Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1882-01-16
Anotber MT for the PrOtectiOnIsts.

Another Nut for the ProtectiOnists.
Immigration statistics show that 7OO,.
600 people came into the United States
from abroad last year, and that the arri-
walls of 1881 were more than i've times
as numerous as they were in 1875, eight
times as great as in 1877, while the num-
Der at Castle Garden in the past year ex-
ceeded by 172, 900 the combined immi-
grations of the four years from 1875 to
1878 inclusive. Of the total of 455. 661
arrivals at Castle Garden, nearly 200, 600
were from Germany, and that empire is
believed to have furnished, counting the
arrivals at all our ports. over 25O, 900 OF
the 200, 900 guests landed on our shores.
If this rate of immigration continues, the
increase in the population Of the United
States, at the close of the present decade,
will be equal to, if not greater than, the
census of 1880 showed it to be IN the last
ten years, and during the next two de-
cades we may safely count upon popu-
lation Of at least &c, OOO, OOO souls.
In view of this condition of affairs,
chow shall this population be proftably
disposed off" becomes a serious question.
1t is stated that only $4,000, 900 acres
of arabic lands are still to be occupied in
the United States, and some thinkers on
the subject give it as their opinion that
the year 1883 will see all the lands of the
United States, clsssed as arabic, occupied
or entered. And then, as remarks
Western contemporary, must the pro-
cess of thickening up population begin,
which fact implies economic changes
and new conditions of society, which are
matters of speculation only on this con
tinent nd under our popular institu
tons.
The Montreal Star, discussing this
probable exhaustion of lands in the Uni
ted States, is building up high hopes
thereon as to the future of Canada. 1t
says:
where, then, will the immigrants go
IN three years hence2 Where but to the
Northwest, where rich prairie invites
to fortune. Judiciously managed we
should be able to pour hundreds of thou
sands of immigrants into the Northwest
during this decade Nothing should be
easier. With our 200. OOO. 900 acres of
arabic lands, we should be able to offer
a1a IL h.
cannot find easy locations in the repub-
lie. We should strain a point and be
liberal IN efforts to encourage the people
to settle where we want them. On equal
terms we can never compete with the
United States. The Germans and the
Irish have ties in the republic.
and they prefer to go there. But
we are now in position to offer better
terms to the settler than the United
States can offer, and we should not hest
tate to take advantage of it, The immi-
grant who wants a farm will soon be
obliged to look NOrthwards, and no
boiling or chilly policy of ours should
check his natural desire to seek the vir-
gin prairie. We are in position now
10 outbid the United States, and it will
be our own fault if we do not induce
immigrants from Europe to settle on
our lands. A little of the surplus might
be used for this purpose. The making
of roads, the planting of trees, the de
Fiction of water courses, the digging of
wells and other works could be under
taken, and the immigrant could be thus
furnished with some assurance that he
is not going to a wilderness, but to
home. We have the ball at our feet
and it will be our own fault if we do
not send it through the goals"
This extract from the Montreal paper
above alluded to serves to corroborate
the statement made by Senator Beck, of
Kentucky, which we quoted few days
ago regarding the immense grain pro-
ducing power of Canada, and at the
same time once more to cause our people
10 reflect upon what disasters may
eventually be brought the agricultural
classes of the United States should the
policy of protection be maintained. If
the hopes of the Star are realized it will
be impossible to estimate the effect upon
the grain production of the world. 1t
would not only place Great Britain in a
position of independence of the United
States for her grain supply, but would
make her a formidable competitor to this
country. Then suppose Great Britain,
in a spirit of retaliation, should impose
high protective tariff upon the grain
products of the United States, what
would become of our farmers2 Confined
almost wholly to this country for mar
ket, they would soon find the market
glutted, and would be forced to destroy
vast quantities of grain, while that
which they might sell would not bring
them in sufficient to keep them free from
debt.
1t may be urged that this is merely
reasoning. on imaginary suppositiOns,
and on remote possibilities. Granted
Still they are possibilities which are so
possible as very likely to become practi-
calities in the short space of ten years,
but whether they do or not, they still
serve to show very plainly the injustice
which protection can, and does, work to
the masses for the benefit of a favored
few. And it will be too late after the
evil is done for it to be reetiied. No
matter how we look at it, protective
tariff, with revenue as an incidental, is a
monster evil, and the sooner it is done
away with the better for the country at
large.
A novel contest, or rather question,
has arisen from the decision of the
House of Representatives. Last fall
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