New-York tribune., 1880-10-01
THE T4PTEF TTON


THE TARIFF AGITATION.
The present tariff law is no doubt faulty in
many particulars. Some of its provisions were
adopted during the war, when the immediate
needs of the Treasury were the prime cOnsd-
Grafton Others are the results of the combina-
ton of local interests without much regard to
broad principles of national welfare A
thorough revision of the law, if it could be made
with full know ledge of the condition of the in
dustrIes of the country and with patriotic mo-
tiyes only would be an excellent thing. 1t is
not such q revision that the Democrats propose,
however. Their avowed purpose is to strike
down the whole fabric of protective duties
which shelters thousands of prosperous manu-
featuring enterprises, and put in its place q
tariff devised with the single idea of yielding
revenue. 1t is this purpose, plainly declared by
the party clamOring for change in the Gov
ernment, that has alarmed manufacturers and
workingmen in every city and village through
out the North where protected industries are
established These men know that if the DEM
ocratic programme is carried out the Occupa-
tons which now afford employment for their
bands or investments for their capital will be
rendered pIofitless, and thus destroyed. Nor
does the alarm stop with the artisans opera
tives. and owners of mills, furnaces, and fac
tories People who have no direct interest in
manufacturing realize that the Democratic
tariff plank is a menace to the general business
prosperity OF the country. Business interests
are 50 interviewer that one great branch cannot
be pulled down without bringing all the Others
down with it. If our manufactures are Grip
pied, our agriculture, trade, and transportation
will suffer too. Whatever people may think
about the abstract theories of free trade and
protection, common sense teaches that the great
industries which have grown up under pro-
tcctive system until they employ hundreds of
millions of capital and hundreds of thousands
of skilful hands, cannot be destroyed by un-
friendly legislation at Washington without in
volving all the material interests of the COM
munIIies where they are established IN ter
rbe calamity The practical question is
whether we shall go on making the goods we
consume or shall close our factories and set our
work people adrift in order TO swell the revenue
by heavy impOrtati0ns from foreign countries
The Republican party, which copied the protect
i've system from the Wing party, and has
greatly enlarged its scope, takes one side OF this
question; the Democratic party has always
taken the other side since the days OF John T..
Calhoun and the South Carolina notification.
The only apology the Democrats make for
their revenue tariff plank in such manufactur-
ing States as Connecticut and New-Jersey, is
that the party Will not carry out the principle
il procIaims Perhaps it would not if the ques-
ton were left to the Democrats of New-Eng-
land and the Middle States, but they will have
little to say about its settlement. The tariff
" for revenue only" plank was adopted on the
demand of the Southern delegates to the
Cincinnati Convention. The Western free
traders backed up theiI demand When 1t
comes to legislation, the South ard West con-
troll the Democratic Congressional caucus by an
overwhelming majority, and the protests OF a
handful OF Eastern Democrats representing
constituencies will not keep them
from carrying ont the principles Of their
party, set forth in its national platform. a
revenue tariff bill, having no regard to the in
terests Of home manufactures, will be passed by
a Democratic Congress and signed by Demo-
cratic President as leading feature of Demo
cratic policy The South is tired of what il
calls "paying Tribute to Yankee factories"
What does it care for the prosperity of our busy
NoI thern townsq 1t wants to buy its goods
in the cheap markets of Europe in exchange for
its cotton and tobacco. For all purposes of
shaping Government policy the South is the
Democratic party, now as much as 1t was before |
the wal. Place that party in power, and it |
will make as short work of the Republican |
tariff as it did in 1916 of the Wing tariff of |
1912.
Manufacturers, mechanics, and laboring men |
cannot overestimate. the gravity of this issue.
A Democratic victory this year means the de- |
,truction of the protective tariff system. Re- |
publican victory means the maintenance of the |
system and the continued prosperity of the |
Industries it has nurtured |