Ashtabula weekly telegraph. (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1880-1886, 1880-10-08
ATARIFF FOR REVENUE ONLY.

The above sentiment or principle 4
strictly Democratic one. aud is one o.
the most conspicuous ideas in the Nationa
Democratic Platform. It IS therefore q
question Of great interest to the American
peopIc-what is the scope and meaning Oh
this sentiment
All tariffs are for the purpose Of raising
revenue, and are a tax on the people. All
revenues are raised by taxing the people in
one way or another except lhe little winch
comes from the sale Of the public lands.
Internal Revenue comes from taxes mid
on whisky, tobacco and a very few other
articles-such as matches. bank checks.
proprietary medicines, &c.,-aud amounts
to some 11G millions per year. The reye-
nue. from tariff comes from duties or tax
ON various imported articles, and since
1861 those duties have been so graded as TO
favor American manufactures and uro.
ducts. 100 lSiG-while Polk wa, President
IA taut Tor reHeHUe 0uly WIS adupted by
the Democratic majority The main feat
ures OF this tariff were o high all valorem
duty on articles of prime necessity among
all classes oi people. For instance. on the
various spices the duty was 40 ppr cent
ad yalorem, on cloves, mace, uufme.s
plmenio, ginger figs, dates aud currants.
&c, and cinnamon, pepper, silks, sugar. mo-
lasses' &C., ~ per cent, On spirits it was 100
per cent. \ specific duty on brandy Of one
dollar per gallon was levied Very few ar.
Ilcies such ds are manufactured yr raised i'm
TINS country were taxed, so that fOraigp
articles came ~ direct competition with
American, and the result was that mann.
iacturing Interests were .prOstrated and
American gold was drained out Of tho
country to build up foreign manufactures.
lhis plan succeeded admirably in raising
revenue, and the National Treasury was
Overlooking with gold but the people were
impoverished and all industries. except
farming, were utterly prostrated, The
farming classes managed TO live along by
Darterlng their produce for merchandise
but never looked for the luxuries or orv.
thing beyond the ordinary cheap comforts
ol lie. All the money Of the country WA,
centred near the National Treasury where
IL was in such abundance that various
schemes were devised 10 get rid OF il. and
corruption prevailed. The great financial
crises OF lsJI shattered Tbs Democratic
bubble and turned the people against the
dangerous dogma OF t1riF for revenue 0HIy.
The Morrill, Tariff Of 1861 WAS the fryf
tariff that fully recognized the doctrine Of
protection 20 home Industries, and with
some notifications has continued To the
present day. By that, all articles sucb os
are made or raised here are required Ia
pay an import duty before they can be Of
Tered in our markets. Many OF the urti.
cles which we call neeessaries are admit
ted duty free, and doubtless many mora
would have been, ere this, had the Repub-
llcan party remained in full power Tn.
der the fostering care of this system our
own industries have been duickened and
extended until the busy hdm OF labor is
heard all over the North. Great manufac.
turing citi5s have sprung up not only in
New England but in PENNSYLVANIA In Ohio
and all over the West. But for this system
we should have had 10 such beautiful and
enterprislRg city rs Cleveland to grace orr
lake region; no Youngstown; no Akron;
no Springfield, and none of the other busy
centres Of trade and labor in Ohio. Buf
for this, all the growth aud prosperity
would have centered in 4,ondan, Birming-
ham, Sheffield Leeds, Paris, &c. The
men who are here stigmatized as 'lordlv
capitalists and manufacturers" would be
living on western farms-raising grain to
feed the busy throngs and enrich the can
itaiists Of the Old WOrld-instead or com
peting in English markets with American
goods.
For woadeE one of our great political
parties now prCclaims a desire to adopt the
same old, ruinous plan, and dismiss again
the protective system, It Is passing strange
that any party should thus desire, and
more strange that such a party should
have respectable following. The dog
may return to his vOmit and the washed
sow to its mlre, but why should intelligent
men desire to oyerturn the prosperity of
a whole country and return to poverty?
The plain declaration-approved by both
a tariff for Revenue only"
surely binds the Democratic party to this
most destructive theory,
A bill nov BenGlng in Congress, intro
dpoed by Randolph Tucker, OF Virginia, is
well calculated to inaugurate this state OF
things which proved so disastrous IN 1857.
In this bill American manufactures are re-
duced-in almost all instances-from 10 to
"a per cent, and many are reduced to the
free list, Why this fOolhardy course !
Since all the money raised must come out
of the people, why not adjust the taxes so
as to favor our own interests rather than
those of British capitalists. England and
the Solid South desire free Trade but why
should the great, prosperous and enter
Er!siRg North yield to these unholy desires
HQun