Lexington weekly intelligencer. (Lexington, Mo.) 1871-1887, 1882-02-18

in unprotected markets or at their
prices, cannot buy with the money he
gets III the market where be sells the
things be must have without paying
45 per cent. Gnt least more than they
are worth or than the man who has
them for sale asks for them. l never
could sec how that protected Ameri-
can labor. The foreign seller cxn-sell,
in spite OF US, at the price he asks to
any of the ], 400. .OOO, 900 iu the world
outside of the Uuited States. Con-
gress cannot prevent that. All it can
ITO or does do il TO rob our own pe0-
pie by requiring them to pay for what
they must have 45 per cent. more
than anybody else pays. The protec-
tion (so-called) is congressional
license to few influential corpora
tions or wealthy combinations to ex-
tort from the American, farmers,
laborers. professional men and their
families . large percentage of their
earnings, not to support the govern.
ment, but to enrich people who have
no right to take anything from them,
and cali that protection. 1t 10 the pro-
lection the wolf gave the lamb.
To-day as then, only much more
now, the American ship is driven
from particip ,tiou in. the carrying
trade Of the world. Foreigners are
our carriers, factors, brokers, aud ln-
sarance agents IN our CONNIE ercial re-
latl0ns with the rest of mankind, and
make ~ pay thosa over $50, ,OO0, 900
year for their services; that is pro.
teotfoai sxainst foreign pauper labor
with . vengeance. 1t they 60 to war
with each other. and destroy each
others ships, our goods 60 to the bot.
tom Of the ocean and there ia no re-
dress, although we may be at peace
with all of them. Can q more de-
grading or humilisting condition for
once great maritime country be
imag ned? The 10000 gallant sailors
we rad in 1860 are all gone, or are in
the service of foreign nations, except
protected by the monopoly OF our
coastwise trade. Little wonder tho
senator from Vermont never alluded
20 our carrying trade in his panegyric
on the ,protecIive tariff. He, knows
that he and his co-protectionists, have
destroyed the mercantile marine Of
the United States, and he shrewdly
avoided ell reference to 1t. That aione
will condemn his protective system
with all dislnterested. right-thinking
men the world over. The charges in
our platform that the Morrill, tariff
has cut down the Gales of American
manufactures at home and abroad is
true. High prices have curtalled
sales at home. Men neither can nor
| will buy at exorbitant rates 40 freely
as they can or will at fair prices, aud
the'reports of our miserably Ineagsr
exports of manufactures show that
we abandoned all efforts to secure
any Reasonable portion Of the trade
of the world when our protected
manufacturers secured from the SEN
ator from Vermont aud his friends
the monopoly of laying heavy tribute
Oh oar own people.
The charge that the American ag-
riculturist is swindled by the exist.
ing tariff is too obvious to need illu.
stration when a laborer who is glad
to work for ak dollars week has to
pay six dollars for coat or = blanket
that is worth only three dollars. and
can be bought anywhere else in the
| world for three dollars. He is un-
Ijustly deprived iof one-half of his
weeks lsb0r, and no sophistry can
gainsay it. 1t is no consolation to
him or his children that come nabob
in New England by the authority Of
congress has rocketed half of his
hard earnings. The next charge we
make, namely, that it costs the people
under the Morrill, system five times
more than 1t produces to the treasu-
ry, cannot be more accurately or con-
cluslvely proved than it was by Hon.
II. &. Burchard, now director of the
mint, when he and l were both mem.
bers of the house and of the com.
mittee Oh ways and means in 1872,
and aided in The passage of the act Of
June 6, 1872, which made q reduction
of 10 per cent. on certain classes of
manufactures. He said:
"The reduction in the bin of the
duties upon but six classes Of manu-
| features lessons the revenue not quite
ten million dollars. but lightems tax
alton $54, 900, ,OO0."
Aud lie appended a table showing
that on salt. leather, iron, steel, :,
woolens, and cotlons our reduction
OF revenue Was S8,7s1,7 ,71s, while the
| reductions of cost to the people on
these articles, making the most hber-
al allowances for home competition
Ereducing cost, was S45, 1888 900, or five
and ohe-half times as much as was
given up bv the treasury. The sena.
tor from Vermont and his allies in
their ze0t-that is 4 better word than
JsAy-in 1875, restored the 10 per
cent. protection we had taken of In
1872. aud Instead Of increasing the
| revenue, as they pretended they
would, the returns for 1877 show q
loss of revenue of $29, ,00O. 900 iust cad
OF the increase they predicted. Our
resolutions of 1876 aud 1880 close by
charging that the Mirrill tariff
| "Josters smuggling, eariches disho,Iest
officials, and bdnkrupts honest aner-
chants" In proof OF the truth Of all
these allegations l need only refer 10
the somewhat celebrated investigs-
tion made in 1874 into what was
known as the moiety system, whenit
was proved concluslvsly that in sllks
and other high protected goods snug
CLING " as the rule rather than the e1-
ceptinn; that the most honest and
Intelligent merchants did not dare to
take their own goods from the GUS
tom-house without aid from experts.
"a failure to be exact as to the num-
ber of threads in the square inch, the
ad valorem aud the specific duties all
being often applied to the same pieces
or goods. was considered vioIation
of law, while the value of the pack
ing-boxes, the transportation from
the place of manufacture, and the
commissions Oh purchases, whether
paid or not. all had TO be given &C
curately, or conti+catiom of goods,
arrest, tiues without limit, ami i'm.
prisoment, with division OF spolls
among officials, was the consequence.
Ihe secretary OF the treasury report
ed officially that at the port OF New
York alone, in q few years, an in
former name Jayne received $491 900
as his share of the plunder, while the
collector, the appraiser, and the naval
officers each received about $17O, 900
az their portion Of il, in addition to
the large annual salaries paid TO them
| bY law, while the merchants were
robbed unfortunately regardless of
right or Justice.
That is an outline of the working
OF the system W which the senator from
| Vermont is 50 proud of, and for the
perpetuation of which be appeals so
warmly aud earnestly to let him have
commission of his allies, 80 as to
prevent at least this congress from
considering or exposing it's enorml-
ties. 1t is against the continuance of
such system that protest and in
slst upon prompt aud decisive action
by the Representatives of the peopie
at as early day as possible, The