The state rights democrat. [volume] (Albany, Linn County, Oregon) 1865-1900, 1881-05-20

TooNrINunp FROM LAST WEEK.
THE WESTERN FARMER OF AMERICA
ny AUGUSTUS AoNeRrprrN.

RY AUGUSTUS MoNGREpiEN.
The manufacturers OF the Eastern
States aohject to their trades being
called losing trades, because they and
their woEkmen live out OF them.n
But they do not live out of them !
They mostly live out of the $780,.
000,0 which the farmers yearly
pay To those trades over and above
what they need pay if they dealt
with others. They live out OF that
aud of as much more paid 10 them in
the same way by the rest of the
American people. We belieYe thar
many trades would thrive Settcr un-
assisted, but by clingiug TO protection
they proclaim their dependence on
it. Were it otherwise why keep up
such heavy import duties, aud how
is it that in spite of those heavy du-
ties, foreign goods can still afford TO
come in :? Surely those must be los
ing trades in which SII0 worth of
capital and labor are spent 10 pro-
duce $100 worth of goods. Such
trades depend for their maintenance,
not on their own merit, but ON other
peoples help. They are private es.
Establishments supported by public in
voluntary contributions.
We feel sure, hewever, that the
manufacturers of the Eastern States
underratetheir own strength, and that
they would soon walk alone, il they
were. deprived of the go-eart OF Pro-
lection. Under the wholesome stim-
ulus of open competition, the ener-
gy, activity and shrewdness of their
race wouldsrapidly enable them to re-
recove the ground they had lost under
the enervating influence of the cod
ding system. We would venture to
say to them, "Why, gentlemen, should
you not, with raw cotton 1T your
doors, compete with the Britisher, 10
whom it goes across the ocean : Yet
whereas in 1860 your export of cot
ton manufactures WIS Sll, 200, 900,
it was only Sl1, 800, ,000 in 1878, a
paltry Increase of $500, 900 in eight
cen years In England the increase
within the same period was s. 0,OOO,-
600. There is no doubt that had
you been left unincumberej by the
fatal boon of Protection you would
have made infinitely greater progress
and you might by this time have
proved formidable rivals to the Brit
isher in neutral markets. Again, in
the three years 1876 to 1878 the ag-
T.cultural exports formed Il per cent,
and manufacturing and other exports
only % per cent of the totality. No
doubt that but for the fatal boon Of
Protection, would not have Jagged
behind in the race, and that your
relative proportion OF exports would
have shown an increase instead of a
diminution. again, in spite of the
vast expansion of the worlds com
merce, the tonnage of the United
States mercantile navy is actually less
now than it was 20 years ago. From
1855 to 1863 it was upwards Of ), ,000,-
900 tons; from 1871 10 1878 Il was
little more than 4 600, 900. English
tonnage in 1861 was 1850, coo in
1877 it was 6,115, 900. Within the
last twenty years English tonnage
has increased by 1000, 600 tons,
while youfs has diminished By ,000,-
600. Formerly your mercantile na.
Wy shared the carrying trade OF the
world with England now, not onls
that is lost, but your own produce
is carried away from your own port
in foreign bottoms. Is it that the
American of to-day has degeneratef
in energy, skill, or enterprise ? No
a bit of it. But here also protection
has shed its baneful influence. Irol
has superseded wood I'm the cousiruc
ton of large ships, and your farii
makes iron nearly twice as costly e
the American ship builder as il IS t
his British rival Abolish your i'm
port duties, and you will speedily sc
your mercantile marine restored (
its former splendor.
TO sum up, the vast amount yearl
Wrested out of the earnings OF th
American farmers is simply a useles
and wanton waste. It makes ther
BY 50 much the poorer, without max
ing others one whit the richer. More
over it must be borne in mind tha
we have only calculated that share {
the general loss which accrues to tn
agriculturalists. These barely forr
half of the total population Of th
United States, and the other half su
fers a fully preportionate loss On the
yearly expenditure, from the sam
causes and with the same result.
What steps should be taken TO put
STOP to these extravagant and unjut
tifiiable losses Shall be examined
the next chapter.