Morning journal and courier., 1884-03-14

pleasant, to say the least It means taking without giving; in blunt legal parlance, such takings are called theft" Heathen Rome had God of Thieves; can it be possible America has one also?
 The gauges of peoples civilization are the volume and variety of their exchanges. A savage does for himself about all there is house builder, all in one. As men advance in civilization their exchanges become more numerous and more complex. Any system that purposely limits the exchange of harm less commodities between man and man is g relic of barbarian; and that it should find supporters in this last quarter of the nine teenth century seems remarkable.
 The one plea made by "H" is in behalf of the American mechanic, for whom none has a greater respect than I. Has it ever occurred to HI" that the American mechanic is about the only thing not protected by the tariff? ''H'' claims that knives are protected by the duties on knives of for eign make. Very well, but what is the duty on knife makers and other is one dollar and half per head in the port of New York. Oh, monstrous farce, to pro- teot dead matter, and cruelty with cempeti- ton living men! If 'tH' be in earnest, let him and others of his school petition Con gress to tax all immigrants ten dollars per pound live net weight and then American labor will be protected in the same sense that American pig iron is protected. What availeth it to hang the slain on 8 tariff gibbet, and smear the slayer with honeyed words2 Does not the labor market hinge like other markets on demand and supply? Does not @ surplus of labor mean lower rates for it on the market, precisely as surplus of knives or anything elsep If not, economics are farce, and matter the superior of man.
 ' 0loino fhQk nn mi o0naiafAnftv p6 vocate protection to American labor, and not advocate the exclusion of foreign labor. Knives are only protected" by duties on knives, razors by duties on razors, and labor by duties on labor. Dodge the question as you may, you cannot separate creation from it's creator. If the products of foreign labor be bad, how much worst must the labor itself be. It seems foolish to forbid explosions and import explosives Either the protectionists ask for special egislation in their own behalf or they do not. They either ask that the rest of the American people be taxed for their special benefit or they do not. An atom of common sense answers these questions. And it,is pungent fact, that the most frequent strikes, and the most constant complaints of low wages, come from those branches of industry that seem to be most thoroughly protected" Strikes among agriculturists are almost unknown; yet the products of agriculture are about the freeest items on the
 
 branches of industry that are protected seem ingly to the ear tips, yet among them strikes are common and discomfort almost chronic.
 In conclusion, let me call "H''s attention to the mechanical indus tries of the United States in relation to shipbuilding and ship sailing American ships have for about century en- joyed absolute, complete, unchallenged pro- lection. The amount of duty is infinite; foreign ships are prohibited. If there be any thing then in protection as germi- native force, if it be capable of producing anything, ships and shipping should be America's foremost industries Well perhaps they are; but custom house records and the flags flying in New York harbor tell different story. No country has so much bulky freight to be carried as our own, and no civilized land on the seas so few ships in which to carry 1t.
 Will it require another panic to teach our people that to breath, we must inhale as well as exhale-that one without the other is death No industry that depends on protec- 4ion for existence can look for markets out side the country hat gives the "protection, and big as the United states are are they bigger than the world of which they are part The affirmative side of this question IS the side protectionists are bound to take
 T. T. B.