The aegis & intelligencer. [volume] (Bel Air, Md.) 1864-1923, 1884-12-19
John COpcutt ON Free Trade.

DEAR SIR: 1t has been often said that
British gold was used to bride the Congress
| of the United States to legislate In their in
| terest. Now this must be q very great mis-
take, since what would be the possible use OF
| spending money to obtain that which will
| drop into your own hands without an effort
All well informed Brtishers must see and
know that our senators and representatives
are doing all they can in their interest with
out money and without price, and venture
| to say that if our Congress had been elected
| in England, and bound by the electors to
| legslate for the exclusive benefit of England,
! let it affect this country as 1t would, they
could not possibly do better than our repre-.
| sentatives are doing for them in every posi-
bic way.
Perhaps you will deny this and say, "prove
| your words" Well, think this may very
easily be done. will first remark that free
| trade is law of nature and OF natures God,
| while protection, as it is called, or heavy re-
| striction on trade, is altogether a law of man
and altogether against nature, while no sane
man, unless he be fool, will think he can
| mend law of God. or if he does he must
suffer loss by it, Now our Legislators have
absolutely prohibited any of their country
men from buying or owning any ship or
| steamer if built in foreign country. In the
| next place they have laid 80 heavy u tariff ON
clothing and many necessaries of life, that
workmen of all kinds must have so high
wages to live and pay our enormous rents
flor over-taxed houses) that it is impossible
to build ships and steamers to compete with
those of British builders. Thus it has thrown
all the best of the foreign trade and nearly all
of it into the hands of England, whose for,
eign shipping trade exceeds that of all other
nations put together.
But does this convince our legislators?
No. Nothing will convince rabid protec-
zionist, since what lie sees with his own
eyes he will argue against, because he cannot
rid himself of that absolute selfshness OF
wishing to trade all on one side, by selling
for gold and silver and buying nothing in re
turn. Oh, say they, England is obliged to
buy our corn and provisions to keep her
people from starving, and thus, like all sell
| fish people, their seltshness comes home
upon themselves in the end, since if ships
load only one way they must have double
freight or run at a loss, which the farmer, of
| course, has TO pay out of the price obtained
for his produce.
All the high harbor charges and forced
pilotage at high rates, although paid by these
foreign steamers, must be paid in the end by
| our own people in the higher rates of freight
| to cover these expenses, and there is no
Sinking it, since thus it must and will be,
and though they pretend, as they say, TO keep
| the laborers from the competition of the pau
| per labor of Europe, yet they do all they can
| to make and keep them paupers by the high
| prices they make them pay for everything
they consume while they greatly lessen the
demand for labor by these heavy restrictions
| on trade and commerce.
We are called free and sovereign people,
while laws are enacted that make /us any
| thing but free. We dare not buy q ship or
steamer at all except it is built at home. A
heavy tax is laid on all the clothes we wear,
| on all our chinaware, while our importers
| are looked upon by the government as thieves
or swindlers, and are put to every possible
annoyance and technical overcharges to dis
courage trade.
Every one of our people who arrives from
abroad is not only put to his oath, elt all his
baggage searched also, last he should have
| bought anything in foreign country. If the
passenger be honest he must pay roundly for
anything he brings over If otherwise, how
ever, a sly piece or two of gold, slipped into
the searcher's hand will have its effect to
pass their effects more easily in too many
cases. This evil system OF custom house
oaths (Which the good sense of the better
class of the people of England caused to be
abolished there many years ago. is a great
cause of immortality, since while the honest
part of the community are made to pay in
full, those that are otherwise too often have
| great advantage over the former. So care.
lessly sometimes are the oaths administered
that an oath was once taken from me In the
custom house without my knowledge till af.
forwards; but as everything was right said
nothing about it.
| But you will say, How is all this in the
interest of England?" Because it so enhan-
ces the cost of all American manufactures
that when the home market is filled they can
/ han nd xx,.kl
| in "a few cases, where the natural products of
| the country give a special advantage. Ii
everything was free there would soon be
more manufacturing in the aggregate than
ever was known in the country before. Per-
] haps not all the same things that are maniac.