The Dallas daily herald. [volume] (Dallas, Tex.) 1873-1887, 1880-11-17
HIGH TARIFF INIQUITIEs

~ i1' anu WnaI properly ls, P'"N
his own inimitably clear manner: 81 want you
to fix firmly in your mind that every dollar
worth of property in the world, is dollar
worth of proof that somebody at some time
did labor to produce it, and that the wealth
of nation is the aggregate wealth OF lis III
dividusls thus produced" Whence no
draws this natural, Just and legitimate
deduction: at follows, therefore, that no DINER
person can have so good claim rs youSseIl
upon your surplus" He then goes on by
r. gular process of logic TO show that tine
value of this surplus grows in the precise
measure in which the facility of exchanging
it is increased, and hence every impedin ent
to the exchange thereof is an injury to pro-
Queer and consumer" There is no gsinsay-
ing these positions and it follows, therefore,
that any law whose operation in the process
of taxation taxes the many for the special
privilege of tho few is not to be tolerated.
Take the case of iron; protective
duty placed thereon, by just so
much takes from the pockets
of the people of the country, all Of whom
use more or less Of this article. Averaging
the mpost on this at, say 40per cent, and we
have for everything made of iron to pay so
cents on the dollar in excess Of what we need
pay did no tariff exist for every knife that
we might then buy for Sl00, we have now 10
pay 81 so; for every plough or sett of shoyes
that the farmer purchases Ut 50 90 ut present,
he would then have 10 pay but 5000; for
every kettle the housewife is now charged
$500 for. she would then have to pay but
81 90; for every ton of iron the railroad
man now pays $50 for, he could then get it
for $40, and thus reduce his rates of freight
and passenger fare. Now when we consider
that there were, in value, some $l0,000,0OO
of iron and steel articles inn
ported into the United States for
one year rs there was reported
twelve months ago, we cognize that tho
people have paid out scme $5,0O0,0OO to
somebody. Now what is true Of iron, is
true # other.goods imported, of WOO ems, Of
cotton and linen, Of earthenwarc, leather,
glass, etc Two years ago, 1--WE have not yet
tho figures of tie last report), we imported
of the above named goods, in value, some
$l05,000, 000 In this country there were, &C.
cording TO the last census, about 600 COO
agriculturists. These SPEND as on a former
occasion shown, an average Ct $500 annu'
ally. This makes, if we average the duty at
40 per cent, Just 81 40OOOO.0O0. Omittiug
this duty, and there would be a saving 10
the farmer interest alone, Of some $780,
900 0O0l This is what Project ON doe.
for the southern and western farmer.
Now, in the manufacturing industries there
are some 81 100, 600 persons engaged, and since
our national population is some 5O,OOO,0OO,
we have this entire number taxed for dutia-
BILE imports last year $3.50 100000, in the in
terest OF those 100000 persons. If this is a
uniformity of taxation, then we utterly fail
to comprehend the meaning Of the term, as
it violates most flagrautly the law laid down
in the opening of this article. The TRUTHS
and the. people when enlightened on this
highway robbery ingenuity, will one day
wake up and demand the iniquity to cease
that this Protection business, in the
mele matter of iron alone, means as
Mr.. Nordhoif says, that the carpenter
shall pay more fot his tools, tho
blacksmith for his horSeshoes, etc, the farmer
for his implements; it means that stores and
houses shall be dearer and rent higher, that
all machinery shall be more costly, and hence
that all clothing and other necessaries of life
produced by machinery shall cost more to
the poor and finally that railroads for their
rails, locomotives and cars shall be more cX-
pensiv' OF construction, md therefore passage
and freights higher to the farmer who wants
to got his prod ice to market and life's neces-
saries to the rm. Il this justice, is it hon
esty? And do the factory operatives get the
benefit of such law? Not one whit of it
Only the capitalists are advantNged if in
deed any ono is, although it can be demon
strated that even they are not much helped
High dunes do not cause the iron master tC
pay TO his laoorers wages higher than the
eragc standard, but they only enable the
D ,yment of wages in the protected industries
elual to those paid in tbs unprotected Mr.
Nordhoff ia eminently correct in this rs
facts subssantiate it. Were factory wages
for even tmc higher than other wages gen
orally, thon there would be rush to the
factory by vorkmen and this would reduce
the pay, tho great law of supply and demand
no yuletng price herein, MS elsewhere For
the same reason, and by the same process o
argument it may be proved that the pro
tected industries themselves make only an
ordinary interest on the Investments. For
if In Massachusetts, m)ney commands
only 6 per cent. per annum
and manufacturing establishment pays IL
per cent. for the same time, then the rush o
c,pitsl, like labor, will be toward such
business, while the level or the usual interest
rate DO found. And, indeed, this is in ac'
cord with tho existing facts. But 10 not the
foreign manufacture immensely benefited
PRAY, wherein ? If our tariff be taken of