Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1882-11-22
THE FREE TRADE IssuE.

!
THE FREE TRADE ISSUE.
Opfaions of Fsus.A Huyd--dfanssfacturers
No Gathers Jy Protection ana Laborers
Loseys--Tarif Reform to he Pushed in
Congress.
New York World.l
Mr.. Frank Hurd, member of congress
from Ohio, was visited last night by re-
porter of the World with view to ascer-
tain his opinions on the political situation.
In answer to question what plan he in
tended advocating in the next congress in
regard to the tariff, Mr.. Hurd said: II
am, you know, free trader, and intend
fighting n season and out of season,
by night and by day, until protection is
| abolished and trade becomes free. I look
with utter adherence upon the gil
gantic frauds perpetrated upon the people
| by the system of protection. No man has
| right to say to me: Though you can buy
what you want cheaper elsewhere than in
this country, still you must get it here.'
| In the system of slavery abolished by the
late war the owner had the right to all the
| time and wages of the slave. Under this
| system of protection the seller gets about
half of the wages and to that degree
| might just as well have the absolute dis
| posal of that amount of time of the
laborer. have not formed any plan yet
| it is rather too soon-but shall consult
| with persons best able to inform me as to
the proper course to pursue to gain the
desired end, and shall try by every
means IN my powe" to ac-
complish that purpose. shall try and in
form myself thoroughly upon the subject
of all manufactures, and would say to
| every manufacturer Tell me how the
tariff affects you; how much it increases
| the price of the article you sell and how
much it increases the prices of what You
must have in order to make it. If by a
| protective tariff you get fifty cents of in
crease of price and pay out forty cents of
that on an increase of price of the article
| you require III order to manufacture, it is
plain that protection only nets you ten
cents. That net protection you shall have
| in any revised tariff I would make' The
trouble with our manufacturers is that
they only look to the benefits of protection
without considering its burdens. I believe
that more than one-half of the manufac-
turers of this country will find upon exam
nation that all that protection gives them
in increase of price it takes away from
them in the increase of the materials, tools
buildings, and machinery they are obliged
to have in order to manufacture at all.''
''What do you think is the cause of the
Democratic wave that has just swept over
the country, and what ought to be the
course Of the Democratic party?"
1--WE lost all chance of improving our vic
tory of 1874 by the failure of the party to
present to the people of the United States
any sensible plan for the settlement of the
| nnpStinu no
coquetted with the greenback folly,
favored the silver craze, and talked
of repeating the resumption act,
until all the business men and
sensible men in the country became dis
gusted and worn out by the many changes
of the party and determined that no party
could or should have its support that advo-
Gated so many different sides of the same
question. The case is different now The
Democratic party is in power now because
of the discomfort of the people at the sys-
tenn of taxation. Labor cannot live on the
wages it receives, at the present prices of
living, made high by the taxation of the
tariff. If the Democratic party desires to
continue In power it must propose a sensi-
BILE plan of reduction of tariff taxation; it
must reduce the tariff in the interest of rev.
enue and strip it of all its protective feat
ures as quickly as it can be done without
injury to vested interests, with a view to
ultimate free trade with all the world. I
think the victory was owing in great
measure to old Democrats returning to
the fold. There is plenty of men still
alive who remember the old fights in 1914
and up to the war about free trade. The
question of the abolition of slavery drew
away large part of the Democrats, and
they are just now beginning to return,
seeing that the Democratic party is get
ting back to its old position on the free
trade question. My canvass was made
squarely upon that issue, and propose.so
far as in me lies, to carry that canvass
into the country at large, and have no
doubt the next presidential campaign will
be fought largely, if not entirely upon
that issue. On the first day that congress
meets l propose to introduce
bill giving my views and proposed
plans on the subject of the
tariff. What congress will do I cannot
undertake to say, as have as yet talked
with SO few OF the members. Something
definite and decisive, however, will GER
tainly be done. I have always asserted
and still assert that labor is more interest
ed in the abolition of protection than anv
other element of our society. The highest
wages paid in the world to-day are paid by
free trade England. The higher the tariff
everywhere in the old world the lower the
wages, and the lower the tariff the higher
the wages. In this country, with strictly
revenue tariff, the laborer would receive
| the highest wages in the world AS it is
the last ten years show that under the pro-
tective system his wages have been scarce
ly enough to keep the laborer and his
family from starvation.
N.Isoss;s Election.
lBrainerd Journal
Many words are not required to explain !,
the causes that led to the election of Nell |
To In Lo