" knowing
! well that your syst lends u make TIE
| dollar very ,Csrce among them. !, on the
same principle. get them To vot s.tor me