The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1883-11-24
wREELINe. ". W., NovENBER q. lsss
ThsTruth Of History.

1t iH suspected thRt Mr. WaIteTSon mas
opened himself out ia New York in the
hope OF driving votes from Randall and
making Carlisle, the Kentucky map,
Speaker OF the House. What ever may be
his object the high aim Of Mr.. Watterson's
life is to break down the protective tariff
"the robber tariff" as he calls it NJ.
Watterson Is fluent with tongue and pen.
His productions sound well and read ~ell,
but he is very unfortunate in some Of his
illustrations.
In his New York speech he was reach
ing for IN illustration that would embody
in a nut shell the full enormity Of the doc
trine and practice Of protection to home in
dustrieL He said
AsIretaIl 1t, there was Plgh Priest Of
Protection on the other sldo Of the Atlantic
who claImtd the right 10 give bounties and
levy taxes with willful regard Tor the In
Ierkt' Of the few, ard very little, II any, re-
gErd for the interests Il the many. As!s
not often the cSss, the many had the sense
a1d couraxeto organic and carry INTO en tSa
an opportune revolt, and, as ~ always tue
casa when they buve and do, monopoly
went down before them. Ia q word, the Nut
OF the revolution was d great reYenue reiosn
movement, ard the triumph with which II
ended a victory for commercial, no less than
National freedom.
This may be accepted o! par by anyone
who does not know or has forgotten the
early history Of his Countrywide bitter
struggle OF the Coonies for u chance to live
It Ia true that the triumph was "a victory
for commercial, no lesa than for National,
freadom;" but the fight in so far as it was
for commercial liberty, was for home indus
trlep, not agalngt them-for the right 10
coppe.e with Great Britain in tho colonial
market. 1t was an early grievance which
grew no better with time.
17l7itwas solsmnly and very truthful
" declared by the House OF Commons that
'the erecting manufactures in the colonies
tended to lessen their dependence upon
Great Britain" In 1882, in obedience to an
order OF the House Of Commons the Board
OF Trade aud Plantations inquired into
the affairs OF the colonies aud made
the horrible discovery previously
male by British exporters) that
ilNey York, New England, Pennsylvania,
and Maryland they had fallen into the
mlnu!asture" Ct wooden and linen cloth;
that they were producing and working up
FAX and hemp; that they had established
wooden milIs; that they were making
"brown hollands Tor women's wear" and
hats and leather; that they had set up
paper mill, ak iron furnaces and nineteen
FORCES, Sitting mill, "a mandatory for
nails" and more Of that generally deprayed
character, aal measures were passed to put
Stop to 1t all in the interest OF British
neutrality-suspicious. on that side OF
the ocean, prohibition on this. 1t was
Lord Gotham who said that the colonists
should not make so much as horse-nail.
In 1850 it was made penalty Of from GOO
to $500 to put up or operate an iron mill
in the colonies.
This imperfect and hastily ske!ched out
line will serve to show what kind OF com.
mercial freedom the colonies fought for
and what kind OF victory it was that they
won. 1t was not fight against protected
monopolists" at home, but against "pro-
tected monopolists" abroad, who were
secured in their monopoly by measures the
most arrogant and unjust and as part Of
thegeneral plan OF maintaining and increas.
ing the dependence Of the colonies On
Great Britain. Mr.. Watterson did his New
York hearers the high honor to assume
that they were ignorant Of this interesting
history, and that they could never discover
his deception.
Since so accomplished an advocate OF
free trade calls up the matter it is in order
to direct special attention 10 the effort OF
Great Britain to crush tho colonial indus
tries: and 10 remind Americans that Great
Britain Is more concerned than ever now
that these colonies are lusty statee; that in
the wilderness have grown up other StateE,
the whole forming government strong
enough to protect its interests; that three
millions Of consumers have grow to nearly
sixty millions; that The few forbidden
FORCES and mills have developed into vast
industrial system the wonder Of the world.
Ifthese American industries could be
stricken down and this great market
thrown open to the labor and capital Of
England-if we could once more be COM
mercially enslaved-it would matter little
to the another country" that we fly our
own flag and have place among the ma
tons. 1t is profit, not sentiment, that ex-
cites the British mind.