The Elk County advocate. [volume] (Ridgway, Pa.) 1868-1883, 1882-08-24
A LETTER FROM JAS. G. BLAINE.


INVOLVED IN THE STRUGGLE THIS
fBAR-THE MAINTENANCE OF THE
PROTECTIVE TARIFF.
Mr.. Blaine, having been invited to
speak in his native State, (where the
Democrats as in Pennsylvania have
started an Independent movement to
promote their chances,) has said he
cannot stump owing to pressing busi-
ness affairs, but writes his views in an
extended letter designed for general
publication. Itapplies as well to Penn
sylvania as to Maine. Among other
things he says 1.-THE election of 1882
involves many deep questions of Ma
tional mportance-questions which
deeply affect the prosperity of the peo-
pie of Maine. Whoever neglects to
make his influence felt in the pending
campaign disregards the interests
which pertain to his future end, his
own fireside. The choice of four Re-
presentatives in Congress and ofa Leg
islature that shall appoint Senator of
the United State brings directly before
the people every issue that is involved
in the administration of the National
Government. On every question on
which parties divide in this country,
the interests of the people of Maine
must lead them, after sober second
thought, to support the Republicans.
BY the spread of manufacturing in
dustries, by the growth of our agricul-
tural interests, the people of Maine
become every year more and more in
terested in the maintenance of q pro-
tective tariff
mo candid man believes that pro-
tective tariff would beupheld for sim
gle year if the opponents of the Repub-
lican party should come into power,
and by just so much any voter i'm
Maine helps to elevate the freetraders
to power by 50 much he aids to i'm.
peril the manufacturing and agricul-
tural interests of the State. And not
less so in the matter of shipbuilding.
Two out of every three candid free
probably declare that if their party
was in power they would at once pro-
ceed to admit foreign-built ships to
American regis try, and would break
down what they term the odious mon
oply of the coasting trade. Causes
which need not here be enumerated
have imposed long list of hardships
upon the navigation interests of the
country; but the free-trade party is the
only one which has proposed to allevi-
ate those hardships by the utter dis
truction of the navigation interests
itself.
''In the transfer of so large proper
ton of the ocean freighting to steam
ships, the sailing vessel has relatively
lost its Importance; but it still repre-
sents a very large interest, in which
the people of Maine have great stake.
During the year 1882 our principal
shipbuildlng district will launch as
large number of wooden sailing ships
rs it ever did in q single year even
when those vessels were the ocean
freighters of the world Whatever
contests may be before us in regard to
a revival of American commerce, no
! Maine man who is intelligent as to the
future of his State can vote to
sacrifice an interest which, under
every Encouragement, has thus far
been 50 energetically maintained.
"It would be curious to call over a
list of the occupations of the people of
Maine, and after careful inspection
of its details to have the free.trad er
point out one that would be helped by
the destruction of the protective tariff,
or, indeed, one that would not be
harmed by it. The first one indicated
by the free trader would probably be
the navigation interests, which he
! would boastfuily maintain is seriously
injured by u protective tariff. But the
shipowner would not desire the dis
truction of the protection to manufac-
lures if at the same it carried with it
the destruction to the protection of the
navigation interest, which comes from
securing the coasting trade to Ameri-
cau-huilt and American-owned vessels.
Not to speak of the countless sailing
vessels engaged in the coasting trade
in the Atlantic, the Gulf and the Pa
cific, it must he remembered that the
steam tonnage engaged in the same
| trade, all built and owned in the United
States, is larger than the entire steam
tonnage of Great Britain twenty-five
years ago. The coasting trade keeps
alive the navigation interests of Amer
lea, and out of it will some time grow
a foreign trade that will restore us to
our former and worthy rivalry with
the chief commercial nations of the
globe. Therefore the Republicans
united in holding on to the coasting
trade for our own vessels, and will
yield to no compromise on this point.
"Our prospects are promising, the
surroundings Of the party in Maine are
so auspicious, that we all have heart
and courage for the work of the cam-
paign. Divisions that distract Repub'
licaus elsewhere are unknown among
us, and it may be our happy fortune
by unity and victory to set an example
to the Republican party of the whole
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