Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1882-02-07
ICUNMUN!CaTE
Free Trade W. Protection,
No, ",


'Iazss." ss5s al ancient authority, "are
to State what sails are 10 a vesss-:o guido
Ii. secure il. bus not to burden snl submerge
it,"
We throw the ,Wo systems ucw urdsr dit
cussion iu c,ntradistinc!ion as meas Of tex-
alton 10 the spirit Of this libersl maxim.
1t ID sgreed by roilio,l economists TO be
oheap:r and in every way better to create q
rsVenue by direct taxation, Of which the mcst
desirable form Is the Income tax. England,
the leader 10 phlosophio goveromeut, thu $
obtains nearly her entire revsnus. Bat Amer ca
adheres to the indirect levy and va must make
the best of bad system. The Amerio.n free
trade has two methods ly which to derive
revenue from customs. nsmelS The levy of
duties on articles 20! producsd 10 this c7untry,
such Is coffee. quinine. 81, , ard if home pro.
ducts must ba subjected, BIO demands the
| imposition OF sn excise tax 90 the American
article eqaal to the tariff du y; g. r.. if Egg
ilsh carpets are taxed so Per cent. at lhs
custom house. the American carp:t must slso
pay 50 per can't. at the mandatory. Tho
features OF this system are three, viz: The
goveroment gets the entire tax +; there is no
dsorlnInation. :" Whose f,grsnt evils va will
hereafter show; and there is the least possible
restriction % trade. Of these, briefly gov
erlment alone ought 10 take from the c.jz,o,
| and this 10 consideration OF the care it extends
to h,s person end property. The lree-:rad re-
! tariff for revenue meets this reo1irement, for
it is evident that if tho article t,xsd is not
grown 10 America ell Of il used here must be
imported, and as it comes 10 officials o,lleo. the
duty Aud tits equally clear that if the excise
and customs tax be tbs same, everything
| brought to market By foreigner or native will
yield revenue for the State. 1t is apparent
| also that 90 discrimination" exists in favor of
one seller against another; not in tho first
| case, beoauss, our soil oos producing the do,i-
able commodity, the American is not con-
| peltor; nor 10 the second. becaus, all are
| equal. aud The article. wherever meds, ia sut-
GO: to the same tax. Uddsr this &C asme trsfc
| is very little restric ed. though every addition
to prlos retsrds Business. TsXstiop. (shose
payment always costs something,) ss thus laid
Increases Drcs. sipcs no one will deny tho Seller
always runbursss himself of the buyer; 9. e.,
mstcaes once sll1 for cant. but tho govern
ment imposed tax rq1sl To that, and their
Irico at enos doubled But trade houri.hes
where conditions are equal and competition is
natural. and this system does not infringe these
requirements 10 the least. This is the NEAR
ing OF "a tariff for reVenus" who's, meri. ia the
government gets the Who'll, tax, without 'lis.
oHulnatlon" AID serious Injury to trade. 1t
has other advantages, su,h as cAeapness, easy
oolItcaoo. removal OF smuggling, &c.. on which
ne canuot dwell.
| If we turn from the t,rif for revenue 70 the
s,ih ior prote c.ion AID iuqu'r, how it ansvers
ms great heed OF government we shall find III st
1t dlsapooints it entirely. Bear in mind th,,
protective tstit by l.Yying high dutie, seeks to
/ r. m N 80 ,nh -
ha n1ss retire and lssvs tho market in POSSESSION
| Ct the home manufacturer. The latter, having
! no duties to pay, Gin uRdersell and keep out
ilregl goods. Now the t,r.f il levied Only on
imported merchandise, and if none is imported
there is noting on which 10 make the lew;
| honce the max M where protection begins rev
eEue ends" II the protection be absolute goy.
er1 IN ant receiver nothing; but the msrut, curer
gets the dYan"gs of thu increased price That
| follows The duty. snd this is sheer robbery By
| lega! process OF one man for the benef: OF An.
Other Protection. however, docs not alto gather
exclude the foreign. article. Mans wants are
| too numerous and diversified to be supplied bv
any one country; e.g, South America yields
some varieties OF WOOL absolutely necessary 10
certain manufacturers, and though = Is if msy
imp ortstion. A few figures will show how hes
tils to rev snus is Drohl biion. According to ap-
proved estimates We spend annual Y in m,nu.
facIu'ed srsclss four billions. Cf this i'm
mense tum aOous one billion is spilled to
manufactures OF wool, iron and cotton. But
these, c m nodi!isa, with an average pro!ec-
i've duty of 50 per cent, yielded ia 1851 only
fIy- three milions-more than which undo, the
free trade system could be ob!sined by tax Of
o. per cent. In the ,sme yaar s., WAS prob oited
bya 43 per cent duty, and il prodnced but
ss5, 100; lead under "a per csnt $lSs 90: ,osp
at AZ psr cent. $la6 otU, and india rubber 81 per
cont s9S. COO; bunting At 81 Fer cent was com
pletely protested and yialoed nothing, and so
with WOODEN blar ksts at Sc per ant, AS furth
er illustration of the eff,cs of prohibition on gov
e5u ud receipts. the erect Is1 on whisky in
1875 was IL per gallon, which yielded but
eighteen and . b lf millions; 10 1870 tre tax was
reduce to 30 cents and the revenue sprung to
tfty live and half N lions in 1874 it WAS raised
to 10 cents and the Government got six millions
less: Protection and revenue are Incompatible;
the free trade systen is shown to be superior NJ,
COURT OF APPEALS YEsTRDAY.-R,bsrs|
4. Scott. efq. allowed 10 practice as counsel in
this ecu:t.
Hays and wife W. Mutual Pro!ee!on Assoeis.
Ton OF Virginia Argued ty 3. T. Csump,
etq.. for plaintiff and 3ob,r 4. scstt esq, for