Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1878-05-16
New Series-Vol. 18-No II

wrong" In principle and in the interes
of privileged few. ri
Mr.. Speaker, upon what principle
does the Government tax its citizens.
Take our internal-revenue taxation
We pay tax upon the liquors and ths
tobacco that we consume. II we con
sumo none. we pay no taxes. II We
consume largely of liquors and tobacco
We pay largely of revenue taxes. ThC
tariff Is levied upon articles consumed
by the rich and poor alike. We pay
upon what we consume. We pey il
proportion to our ability to purchase
The poor man who is dependent upor
his days labor to support himself anC
family, and the mechanic who makes
but few hundred dollars a year, anC
the agriculturist who lives mostly
within himself, pays but very little re
venue upon imported goods. II hi
buys to the extent Of d hundred dollar.
per year, he pays upon what he buys
and upon that only. The lnan wht
has an income of but five hundred or {
Thousand dollars year, and live;
within that income, pays but very
little revenue to the General Govern
ment. The man who spends from ter
to twenty-five Thousand dollars per
year, who buys largely of silks, satins
laceS, rich carpets, and luxEries for the
use of his family, pays upon what ht
consumes.
have never been able to see, sir
anything immoral, anything unjust
anything unfair, in this system OF tax
alton, and while it maintains, as
believe and know it does, a large body
of the people Of this country in profit
able employment we should maintain
it, especially when il is shown by ex.
perience that we buy cheaper from Oul
own people under this American
system than when we purchased from
foreign manufacturers and paid them
large profits on their wares.
1t is to our interest to diversity as fsl
rs we Can the cailings and industries
of the people,. In that consists our
wealth. IdOnot believe that the mere
matter OF trade, barter, between ouI
people and the people of other countries
means wealth means gain, means
profit. -
have in my mind community
that in 1847 was driven out of the
States of Illinois and Missouri, across
what was then known as the Great
American Desert, to the valley of the
Salt Lake. They went into that valley
with scarcely any of this worlds goods
and they sat down patiently, a com
munity within themselves. They
were cut off by wide stretch of in.
hosfi able and mostimpassable desert
from the great world of commerce.
trade, and business outside. They
lived for twenty years before a railroad
reached them; isolated from the rest Of
the world. In that time they introduc
ed into their community almost every
known branch of meehsnism; they
built manufacturing establishment
and they manufactured their own
clothing from the wool clipped from
their own fiOcks; they were a self
sustaining and selfsupporting COIN
munity and an Independent people
Even the great organ that was BULL
for the temple In which they worship.
Ell was built at home by their OWE
wOrkmen. They sent hundreds o
thousands and even millions OF dollars
abroad to brius their co-religionist
into the territory that they had made
their home; and at the end of twenty
two years of complete isolation there
WAS scarcely y community west of the
Alleghany Mountains that had the
same amount Of property and the same
wealth per capita as the Mormons 0i
the Great Salt Lake. And while l am
not averse to trade, or commerce, Ol
exchange of our commodities with
other countries, yet 1 repeat what
have heretofore said, that we have moi
always been the gamers by such trade
and barter.
The wool industry Is attacked by
this measure, aud as that district
have the honor to represent is largely
engaged in this branch of industry
desire to call attention to few things
in connection with it. The present tariff
was framed after consultation and
mutual concessions on the part of both
the grower and manufacturer of wool,
and in my judgment 1t has been CON.
ducive to the best interests OF the
whole people, not only those engaged
in these industries but the consumer
as we'll.
In the year 1860 we produced in the
United States about 10000, 600 pounds
of wool, and the average value of the
product for ten years prior to that time
was little more than 50cents per pound.
We produced In 1876, 20S, ,0O0, 600 pound.
of wool, an increase of three and one
half times in the quantity, and the
price has averaged in the ten years
prior to the last date (1876) about 48l
cents per pound, showing that this
enormous increase in the production
has not materially interfered with the
price. Tho country stands this large
increase in the wool clip from the fact
that we are enabled to do our own
manufacturing, and our wool clip Is
consumed largely and principally at
home.
In addition to this, we imported
largely of foreign woods, mainly from
South America and Australia, for use
in our manufactures. In 1875 we paid
duties on raw materials amounting to
Sc, ,478, 900. and of this sum So, 790, 900
came from duties on wool. The annu-
al value of our manufactures of wool
wo-sted and carpets, Is esti-
mated at about $500, ,00O,O We have
encouraged the growing of fine woods,
and we have sent to the Paris exposi-
ton some as fine specimens of woods As
will be there on exhibition. Wool
growing has become an established
business in many parts of the country,
in the West, where the wool
clip amounted to nothing scarcely prior
to the tariff legislation of 1862. Our
woods brought in competition with the
cheap wools grown in South Americs
and Australia, il the protection
afforded by our laws shall be With
drawn, will materially injure this
branch of industry. The single pro
vince of New South Wales produced in
1876 16O, ,000, 900 pounds Of wool against
200, ,000,0 pounds 10 the United
States.
The production and manufacture OF
woulen goods in this country has been
a matter Of great benefit tn all the
peuple, varied our industries, and IL
has given US cheaper domestic wOolens
than we were ever able to purchase
abroad; and in what ] have said In re-