Press and daily Dakotaian. (Yankton, Dakota Territory [S.D.]) 1880-1889, 1884-07-23
1 only invite attention to certain facts of
official record which seem to constitute

IL Iuo CCusuS VI 4oOO du 6uOEG Wab
made, for the first time 10 our history, to
obtain valuation Of eli the property in
the United States. The attempt was in
q large degree unsuccessful. Partly from
lack Of time, partly from prejudice
among many who thought the inquiries
foreshadowed new scheme of taxation,
the returns were incomplete and unsatls-
factory. Little more was done than to
consolidate the local valuation used in
the states for the purposes of assess
ment, and that, as everyone knows, diff.
fers widely from a complete exhibit OF
all the property.
In the census of 1860. however, the
work was done with great thoroughness
the distinction between "assessed"
vafue and "true" value being carefully
observed. The grand result was that the
"true value" of all the property in the
states and territories Excluding slaves)
amounted to fourteen thousand millions
of dollars (S14,000,000,O00) This aggre-
gate was the net result of the labor and
the savings of all the people within the
area of the United States from the time
the first British colonist landed in 1907
down to the year 1860. 1t represented
the fruit of the toll of 25O years.
After 1860 the business of the
country was encouraged and developed
by protective tariff. At the end of
twenty years the total property of the
United States, as returned by the census
of 1880, amounted to the enormous
aggregate of fo1ty-fo thousand millions
of dollars (S44,OOO,OO0,0 0,0OO). The great re-
| suit was attained, Notwithstanding the
fact that countless millions had in the
interval been wasted in the progress of q
bloody war. 1t thus appears that while
our population between 1860 and 1880
increased sixty per cent. the aggregate
property of the country increased 2l4
per cent.-ehowing vastly enhanced
wealth per capital among the people.
Thirty thousand millions Of dollars $780,.
O00,O00,0OO had been added during these
twenty years to the permanent wealth of
the nation.
These results are regarded by the older
nations of the world as phenomenal,
That our country should surmount the
peril and the cost of q gigantic war, and
for an entire period of twenty years make
an average gain to its wealth of one
hundred and twenty-five million dollars
per month, surpasses the experience oi
all other nations, ancient or modern
Even the opponents of the present
revenue system do not pretend that in
the whole history of civilization any
parallel can be found to the material
progress of the United States, since the
accession of the republican party tc
power.
The period between 1860 and to-day
> has not been one Of material prosperity
, only. At no time in the history of tht
United States has there been such prog
ress in the moral and philanthroplc field
, Religious and charitable institutions
I schools, seminaries and colleges, hav
been founded and endowed far more gen
+ erously than at any previous time in ou
history. Greater and more varied relic
has been extended to human suffering
and the entire progress of the countr!
j in wealth has been accompanied an
S dignifed by a broadening and elevatinl
a of our national character as people.
Our opponents find fault that our rev
enue system produces surplus. Blu
e they should not forget that the law ha
! the surplus is proftably and hoporabl
!, applied-the reduction of the publ
! debt and the consequent relief of th
n burden of taxation. No dollar has bee
v wasted, aud the only extravaganza wit
which the party stands charged is I'll
generous pension of soldiers, sailors an
their families-an extravaganza whic
embodies the highest form of justice
the recognition aud payment OF G sacre
N debt. When reduction of taxation is
I'd be made, the republican party can t
l. trusted to accomplish it in such form
will most effectively aid the industrie
n. of the nation.
le A frequent accusation by our oppt
t. nents is that the foreign commerce of Il
y country has steadily decayed under IL
u influence of the protective tariff.
N ~ this way they seek to array the impor
a ing interest against he republican part
It is common yet radical error to CO
70 found the commerce of the country vii
-. its carrying trade-an error often cor
. mitted innocently and sometimes desig
n. edly-but an error SO gross that it do
20 not distinguish between the ship and Il
8 cargo. Foreign commerce represen
ii tho exports. and imports of countl
\. regardless of the nationality of the We
N sci that may carry the commodities
Il exchange. Our carrying trade has, fro
~ obvious causes, suffered many discou
Is commerce has IN the same period, steac
,s' r ly and prodigiously ncreased-increas,
-, ~ indeed at rate and to an amount whil
, ~ absolutely dwarf all previous develo
Il. ments of our trade beyond the sc
70 From 1860 to the present time the fo
Il eign commerce of the United States e
90 vided with approximate equality b
N tween exports and imports,) reached Il
in astounding aggregate of twenty.fo
iv thousand millions of dollars. The bf
az ance in this vast commerce inclined
ID our favor, but it would have been mu
20 larger if our trade with the countries
40 America, elsewhere referred to, had be
"a. more wisely adjusted.
IT. 1t is difficult even to appreciate t
m magnitude of our export trade since 1S'
tie and we can gain a correct conception
it only by comparison with precedl
re results in the same field. The total {
ay ports from the United States. from t
"a declaration OF independence in II
is down to the day of Lincoln's election
of 1860, added to all that had previous
'e- been exported from the American co,
We MES from their original settlemel
lar amounted to less than nine thousa
} millions of dollars. On the other ha1
if our exports from 1860 to the close of t
ch last fiscal year exceeded twelve thousa
on millions of dollars-the whole of it bel
ny the product of American labor. E
es- IDENTIFY o protective tariff has not injul
or our export trade when, under its int
~, ence. we exported in twenty -four We,
nd forty per cent. more than the to
to amount that had been exported in [
nta antira praviorn hiatorv of marican cc