, 1882-01-21

To the editorial correspondence TO tne
,.., .rvouaut, Mr.. Pi1Iey, who is IN New
York and has splendid chance TO vie"
0,r national workings, has this to say
There are two questions thst are to be-
come of national importance-the 'a'.h'
and the question of corporations 'ne
.n..,,on Of free.trade is gathering headxay
"a !, seems to me that the srotec'ionists
are being put upon the defensive. II Is
,,-,.a here that the protective tarin Is
working for the benefit Of the rich tina {
it is the great and wealthy manufacturers
who ara reaping all the benefits OF the eA'
sting laws: that the working classes Ia
h,r.rs skilled artisans, and the farmers
:, sae, none except manufacturers are
benefited by the present tariff laws. The
;,,n interests and the ship-bmlders, 1t Is
claimed, are making exorbitant pron's'
wb,la our commerce is suffering, Give us
the opportunity to go into the world S mar.
Lst 10 purchase ships, and We viii build
~, a commercial marine that will equai
that of England, is the argument OF 1he
merchants. Allow us to go into the world 5
market for iron, say the railroad men, ana
,hA rssult will be less costly railways, and,
as consequence. reduction III frelsa's
and fares. We have no protection TOT our
agricultural products, say the farmers ana
we need none. Give US free goods III re-
turn for those products Everything Is
protected except labor, say the working
man There is An unrestricted immigra-
tiou allowed from Europe and from Asia.
There is no tariff on bone, and slnew, ana
muscle. Protection they say, is for cap
ital, and capital only. Our wages tor
skilled labor are not greater than IN Eng
land. or Belgium, or France The man
ufactured goods of those countries can not
enter our ports without paying enormous
duties. while the men who manufacture
them are permitted and encouraged to
come to this country and enter into free
competition with us in the very factories
in which We labor.
Mr.. PixIey purposely avoids giving his
own opinion on the very important sub
ject of protective tariff and free trade;
but as he truly says this question Is Just
becoming one of national Importance, the
delay in takieg the bull by the horns, can
not be forced off much longer by every
nam who has an opinion of his own
Some of the community will say We have
but little need to worry over Il question
that can be of TO essential Importance to
us. This question is important to every
inhabitant Of our country. Thethousands
of miles Of railroad thai are being built
on the northwest coast, must finally be
paid for by the citizens of the countries
through which they pass; although cap
italists are furnishing the ready money
now for their completion With freetrade
such as Democracy as party has always
advocated, the indirect tax upon US would
be lessened by millions Of dollars, for the
construction of our railroads. Protective
tariff is the fully ripe fruit of unwise or
dishonest legislation and it found birth
and is cherished in narrow and ungener-
ous minds such as has the paper king SEN
ator of New York. Democratic leaders
who are now advocating a protective
tariff, are digging political graves with
shovel that respectable thinking men
would no more handle than they would
the foul tools of carrlOn grave-robber.