The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1880-10-23
Those Free Trade Speeches.
TCRkENTOMN. Oct. Il. lSS

name for State sovereignty, which means
the revival OF an issue supposed to have
been settled by the war. 1t means the
repeal of the United States election laws.
and this means the unbridlel villainy in
certain places in the North. which makes
the South solid for the Democracy At
the close of Mr. Bratton's speech, three
cheers were called for, but the response
was not very enthusiastic. for some We're
struck dumb by the boldness with which
the free trade heresy was proclaimed.
Most of the Democrats here believe in
tariff of some kind.
Mr.. f. NJ. johnson, of Elkton. was next
called, and that gentleman, a somewhat
valuable but l.illiputian youth, came for
ward. The young man is not so tail as
General Hancock, but that is no fault OF
his. deal not in offensive personalities:
| have only to do with his speech. lie
had evidently thought over what he sad,
and his style and manner were very well.
| take exception to the doctrnes-or
what he called principles-he promul-
gated, and to the illiberal and vindictive
spirit he manifested. Had the gentle
man known something of the people he
was addressing, he would not have made
! that offensive comparison of the white
men present with the negroes South.
The negroes South. lie said. had land
and horses and mules; then turning to
his Democratic audience, he said not
many of you are SO well off Now. if
there is any one thing of which the 4th
district. and especially the east end of it,
is justly proud. it is the great number of
small farms it contains, owned and earned
by those who till them. Many Of these
farms have been earned by their owners
working in or about the mills along the
Elk creeks. Had Il Republican made
such Il comparison. it would have been
regarded as an insult. Coming from
Democrat, it was quietly endured; but
it elected no applause.
Mr.. johnson next attacked the tariff
How could he do otherwise? \ Demo-
cratic speech. without a thrust at the
tariff, would be a pointless thing. surely.
But he seemed to know but little about
it. and contented himself with running
over, perhaps correctly, the rates Of duty
on various goods. Now this would be
meaningless ana senseleSs twaddle uu-
less he believes, and thought his hearers
also believed, that the consumer pavs
the duty. There are some men who
ought to know better, who either can
not, or will not, understand this. The
object of protection is not SO much to
increase the price of goods as it is to
secure to our manufacturers a certain
market, trusting to home competition to
reduce the price to the cost of reproduce
ton. This was the old Wing doctrine.
the truth of which has been abundantly
proved by the Republican tariff, the only
one that has ever continued long enough
to produce its legitimate results. No
wonder the Republicans point to our pres
ent tariff with pride, for it is the true
/ philosopher stone, turning all it touches
into gold. Our tariff has done more to
bring about resumption and make it
success than our golden harvests. for
which. | trust, Republicans as well as
Democrats are grateful. The tariff gives
the farmer Il better market for his grain
/ than he can find in Europe, and better
and cheaper goods than he can import.
"Who, then. pays the duty?" asks the
free trader. Let me answer this ques-
ton by asking Mr. Johnson another.
Had Congress imposed duty of one
dollar per bushel on wheat, how would
that duty have effected the price of wheat
and who would pay the duty? If Mr.
Johnson can get that through his head,
he will be able to answer the free traders
question above, WHO pays the duty?'
That tariff, when first laid. does gen
orally and for a short time increase the
price of the protected article. there is no
doubt. but it is equally true that in a
short time home competition brings them
down. as has already been observed. to
the cost of reproduction. Buy where
you can buy the cheapest" says the free
trader, and that is good advice. But
what constitutes cheapness? Not the
nominal value alone. but the facility with
which payment can me made. Wheat is
dearer sometimes to the consumer at sew
enty cents. than at other times when
it is two dollars Il bushel There is an
anecdOte of an lriShman who was chatter
ing with a lady i'll one of our markets
about the price of a pair of fowls. d" He
said he could buy them in Ireland for a
shilling. "Why, then. did you not
stay in that cheap country?' asked the
lady. :" Because, said the IIibernian.
"the shilling could not be hadr'
This covers the whole ground. Where
protection il. every one Is employed. The
shilling is about and goods are cheap at
payment is always present, and each man
becomes customer to his neighbor. The
plow the loom and the anvil flourish
side by side: the money passes from hand
to hand, but stays in the country, and
the expense Of trans Atlantic transporta-
ton is avoided and home trade takes the
place of foreign commerce. If there is Il
boy in any school in the county who can
not understand this subject with a little
thought, he might as we'll he kept at
home, for he will never master the null
tipiication table. The trouble with many
people is. they look at the plaiGest things
through colored glasses. Another trouble
is, so many people, instead of thinking
for themselves, take the opinions of 9TH
erS without invest eating the subject
But the great hindrance to a right under
standing of the tariff is the anti-Ameri-
can nGtion that we are inferior to foreign
nations. This is a hHmilating thought.
but it has a deep hold on many of our
people. Such people will not believe that
goods made in America are equal in quail
ity to foreign goods. when the truth is
that most of the goods made i'll America
are superior in every respect to English
CT French goods Of the same class. and
this superiority Is the result Of Our tariff.
Many articles made in this country are
not any better than the foreign. but they
are cheaper by great deal. In the de
partment of edge tools and farming i'm
plements, ours are incomparably prefer
able. American locomotives. car wheels.
aud railroad cars are in demand all over
the worlu ~hefs SUCH thinga are Wanted.
Silks and broadclotls are made here equal
in every respect to the foreign: still there
are people who will buy foreign goods of
inferior quality at a higher price. just
because they are of foreign make. and
they are the green ones who pay the duty
and hGer die Treasury tnll: and these
people. who have more houey than hrainS.
i'll this way, at least, are useful. for it
makes the burden lighter on others.
But must not forget Mr.. Johnson and
his speech. He said the Republicans APP
zeal +" the people for support on account
Of ttleir t4st sefvihss. While thp Demo-
Gratis live in the iHinre, and strangely
enough he went back in the history of
his party to the formation of the Consti-
tuition, and here he grew dangerously
eloquent. The danger was. that he might
take the fatal step which Napoleon said
separated the sublime from the ludcrous
He represented ,hC D&mG.ara!t narty stand
born. | suppose i'll Il hind IF mtdGrtiG CO.
pacity. The Democracy, he exclaimed.
watched over and nurScd it in its infancy.
and defended it i'll its ripper years. and
~era to-day its only guardians. If he
had added THAI tifay VII firth Ill their
efforts to destroy il. 81 last. it might not