Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1882-12-28
A New View of the Old Question.

A man ;gill be clear and shrewd abont
his own trading and that of his neigh
boris, but the moment you say "tarif''
to him he will reply: ''Tnat is big
question-to much for me-" But say
to the people, don't you believe it
the size of the interest concerned does
not change the right or wrong of it. :"
So was slavery big question to some.
Yet it was all involved in this: Has
one man the right to own the body and
services of another" If one man has
no such right then million men has
not. So with this tariff; has one man a
right to make another pay more for
goods because he manufactured tn EN-?
If he has not then several hundred men
have no such right. And the question
here Is, have a few hundred men the
right to compel several million persons
TO buy their manufactures in prefer
enCe to those of other people under any
pretex?
Suppose, o We farmers of the great
west! that the narrow stri p of land along
our Atlantic coast were under the gov
eminent of some other nation, so that
eur exports and imports had to pass
through that foreign strip. Suppose
the governm ent of that other nation to
have enacted tariff on all foreign i'm
ports Just like our present abomination
Then all the commodities We obtained
in exchange for our exports must be
at greatly increased cost to US. IF we
desired to build a railway, the steel rail
landed in the porte at thirty dollars
must pay tax Of twenty eight dollars
to that government and cost us fifty
eightdollars. On all the articles of
daily use that We exchanged our pro-
ducts for an additional tax of from 40
to 100 per cent. would be charged us in
consc quence Of that tariff. If we ex-
postulated with the government and
told them we would not pay such tax
to their government and they Wonld re-
ply. "You pay nothing to our govern
nent. We put this on all imports en-
tering our ports to keep them QUITO
protect our own capitalists, who are
trying to manufacture from foreign
competition; and you are in reality
purchasing from orr own manufacture
ers here. We have male for you s.
home market on this siGe of the water"
Would that satisfy US? If they should
add, owe are encouraging your own
people to begin the manufacture, and
already there are "a few factories
erected at St. Louis, Pueblo, and else
where" could we see it, No. We
would exclaim, down to this imposition
or war TO the death. We pay for all
the necessaries and luxuries of life that
we do not produce, directly by the sur
plus of our farms. These products
must be carried to your ports as cheap
ly as possible, instead of over railways
that cost as much again as necessary.
Your pretense of taking imports is a
shallow artihce of yours to get our i'm
ports into your hands for as little as
possible. But for you we could pro-
cure all we want of imported commo-
dities for very little labor. The I'M
pOrters take all ou1 grain and flour and
give us steel rails at $50, fence wire at
three cents. blankets at three dollars
per pair; you would take them and give
us the same articles with your misera-
BILE tariff price added on" Now,
would like to know if it makes any diff
ference to us that we happen to be I'M
der the same government Suppose
we went to war, conquered the enemy
and annexed all Yankeedom and Penn
sylvania, and while rejoicing over our
victory for free trade, should be told
| that our own government had, for the
benefit of these conquered new subjects
re-enacted the tariff laws of the enemyi
Our rage would have no bounds. We
would then know that an outrage Oh
our rights is the same thing no matter
! for whom it is done.