Lexington weekly intelligencer. (Lexington, Mo.) 1871-1887, 1882-03-04
THE GREAT SPEECH OF THE GREAT
SENATOR FROM KENTUCKY.
Senator Beck Exposes the. Mon
strous imposition of the High
Protective Tariff.
An Unansvverable speech.
[Continued from last week.]

[Continued from last aoeek.l
By breaking up class legislation
here we will do as much for this
country as the reform bill and the
repeal of the corn laws did for Eng
land.
The senator from Vermont main
tanned that the protective policy of
England through the long "Georgian
era" which he lauded as EDgland's
"Augustan age," had "created and
sustained the most varied aud exteu-
slve workshops in the world" l CAN
not better prove how misleading that
assumption is than by reading par
agraph from very able article by
Edward Atkinson, of Boston, in the
Fortnightly Review.
He says:
"a very erroneous idea prevails to
some extent in the United States as
10 the motive of these reforms and
it is often asserted that they were
begun when great prosperity had
been achieved by the system of tariff
taxation that preceded them. How
utterly at variance with the facts this
view is has been overlooked even by
MANY in England. The true state OF
the case has been recorded in these
words: 1t is impossible to convey
by mere statistics of our exports any
adequate picture of the condition OF
the nation when Sir Robert Peel took
Office in 1911. Every interest in the
country was alike depressed. LII the
manufacturing districts mills and
workshops were closed, and property
daily deprecated in value; in the sea-
ports shipping was laid up useless in
harhor; agricultural laborers were
eking out a miserable existence upon
starvation wages and parochial relief;
| the revenue was insufficient to meet
the national expenditure; the coun-
try was brought to the verge of na-
tional and universal bankruptcy
The protective system, which was
supported with the view Of rendering
the country independent of foreign
sources of supply, aud thus, it was
hoped, fostering the growth of a
home trade, had most effectually
destroyed that trade by reducing the
entire population to beggary, desti.
tuition and want. The masses Of the
population were unable. to procure
!ood. and had consequently nothing
to spend on British manufactures."-
Mobiles Fiscal Legislation of Great
Britain.
1t would be difficult to draw q more
gloomy picture of the terrible failure
of tho miserable protective system
which the English arIstocracy haC
maintained so long and had forcet
the mass OF the people to submit tt
| hi
rents from their impoverished ten
ants, whose labor they so patriotical
ly prOfessed they were protecting
indulge in gloomy forebodings; bu
port manufactures and sell at tht
prices the world pays for them, witt
no ships and no right to buy them, i
our harvcsts should fail as they have
i'll Europe for three years, and they
might, and thus cut of our agricul-
turai exports, which are nearly al
we have, or If the foreign nations
, who are our carriers OH the oceai
should go to war with each other
as they have often done, and thus Gu
utt our only chance to get these ex
ports to market, state of thing
would soon arise in this country tina
would bring RUIN to thousands, bu
would end in breaking up our mis-
cradle protective system as it did il
J England. l was impressed with TIL
truth of almost the closing sentenc
! in the speech of the senator from
: Vermont. While he had held out tn
: hope II not the wish all through i
that the English reactienists, "fai
traders" OF rctaliationists, call then
what you will, the aristocracy an
their adherents, would yet impos
duties on wheat, provisions, por
and other farm products seeking
market there, he was obliged despair
ing!y to admit that
"An impost on corn there,it is cleal
would now produce All exodus of he
aboring population that would 500
leave the banner of Victoria wavin
ever - second-rate power.'
Bismarck is illustrating tho trut
of that by his new protective tarit
which the senator approves so warn
ly. Nearly 100000 German imn
= grants came to this country last yea
In u few years, ii that continues all
\ the temper of France does not chang
4 the now proud banner of German
will wave oveIA second-rate powe
/ received from the Bureau of Stati
tics, few days ago, al elaborate +
If port on German industries, made Il
r from Investigations made by eight
er five Of the chambers of commerce
or the leading cities OF Germany. Nea
J. iy all uI them condemn the ne
:" tariff rs oppressive to the laborer, d
structlve to commerce, and in evel
way injurious to the mass of the pc
- pie; few Of those protected think
-. A