Lancaster daily intelligencer. [volume] (Lancaster, Pa.) 1864-1928, 1884-12-19
be fdilfosttr Jl,tellieeafer.
LANCASTER. DECEMBER 10, 1854.
Trse and False Protection.

True ard False Protection.
Hecretary McCulloch has been confirmed
4 A tic Senate by vote Of fifty to one the
( - being Riddleberger, Of Virginia, who
4 ~ been occupying the time Of the Senate
I 81 oxecutive session for some days, in max
irg speech which was composed almost
I wholly Of extracts from the old reports and
speeches Of Mr.. McCulloch. Mr.. Riddle
{ berger seemed to think that these were very
bad opinions that Mr.. McCulloch held in
which opinion the Senate showed that it
did not agree with him. Mr.. Riddleberger
+, may contemplate the result with satisfac-
tion, but anybody else would be penetrated
y with an impression that he had been making
|, IN ass Of himself. A man may be right
< sven though he stands in a minority
4 of fifty to one; but when he
( onds himself 50 much alone the
wise man will await future oppor-
tunity TO demonstrate the correctness Of
& his views. Mr. Riddleberger has not the
good reason Of the twelfth juror for delay
ing the dispatch of business, since he could
& have enjoyed his solitary vote as well in
kI1C TT SliO CiAh iii' Vs'Che
was not necessary to the Senate's action.
Neither can he say that his speech was for
Z the country, seeing that the Senate's pro-
ceed.ngs in executive session are not for
the public ear.
It is not quite apparent what animated
Riddleberger His objection to McCul-
loch Is that he Is not enough of protec-
~ Ia n,.k mt oh
: Ia the interest of protection, that interest
has great occasion to cry that it shall be
I saved from its friends. And that Is the
exact fact. There Is no wise man In the
,frys .Yho does not desire to protect its
4 Industries but there are great many
fools in it who think that they
are protecting while they are
in fact destroying. Riddleberger is
but sample lot Of very preva-
+ lent sort of statesman. 1t is the kind who
think that nothing but high tariff rate of
duties upon foreign imports can protect
our manufacturing industries. They to-
tally ignore the fact that the tariff we have
now, which prevents foreign tmportations,
wholly fails to give employment TO our fac
tories. They do not see the significance
Of the fact that with these duties, which
& keep us from foreign competition, our fac
tories and furnaces are idle. Their minds
are too dull or too preoccupied with one idea,
to realize that it Is home competition that
has brought about unremunerative prices ;
and their brains are too feeble to trace the
deduction from this fact, which plainly is
that we must manufacture less or sell
more; and the further deduction that to
sell more it would be advantageous to en-
large our market, and to get into other
- countries Nth our product.
To do this we must obviously give these
countries reciprocal advantages in dispos-
ing Of their products to us. And all this
reasoning brings us down to the conclusion
a that the protection Of our industries is
likely to require lower duties, or no duties
at all, upon certain classes of imported
goods.
No more important subject has ever
been before Congress than is presented
in the several treaties with Spain, Mexico
and Nicarauga, which are before 1t
for consideration. The two former en-
brace specific scheme for opening the
4 Mexican and West India market TO our
= commerce, and the latter is even more i'm
portant in its bearing upon our commerce
as it undertakes to give us exclusive con-
troll Of main artery to the trade of the
Pacific states.
The considerations involved in the reci-
procity treaties are, however, different from
those which will govern the question of the
policy Of building the canal. The chief
objection to the latter scheme is that it
violates distinctly a treaty existing between
this country and England, and the query
will be whether nation should break its
faith under any temptation. The treaties
with Spain and Mexico are embarrassed
with no question Of honor but present the
policy of obtaining the entry Of our goods
into these countries at the cost Of giving
their goods entry into ours. If we do not give
more than We get, everyone will agree tina,
these treaties are we'll conceived. There is
q suspicion, however, that we are paying
too dear for the advantages we obtain, and
II IL undoubtedly the fact that we ART
opening up great country TO weak states
that can afford comparatively small
market to US. Still the ultimate
advantage may be with IS, and it is to thi,
question that the wisdom Of Congress viii
be addressed. We hope that 1t may suffice
for its true solution; but foolish represen
tatiyes, such as Mr.. Riddleberger, ar,
sufhciently abundant in Congress to forbie
one feeling sure of the wisest result Of 1T
deliberations.