Morning journal and courier., 1880-10-05
A FREE TRADER coRNERED.

For state SeIst1OTSs
 14th District-HRNRY HAMMOND, of KiIlngly
 A FREE TRADER CORNERED.
 The Hon. James W. Singleton, Democratic Representative in Congress of the Eleventh Illinois district, thinks the declaration in his party's platform of Ca tariff for revenue only" means something, and has accordingly been talking free trade to the inhabitants of Quincy. where his home is. But Mir. Single tons free trade talk has not met with the re- ception he perhaps thought it would. Free trade may be popular in some parts of the West, but it is not popular with the manu- lecturers of Quincy, a number of whom have joined in open letter to Mir Single ton. The signers of this letter are stove foundry men, machine makers, manufactur- CTS of paper, carriages, ploughs, furniture etc., represent large amount of capital and employ large number of workmen. MT. Singleton or any other Democratic free trad CT will find it hard to answer their letter.
 In speech in Quincy Mir. Singleton called on the farmers and laborers to combine and demand of Congress such legislation as would enable them to buy in this country the goods of foreign manufacturers at such prices as the latter can afford to sell them for. The letter of the Quincy manufacturers in quires if Mir. Singleton is willing to follow this advice to it's legitimate consequences. "Are you prepared" it asks, 'to direct them to a convenient and profitable market for their farm products when the results of your theory shall have shut up the thousands of shops, mills and factories of this country driven a portion of our operatives and arti sans to the public domain, still further to swell our annual agricultural production (which you admit is even now rapidly increas ing every year turned another portion of them into poor, needy idlers and consigned still another portion to the list of paupers Areyou ready, in view of the natural dependence of different industries upon each other, of the relations of raw materials and of partly and wholly manufactured products, and of the rates of wages in other countries to the rates of wages in this country,-are you ready, in view of these things, to strike the balance sheet and show who gains and who loses by the plans you propose? It might -startle you to find that your advice had practically ruined those you aimed to befriend, and had been friendly only to the foreign manufac- turer of whom you now seem to wish noth- ing more than to buy his products cheap"
 The letter points out that experience in this country and in England proves that if we make our ports free to foreign manufac turers the operatives of England must have their wages raised from 30 to 50 per cent, and those of the continent of Europe from GO to 100 per cent, or the wages of Amerl- can operatives must be lowered to the same extent. This is equivalent to saying that American operatives must seek other employ ment. And in this connection the free trading Singleton is asked: Are you aware that, at this moment there is rolling mill company in this State, employing 700 men, which has for months been holding ill abey- ance project for adding more buildings and increasing their capacity to an extent that will require 1,2O0 men, simply holding off to see if their enterprise, in its present form, is to be swamped by the adoption in this country of the doctrine you advocated in your speech in the park last Thursday ?~
 Mir. Singleton, like other free traders, was in his speech especially solieitous about the interests of the farmers. We commend what the letter has to say about farmers to the careful attention of all of that class who read this It is as follows:
 Happily the farmers are so intelligent as readily to understand that what is not good for the other industries of the country can not long be good for them. An increase in the number of farmers is not their greatest need, and such increase would inevitably fol- low the adoption of your advice This year alone they have produced over POO, 900 bush els of wheat more than we need for seed and food, and great excess in many other prod ucts The natural choice of men will keep the ranks of the farmers so full that they will, till long after you and we have gone to enrich their soil, be able to produce more than all our people will want. But the ex- cess is not the portion of their production on which they make their greatest profit. It is upon the mass needed nearest home, and up on the variety and adaptability of products, all of which, in their season, bring ready cash in all industrial quarters within reasona- ble distance. Hence it is that no class of men are more deeply and vitally interested in a diversified industry. Of all men they can not afford to adopt your advice. Even now always, indeed-we have needed more home consumption in this valley, and aschool-
  mirably supply it as home manufacture. Again, they need cheaper freights; and man. ufactures by giving increased freights to rail roads, help this on as nothing else can. A single steel-ra1 mill in Chicago pays $3, 900, 900 in freights annually on ore, coal, etc. ftMore business means lower rates of freights, ' and railroad rates are from 30 to 50 per cent lower than ten years ago, the farmer sharing this benefit; and his home market, East, West and South, is larger and better than his foreign market.
 In conclusion the Quincy manufacturers politely ask to be excused from believing that a system which has promoted our growth, and carried productions on profitable terms into all the markets of the world, and a system which gives wide scope and a clear field for industry; which encourages and helps the amplest variety of employment; which enables us to show the postpaid best fed, best-clothed, st-housed and best schooled laborers history has told about, may be safely legislated out of existence by solid South, which never had diversified industry and a well-paid, fed, clothed, housed and schooled class of laborers, and knows noth. ing about the blessings of them, except from hearsay. Can the manufacturers of Connec- ticut and those whom they pay good wages find any good reason for not agreeing with the Quincy manufacturers?