The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1880-12-17

| some good ones, came from France and Swift
zerland. Now we.make almost all our watches,
all good ones, of various prices, all better and
cheaper of theirs everal grades than European
watches; and many of them are sold in the
English market in competition with your own.
| The same is true of American clocks, which
you see almost everywhere in Europe, even in
small shops in obscure country towns as we'll
as in the larger shops of cities
A few years ago all our carpenters tools OF
every kind, and all our building hardware
were Of English manufacture; now, nothing Of
that sort is imported; we make much better
goods in these lines than those we formerly
had from you, at prices much less, many of
them one-half less. Carpenters saws, and
saws of all Sorts were exclusively bought in
england; now we supply ourselves entirely
with them, OF quality equal to the best Eng
lish, and at such prices that we sell them large
ly in English markets. From Sheffield and
birmingham we formerly had almost all our
goods made Of the metals for household pur-
poses, as well as all kinds of ship-builders and
house-builderS' ware. Now we supply our
wants entirely from our own works, and even
send many fine goods, such as tools and fine
plated ware, even to Sheffield. A few years
ago our hardware shops-that you English
call iron-mongery shops-contained almost
nothing but goods imported, mostly from Eng
land; now they contain almost nothing i'm
ported; almost everything in them is home
made, at prices far cheaper, and of quality so
much superior, that goods such as we used to
import could hardly be sold now at any price.
These particular classes of goods made by us
are by no means exceptional, as to quality and
price; the same thing is true of almost the en-
tire list of goods required for every day life.
Prof. But all that does not Justify the radi-
cal injustice of your system of protection. /
repeat it, that every man has tine right-what
you Americans call an inherent right--to sell
whatever he may wish to sell in the dearest
market, and to buy whatever he may choo Sc o
|lbuy in the cheapest market. Your system of
protection comes in and compels every man to
buy in market prescribed by the law, permit
ting him to sell as he can, but in market
made cheaper by your system Free trade, on
the contrary, recognizes every mans right to
buy and to sell anywhere he likes, according to
MS own views OF personal advantage.
d. a II that may be very WE'LL il men are to
De considered only as individuals, without any
relation to the State. In all matters of States
manship and OF legislation, the public good is
to be considered and individual interests are to
be subordinate to that. Our system of protec-
tion was adopted and is continued, only with
reference to the general good, and that Is true
also OF your system of free trade Both of
them have been adopted solely with reference
TO national advantage. Your system ruined
the silk manufactures of Spitalfelds and Cac-
clesheld, and the trade of making certain
cheap articles of ironmongery; and has largely
injured your watch and clock making trade;
great numbers of these Of various sorts are
coming to your country from Germany, Swift
zerland, France and America. Free trade, as
your farmers say, has almost ruined them,
oy exposing them to the crushing COM
petition coming from the boundless re-
gions Of cheap and fertile land in
my country. So you see that as
you have adopted the policy of free trade with
reference TO the general welfare, though many
OF your industries suffer from it, so we are JUS
titled in adopting the policy of protection il in
our opinion it would promote the general good.
Even if that were doubtful measure at the
beginning your uniform experience under its
operation has uniformly justified it as wise.
Prof. How can that be fairly stated so
broadly, seeing that the great Democratic par
ty of our country is fully in favor of free trade
and opposed to protection. That could not be,
as think, If the uniform results of protection
as you say, were good. 4l4 II Ea-lsflr,s
ID. The Democratic party is Southern par
ty. There is nothing of it that is not South
ern. The South is exclusively an agricultural
country; all its products are raw materials, en-
ployed in manufacture by other people, The
labor at the South is rude and coarse, and the
Southern people have little of that industry
and spirit OF enterprise necessary to engage in
manufactures. Consequently their agricultur-
al products are almost all exported to the
North and to Europe. The people of the South
have but few manufactures, and such as they
nave are mostly run by Northern men and
Northern money. Consequently the South
feels little interest in that direction the people
there wish to sell in the dearest markets, as in
fact they do; and they want also to buy in the
cheapest markets-in fact, in any others than
Northern markets. The South feels and has
long felt little interest in the prosperity of the
nation. Indeed, the South denies that we
have any nation. The interest of the South in
public affairs, begins and ends with desire for
advantage to the South. The Southern people
are loyal, but only to their own respective
States; they have no sentiment of loyalty to
the nation. Consequently they violently OBJ
Ject to any public policy that looks to any ma
tional benefit: they favor no policy but such
as looks to the benefit of the South. The
South goes "solid" for such policy, call
ing itself Democratic" and the Democrats
North attach themselves to the South, accept
ing as party platform whatever measures of
public policy the South chooses to prescribe,
irrespective of their probable effect upon ma
tional interests. In the old slavery days. the
Democrats North were violent proslavery
men, supporting the South in all its policy and
principles, declaring slavery to be one of
the fundamental principles of our Constitu-
ton and institutions, and according to the
South the most unflinching support in every
Southern measure and demand up to the firing
upon Fort Sunderland afterwards. The
South favors free trade-of course the Demo-
But in these latter years the indications are
strong that the party North will not continue
to be united on that point So you see that
the Democratic advocacy of free trade means
does not like protection, partly for the reason
that 1t builds up manufactures which are es-
tablished mostly at the North, and are sup
posed to promote Northern prosperity.
Prof. But we have strong assurances from
your country that protection is falling into dis
favor in the West, as it has long been in the
South, and as the West has great weight in
Congress Free Trade is likely to be adopted at
no distant day.
d. Whoever gives you those assurances
misleads you. 1t is very likely that free trade
may at some time be adopted in our country,
when our interests will bo promoted by it, Just
as it has been adopted in England after long
years of protection. Free trade is no doubt,
for your interest now, as at some time it may
be for our interest, but not in the near future.
Manufactures of many kinds are rapidly ex-
tending into the West, where there is vast
waterpower, and where coal of the best quail
ty is abundant and very cheap for manufactur-
ing purposes. Northern men, with Northern
enterprise, Northern activity, and abundant
capital. in any numbers and amount, are ready
at any moment to go South and establish great
industrial works there of every variety, as
soon as the Southern people are ready to sub
scribe to the Republican motto and to live up
to it:-"Free men, free labor and free speech;
just and equal rights to all men. When man.
ufactures shall be established on the innumer-
able great Southern water-powers-as we hope
they will be in the near future-the people of
that region will all favor protection as policy
greatly promotive OF Southern prosperity and
welfare. And when that time comes, as it
will come at no distant day, we hope the
South, with its genial climate, its fertile SOIL
and vast resources in the most valuable timber
and richest minerals, will be the most prosper
GUS part of our country; most desirable as
place of residence for men of wealth and leis-
ure, as we'll as for men of business. n. ID.
[Harper's Bazar.l
New York Fashions.