The weekly Floridian. [volume] (Tallahassee, Fla.) 1867-19??, 1882-04-18

tOu u te&eS I0r ge0eTUt100~ have ak
ready pointed eus TIE direction IN Which
tho fefsrns mayI sbe aeausnksn ed ahe
obstxuctions, 10 she aevelopmenE end
growth Of our ipdnstxy, ,iiuterposed BIZ the
tarik may be removed, mot oulF withauf
injury 10 any existing interest, bat TO fts
positfve benefit. .H btfsfass .IaSsi I
& The existing tariff ww euscssd - awar
measure, iptepd 70 raise rsyesus - say
cost II succeeded in its .puFpose. To
day it produces Sl50, ,000, 900 annually
more than II needed for the national ex-
penditure- To that extest Il imposes IN
unnecessary basaen upon the prodsstixe
energies Of the people. i il tax apOa
consumption, and is substantially q Der
c4pita tax. and, therefore, presses with
peculiar severity upon the working classes.
If this surPaas tar were ses. colieeted
there wOald be. inst % much azose left IN
the pockets of those who pay it. Sts4ed
in its simplest form, it is an unnecessary
tax of % per head upon each inhabitAnf
of the country. Assuming that each
workman supports Eve pessoss, inciading
himself, be Is paving an unnecessary tax
Of $l5 . year. If this tax we're renewed
he would either have ~15 more in cashs 70
expend, which would increase the general
volume OF business and the demand for
labor, or he could afford, 10 case of close
competition, to take SIS less wages, which
would cheaper the cost of new products
and enable new markets to be secured.
Obviously, then, it is the immediate duty
Of Congress- to remove this excessive tax
in order that either the remuneration of
labor may be enhanced or the market for
it enlarged, at the time when it is threat
ened with restricted markets abroad for
its products and restricted employment
at home. Nor can this duty be postponed
or delayed without aggrav2ting the dis
tress which must inevitably fall upon the
working classes when the demand for Ia
Dor is narrowed by any cause whatever.
And here let me say that In considering
this question Congress need only pay at
tention to what the best interests of the
workmen of the country demand. So
long as capital has the protection of law
common to all property it needs no spe-
cial protection, and, least of all, protec-
tion at the expense of the normal remu-
neration of labor
In making this reduction l would select
first the raw materials of industry and
waste products as proper subjects to be
transferred to the free list This change
will lead at once to the extension Of
many branches of business and the estab-
lishment of many new avenues for labor.
No injury will be done to any existing
interest, because on these raw products
the freight is always sufficient to compen-
safe for the difference of the rate of wa
ges prevailing in this country and in the
countries from which these products are
imported. Many of these raw materials
are needed for mixing with our own mate
rials, and indeed many branches of indus
try cannot be successfully conducted with
out such admixture Every pound of
foreign material thus imported will enable
an additional quantity of our own mate
rails to be used, and in this way the mar
ket for these materials and the area for
the employment of labor will be greatly
and steadily enlarged. The abolition Of
the duty on raw materials will then ena-
bic us to make corresponding reduction
on the duties imposed on the manufac-
tured products of which they are q com
ponent part. This reduction of duty on
the manufactured products will lead to
over prices, which, in their turn, will
produce q larger consumption, whereby
the area of employment will again be
enlarged. Notably In this class of reduc-
tion will be placed the manufatures of
cotton, wool, iron, steel, and many chemi
cal products. This will relieve as frsm
the necessity for raising duties in any
case, as was proposed in what is known
as the Mckinley bill In the re-arrange-
ment of the tariff upon this basis / shall
be able to produce the testimony of the
most intelligent manufactures engaged in
these great branches of industry that the
result will be beneficial and not injurious.
PoTRcTTvK DUTIEs
The argument for protective duties is
based entirely upon the difference which
exists between the compensation for labor
paid in this country and In the countries
with which we compete. / have already
shown that this difference is net due to
protective duties, but arises from the
great natural advantages which the labor
of this country enjoys. But the difference
does exist, and there are branches of IN
dustry which cannot be carried on with
out an equivalent compensation in the
form of protective duties, or of bounty
from the public treasury. Whether it
would have been better originally that
these branches of industry should never
have received any artificial stimulus il q
question which it Is not necessary now to
discuss They do exist as the result of Q
revenue system which is the growth of .
hundred years, and I do not think that
there is anywhere the wish, If there be
anywhere the power, to strike these In
dustries down. / acknowledge, therefore,
and / assert, that at this late day 1t Is not
possible, nor polite, to reogganizs our
general business upon any other basis
than that which recognizes, and 50 long
as possible perpetuates, the difference
which exists in the rate Of wages, because
even if the purchasing power Of our
wages were no greater than those which
are paid by our competitor, we make
very great gain when We exchange pro
ducts produced at . high rate of wages
with nations where lower rate Of wages
prevails. If we sell our labor abroad at
one dollar . day and purchase the pro
ducts of foreign Labor equally Efficient At
Fifty cents day, we get the fruits Of two
days lsboFin exchange for one. Hesce,
if IL our interest not TO cut or and re-
strict foreign trade, but 20 give 4 the hr-
gest expansion which il possible witheut
reducing the rate of wages paid IN this
country.
Il. ! shus that foreign somnsrce %