Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1882-07-27
GarFox ,noN.rrEs AND MoNoroLY


our commerce, shows itself in many ways
among others we zee it in the shame
full attempt that has long been making b
the iron manufacturers to reduce the cotton
planter TO a submissive payer Of tribute I
him. Cotton iron-ties were for long tim
classed as common hoop-iron and made t
pay little more than double the duty OF tn
article OF manufacture they really are. TIL
Makers of the iron ties at length compiaine'
of the injustice OF which the cotton plante
was the victim, and demonstrated Y hich wa
of course easily done, that cotton tie is nj
more hoop iron than table is log of oai
lumber. The tie is implement mad
partly OF sheet iron and adapted by manu-
facture 10 specific mech anical use; accord
ingly the cus,omhouse authorities put it int
the class of articles of iron manufacture no
! specially named in the law imposing The
| duty, and the tax was reduced little more
than one-half in Consequence. That one
class of their victims k6ould escape enraged
the monopolists; not any subject paying Them
| tribute is 10 be, allowed to escape
They appealed to the law, but the clear, ex.
isling fact was too plainly against them
and they were put out of court justly de-
feated. No sense OF justice stood between them
and their grasp for prey, however, and they
have been striving ever since their failure in
court to prevail upon Congress 10 give them
their pound of the cottor-planter's fl sh.
With ut contending against the shameful
wrong Consisting in the cotton planter being
held tributary TO the iron monopolist, the
planter, with much iorbesrsnce, have con-
tented themselves principally with Directing
that the taxes on iron ties does not fall upon
The foreign consumer, but upon the cotton-
gro wer, for the reason that most of the ma
terial they produce, and TO fasten up which
in bales, the cotton tie is used, is sold in a
foreign market, where, also, is sold the cot
ton OF rival countries, cotton which has %
pay no tax on iron ties To compete with
the rival sellers under such circumstances,
the American cotton-grower has to pay the
tax, not the consumer. To this plea Ten
nessee newspaper, the Chattanooga Tines,
replies as follows: s'The talk that the plant
er pays the cotton-tie tax is poppycock- The
consumers Of cotton goods pay the tax.
Louisiana journals are powerful anxious to
retain the high duty on sugar, and "kick
like steers" at the cotton-,ie duty. This is
cheap demagoguery The taxes ought to
be let alone, not for the behoof of the plant
ers, but tor the sake of good faith" This is
the sly lie the receiver OF tribute, or his advo-
cate for him, uses in speaking OF the posi-
ton taken by the tribute-psyer in reply
10 the prosperous tribute. exacior. The whole
style OF it tells a story every observant
reader can understand without our explain
ing it by the use OF words not pleasant TO
write. That the cotton planter speaks
with absolute correctness when he says the
amount of the cotton tsx comes out of the
profits he should receive from his produce,
and that the Times is entirely incorrect when
it states "the consumers of cotton goods pay
the tax" is as readily demonstrated as was
the fact that cotton tie is not a piece of
sheet iron. Besides its iron business Chat
tanooga has this summer done a good trade
in shipping off fruits and vegetables to the
Cincinnati and other markets. When the |
farmers brought their wagon loads OF APP
Piles into Chattanooga of a morning, the |
Iruit packer took them at the market price |
according TO quality. Whether a man had |
driven his load five or fifteen miles TO get to |
he buyers store made no difference in the
price received for the apples. On getting
acme the man who lives five miles away has
incurred the expense, labor and loss of time |
hat driving ten miles cost. The other man
lsd the expense, labor, and loss of lime of
hirly miles travel TO meet, yet he
lad no more pay for his apples
han the man who had journeyed only ten
niles. If all the apples coming 10 market
anne from fifteen miles away, then the price
would have been fixed upon the basis OF
hirty-mie journey, but as there were sellers
t from five miles distance the seller of the
ruit has TO pay for twenty miles out Of his
rho incurs twenty miles less expense than
imself gets just as much as be does for his
Cases of this kind are COM
ION and their effect well known, as when
ne man has to go through toll-gate aud
ay toll before he can get to market, another
,om another direction has no toll-gste 10
ass through, yet he has obtained the same
price for his wheat or corn az |
he other. The other, therefore, pays the
Ill out of his own pockets, not out OF those
the consumer. So it is with the cotton
e. The Egyptian or East India grower
no has no cotton tax 10 pay, gets the same
roportionaIe price in the cotton market as
lie American grower who has a cottou-tie
* 10 pay. The price of the tie tax comes,
lerefore, out of his own pocket not out Of
lie consumers. If it came out of the
pocket, The consumer would have
pay as much above the proportion of the
arket price as would pay the American
'ower for his extra outlay. But the con- !
mer no more pays him the extra amount c
IAN the man who pays at the toll-gate gets t
lck the extra amount he pays more than !
,other who has no toll-gate to pass through. i
is unjust 10 the cetton-grower that he a
ould be subjected TO pay tribute to the $
rdly iron monopolist, and it is degrading :
the monopolist to be supported by the c
of others. If the iron monop- d
let cannot carry on his business without
lblic help, then let him show each year +
w much public relief he requires, and 3
I'VE il paid over to him by The public q
easury, until either he can make his bust I
ss support him, or take up some other way !
living, SO that he can do well and prosper h
thout occupying the position OF depend il
t upon the public bounty. The fact is I
at the case OF :es monopoiists is bad :, y
e, and viii not bear argument, and when ii
ey aud their supporters are guilty of the
eedy rapacity they have shown in the cot z
n-tie case they are rendering public ben :,
by exposing their avaricious grasping fl
the public. Let them be as active as 81
ey choose in that offensive manner; the :,
ople will the sooner understand their tao =,