The Morristown gazette. [volume] (Morristown, Tenn.) 1867-1920, 1884-02-13
TIE LEADING QUESTION.

To the Editor of the Morristown Gazette:
Your correspondent, "Chin Chin, I"
has all along either totally misappre-
hended the articles of mine to which he
has replied, or else he has made his own
man of straw, and replied to him.
have said "Free Trade and folly are
synonymous terms" in Tennessee poll
tics, because Free Trade means per
capita tax to support the government;
and have given or limited at no other
reason.
/ have as clearly indicated my views
o be that the necessity for revenue is
the only thing that justities the tariff
legislation of the past. Protection
means higher prices. 1t certainly makes
higher prices. 1t certaiRly costs the
consumer every dellar that il causes TO
be collected from the importer. Nay,
very much more.
Let me illustrate from "Chin Chin's''
last article: During 1883, we imported,
he says, $2,113,OO0 worth of cutlery.
Say the government collected 33t per
cent. tariff on this cutlery. This
amounts to $7O4 900. The consumers
paid, therefore, $12, 900, 900. Now. but
FOR the protection, this $12, 600, 00O
worth of cutlery would have cost the
consumer $1,000, OOe instead of $12,-
OOO,COO So, the result of protection
on cutlery has been during the year
1888, that our people have paid into the
treasury $704, 900 over and above what
the manufactured article cost IN Eng
land, and they have paid the American
manufactures IS, 600, 900 more for cut
lery than the same article would haYe
cost them without protection.
Take another Of his items-steel rails.
We imported $3.67s 900. Say 81, $50
tons. The tariff is, believe, 90 Z
ton. The government collected, there
fore, $7ss, $40. But, our own rail mills
made of Bessemer steel rails alone in
1888, 1858. 925 tens, for which the con-
sumers paid $11, 2s5, 1875 more than they
would have paid the English and Ger
man mills for them. By reason of the
protective tariff on steel rails, there
fore, the government get $7S8 900, ant
the IA rail mills making this class o.
rails in America got $l1, 2S5, GOO mer,
than they would have got il competi
ton had been free.
so it runs through all the list. TIL,
effect of the tariff on a great many
articles is that the government gets GU
of it paltry sums in reyenue, and thu
American manufactures, having com
petition shut of, get vast sums out o
1t. But these millions come out of tn
BARD earnings of the lsboring MASSES
and make vast fortunes for the manu-
faetureIs.
This was not so few years ago, 70
che reason that we, imported SO mucl
more and manufactured so much less
Then, to a much greater extent thai
now, the advance price paid by tn
consumer, was revenue to the govern
ment. Now it is in great many line
a attribute, bonus to American manu-
facturers.
In reply to one of "Chin Chin's" cri
icisms, let me remiEd him that frer
this protected country, manufacture
articles are being exported an nually {
the extent of over q hundred million
of dollars.
And let me say to him that / am
revenue refermer l0ith the facts before 10,
That the sound observation-disclosures ths
will PREVAILS tariff for revenue only
That prefer to bear the evils of tn
protection incident to such a tart
rather than direct taxation. So