New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1884-04-05
4 FREE TRADERS CHOICE.
ACoNsUMER OPPOSES A CHANGE OF TAR

WHAT A CHOICE OF MARKETS HAS DONE FOR Us.
TO the Edttor Of The Tribune.
SIR: 1t is said: al But foreign industries might
have grown with our growing demand. Had We
not chosen at great cost. to force production IN
thi. country, new mills might have arisen else
where to supply all our needs. Then we should
have had cheaper goods-as cheap foreigners
now enjoy
Might have grown" yes But who knowsf
Hypothesis is poor food for nation to live on 10
has its use to theorists doubt But when the
potato crop failed in Ireland, the theory that
enough would be raised somewhere else if Ireland
fell short did not save thousands from starving.
There is one thing that we know. The vast con-
sumption of a nation of fifty millions who eat moro.
wear more, and use more than any other nation on
earth of one hundred Millions actually has been sup
Piled by the adolf home production not onlywithous
a general rise but with general decline in prices.
The growth of the nation has not been checked
Industrial development has not been gained
by crOwdlng the masses down to q
worse condition. On the contrary, a growth
In consumption so marvellous that to the Stadent Of
statistics it seems well-nigh incredible. has been
met, and without lifting prices. This is not the
ory, but fact What might have happened if the
nation had produced less FIR its own needs, any
man can guess. but no can know.
The wonderful growth of this country was not er-
pected by any one. The widest predictions made
In 1850 fall short of the solid facts that we see in
1854. Where dsunion seemed inevitable to our
wisest friends abroad, we saved union. They
looked for anarchy; we restored order. They
counted upon failure TO grow cotton by free labOrJ
we produced 2,000, 900 bales more than slave labor
had ever raised They feared reputation;
sumed specie payments In 1880 no man living
expected to see 1870 900 miles of railroad 100 900
miles of telegraph in this country. What no man
in his widest dreams anticipated. we may well
doubt if the cold calculations Of business men
abroad would have provided for. There is no war
rant for assuming that, if we had not increased
production foreign industry must have supplied
all our wants without a rise in prices.
The history of every trade Is crowded
with cases of violent advance IN prices caused
by new demands. Grinding monopolies have
been cursed by consumers in all lam
guages Beyond these incidents TO all trade,
there were special for failure to supply
strangely expanding wants This country was
known to have natural resources in many respects
the finest in the world. Were strangers likely to
stake their money upon belief that we should
never develop these resourcesf Wehave the great
est supplies of iron and coal in the world. Had ID
been known in 1860 that going to build
10000 miles of railroad in twenty-three years.
would anybody have expected us to depend upon
foreigners for tho ironR What Enghshman would
have put million into mills and machinery to sup
ply this demand, knowing that an act of Congress
could at any time drive him from this marketi Is
il true that sober business stake their fortunes
upon such chancesf
But the question now is whether we can afford to
take this same risk, after have spent largely
to build up industries of our own. 1t has cost
us a great deal of time and money, but
we have brought our orchard to such a state that
it supplies our wants Now Mr. Morrison would
cut it down. trusting TO get cheaper fruit from
our neighbors. Because the few bushels they have
left sell very low he fancies their whole crop can
be had at the same rate Must we not feel certain
that foreign mills would not now supply our vast
needs without great rise in prices What sense
Is there in trusting to them for necessary supplies,
when we have our own mills, and have paid large
sum to sot them up, and know that with them the
course of prices is steadily downward
For the consumer, the worst feature of our times
is the tendency to combination for the cont Of Of
supplies and prices We these leagues of enor-
nous capital in almost every country, cutting
down production at pleasure, playing with ST Il
upon hostile leagues of labor as beats \ drum,
"cornerng" markets aud tanting sources of in
formation, and caring nothing for the permanent
success of business if only millions be mi ked
out OF 1t IN year Nhne human greed re-
mains, entire safety from such conspiraces
nowhere DO obtained. But il is certain
that consumers have greater safety where they have
a choice OF markets in different countries. The at
tempt to control the markets of more than one
great producing country rarely succeeds Distance
creates doubt; men of different race come to dis
trust each other banks grow tmid, steamers are
delayed, cables break; some one OF thousand acci
dents almost invariably brings ruin TO "a oOmbina-
ton that reaches into different nations. Consumers
here now have both home aud foreign Of
supply, Z safeguard of incaleulabe value TO cue
off either would be folly. but II L. as consumer.
were forced to give up either would count IL safer
TO cut OF foreign imports by absolute prohibition
than TO break down the home production. fha
Chinese wall was barbario But it comes neares
civilization than Mr. Morrison's bill. EDAx.
Mana Vork Anril a 1884