Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1883-05-10
ICOMMUSIcATED.
EwINGs, May 7th, 1888.

EW4NGSp may dLnp 1000.
do not propose, Messrs. Editors,
entering upon any controversy with
your very able staff, neither with the
Throne nor the Powers behind the
throne" if there be any. But do
not like to see you walk over the
track alone especially as I feel GER
tain that your arguments are sophis-
teal. although / may not succeed in
showing it. / have waited for some
time to see If some of those who owe
the party q debt Of gratitude would
not take up the cudgel in defence of
principle and finding none to do SO,
why as usual / must put myself in
the place to receive ''more kicks than
half pence" Believing as I do, in
the real good Of moderate protection,
I will proceed to try and prove the
good, at the same time honestly con-
Tossing that whilst for years have
read carefully, yet I do not thorough
ly understand the tariff question:
Now, to prove the direct benefit that
Messrs. Clarke and Hayden receive
from a protective tariff, l will COM
mence with our markets. Now you
speak Of home market as a myth and
Of 8, 000,OOO people being all that are
benefited by protection. Here 10 your
first mistake. Your idea seems that
only q small portion of our crops is
consumed in the home market, the
bulk being sent away. Now take the
Agricultural Report of 1880, which
probably is as fair an average as we
can get, and we have: Wheat, val
ne raised, 1854. $50, OO3; corn, $685.
023, 1858 ; rye. "a ,O0O, 93l oats, $685.
$3.50; barley, S2S,O02, SIS; pota-
toes, S120,SS2, $50; hay, S58S, 797,-
072. A grand total Of $2,45S, 49l.-
755. = OF this amount, products were
exported to the value of 1922, 493,-
$50, the balance consumed at home.
In other words we find home mar
ket for 1882 per cent. of our chief
crops and a foreign market for 1865
per cent. Now, then, sum mp the VAL
ne Of the enormous quantities of meats,
poultry, egg !, vegetables. fruits, &C.,
and our home market takes at least
from 05 to 81 per cent, the foreign
markets from 8 to 5 per cent. Next
to good soil farmer requires good
markets. Now. our foreign markets
are always uncertain, the demand for
our produce depending on various
causes that tend to create or lessen
the demand. Competition also seri-
ously affects our foreign markets.
Now, to show what protection has to
do withlomr home market we have
statistics and common sense. First
then, the establishment of manufac-
lures on large scale necessitates the
gathering of people in towns and
cities. You admit that 10000 are
engaged in manufacturing. The gen.
eral average is 5 to family, that at
once makes $1,000, 0O0 non producers.
The gathering together CT these peo-
pie in towns and cities creates neces-
sity for some form OF official govern
mont, for doctors, ministers, lawyers,
merchants, newspapers and all the
different classes Of business carried
on By non producers. Thus, the g.
COO, 700 swells to from Is to 3 mil
lions, all Of whom have to be fed from
the agricultural districts, thus max
ing home market permanent and
able to take not less than 8 to ok
tenths Of our surplusage. Now the
cry of free trade men Is to do away
with protection and goods will be
cheaper; il is the poor man who is
taxed for the ''bloated manufacturers,
&c" Now, sirs. let us see how much
truth is in this cry. Prior and up to
the year 1860. before Republican pro-
lection, under q democratic rule of
80 years-9l per cent. of all manufac-
turered goods used in this county
were imported. To-day, il is exactly
the reverse, 81 per cent. are manufac-
tured here and besides giving en-
ployment directly aud Indirectly, to
near one-half our people. every sin
gle article Is cheaper than they were
in the sos and all farm products are
higher. Nov, honestly, does not this
fact alone answer the objections to
protection. Compare the wages, style
Of living, intelligence and comforts Of
American iaborers under orr prOtec-
tive system with those Of free-trade
England. Now. Messrs. Editors, I
have tried to show as briefly az pos
sible, why Messrs. Clarke and Hay
den are directly benefited by protec-
ton. Take away protection and I'M
der the English system Of labor our
manufactures cannot compete with
them. You thus throw ont Of en-
ployment nearly 5000. 900 Of persons
with their dependents and food the
agricultural districts witha starving,
r:oto1s crowd. and as the same fell
swoop. wipe out home markets and
thus leave the poor farmer. able to
get labor, much cheaper It's true, but