The Bolivar bulletin. [volume] (Bolivar, Hardeman County, Tenn.) 1865-1888, 1880-12-09

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tariff is made apparent when we be-
hold ten thousand being taxed for the
protection of one. But the tariff on
sugar Is possibly the least objection
able feature of the protective system,
for we have ample territory adapted
TO the production Of sugar to produce
all the sugiu needed by the entire
country. And whatever Is extracted I
from Tic soii addsto tir,. direct wealth
Of the nation. The products of the /
soil Of the United States constitute its
wealth. These products not only sup
port the mauulacOtries of our country,
but pay for the immense importation
and bring in large cash balance in
our favor and, besides doing all this,
it pays large cash prcmium on home
manufactures, denominated a pro-
tective tariff. Is it not self evident
that a tariff which increases the profits
of manufactures diminis shes the profits
of agriculture in the same rates2 A
tariff does not benefit the staple crops
of the United States for there is an
abundance for home consumption and
for foreign export. Here again the
tariff reverts to the injury of agricul-
ture for many foreign countries lay
an cmborgo upon our products by
way of retaliation. Protection works
to the injury of the United States in
that it encourages men to engage in
other business than agriculture. No
one will deny that the best interests
of the nation will be advanced by in
ducing every family to become owners
of the soil Why is it We see somany
men tramping through the country
when there is so much vacant land at
their command? There is some cause
for this. Probably they are aware
that that class of men who follow the
plow have been the most dependent
class of men in the nation for the last
twenty years. This is unnatural; the
tillers of the soil should form the most
independent claEs of our people. But
how can they be independent when
one-half of their products must be
sacrificed for the protection Of other
vocatiens? While a protective tariff
works an injury to agriculture in gen
eraf, its greatest injury is felt by the
cotton planters of the South. This is
apparent when we consider the fact
that Liverpool governs the price OF
cotton, and that the demand fer the
cotton goods of England governs the
Liverpool market. And if England
can control the price of our cotton and
pay a duty of 384 per cent. in order
to introduce her goods into our mar
kets; is it nota fair presumption thai
cotton wonld be worth at least two
cents more per pound under free trade
If this theory is correct, the Sontl
, sustained a loss of more than fifty
millions of dollars on the crop uf 1879
The tariff system is an evil in that i
is virtually a per capita tax A poo
man with a large family must eithe
: live very speringly or be under tn,
necessity of paying as much tax to tn
> nation as rich man with a small
family for under the tariff system
man pays tax in proportion to wha
5 he consumes. There is nothing in tn
: system which forces q man of an in
come of two millions of dollars pc
5 annum to pay more revenue than
man of FIVE hundred dollars per an
Q mum. This fact alone is sufficient t,
; condemn the system. How heinou
I the system of taxation which consume
: nearly half the earnings of the con
> mon laborer. Let the laborer CT
Z aloud for its abolition and demand
: tax upon incomes. This will bear uT
5 ON all according to their several abb
: ity, and greatly tighten the burdens c
: the poor 1t will, moreover, max
agriculture the most desirable vocf
: ton of the nation, q consummatio
most devoutedly to be looked fol-
That the agricultural portion of tn
5 union should favor the tariff system
: absurd, for agriculture has nothing t
, gain by it, but must pay tribute t
4 the extent of ~ per cent. on an aver
age. The only good argument tina
can be urged in favor Of'retaining tn
present system is, that it is in goo,
working order, and that men viii NOR
readily pay an indirect tax than di
rect one. But this does not justify {
system which allows one man to Owl
ffty-one million dollars in Unite,
States bonds with an annual incom
: Of two millions aud forty thousand dol
lars to 60 untaxcd. Such on incom,
is greater than the value of the eottoI
crop of Hardeman and Fayette coun
ties. Equity demands that such an in
lcome should bear its Dro rata oftaxa