Richmond daily palladium. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1876-1904, 1884-08-21
A FREE TRADER ANSWERED.
Interesting Letter from Hon. John =
Seaman
CAMBRIDGE CITY, IND,
Auur,Sf hi 1Sl

| To the Editor Of the Palladium:
My attention was called to the article
printed in the Evening Item of your
city, asking me to answer in my speech
last night certain questions printed In
that paper and signed 'Laborer." |
regret did not see the article before |
made my speech or / should have been
glad to accommodate "Laborer, for it
Is so seldom that free traders seek in
formation that | am always pleased to
let some light in on their benighted
souls. When they do seek information
and try to defend their destructive doc
trine they usually put their foot in it,
as "Laborer" has in this article. So
Your readers may have the full benefit
please print the article in full:
As Mr.. Scanlon is to address the
laboring classes this evening, will you
permit me to call his attention to the
following figures and ask him to explain
them? The figures are from the United
States census of 1880, part 2, pages 92S
to 931:
Capital employed, 1850, 1893 ,245,-
351; 1860, 81 COS, 49, rs. Increase 10
ten years of low tariff, 95 per cent.
Wages paid, 1850, $236, 755 ,465; 1860,
37S, SIS, 500. Increase in ten years of
low tariff, 60 per cent. Value Of manu-
features produced, 1850, 81 ,019, 106, Gle;
years of low tariff 81 per cent.
Capital employed, 1870, s., lis, 208, :
1853; 1880, 81, 79O, 272, SOC Increase in
ten years of highest tariff known, only
32 per cent Wages paid, 1870, ST5,-
5S4,343; 1880, S947 ,953.795. Increase in
ten years of high tariff, only 30 per
cent. Value of manufactures produced,
1870, $4,232 325, Az, 1880, S., 1863, 579,
1871. Increase In the ten years of high
tariff, only 25 per cent
| do not these figures show that in
ten years of low tariff manufactures so
prospered that % per cent. more capital
was invested in them; there was an in
crease of 60 per cent in wages, and of
70 per cent in value of products, while
in the ten years of high tariff there is
an increase of but 81 per cent. in cap
ital, 80 per cent. in wages, and % per
cent. in the value of products. Does
this show that high tariff benefits all
classes more than does low tariff
'LABoRER.
1t is seldom that man appearing in
print leaves such deep foot marks of
his own ignorance, or presumes on
the Ignorance of his readers, as Laborer
has in this little article, for he seems
not to be conversant with the laws OF
per centage, or deliberately deceives his
readers by perverting the real facts In
order to make out an argument IN favor
of free trade
The ignorance that "Laborer" betrays
of the tacss that he perverts is this: That
the per Sentage of profit of smaller cap
ltal Is greater than the per centage of
profit of larger capital, even when the
profit Of larger capital is many times
more i'm amount. To illustrate: A man
invests 81 900 and makes 81 900, his per
centage of profit is 100 per cent, while
a man investing 100000 and making a
profit of $50, 600, his per centage of profit
is only 30 per cent. While the actual
gross profit in the latter case is $40. 600
more than in the other, still if we were
to look upon it as ''Laborer" does, and
look at it only. from the per centage
stand point, ordinary individuals would
think the 81 900 investment made the
most money. This is just the ignorance
or perversion that ''Laborer" has been
guilty of in his article to the Evening
Item.
First, the capital employed by the
country between the years 1850 and
1860 was less than the capital employed
looked at from the stand point of per
centage, it is larger, while the actual
figures show that the capital employed
between 1870 and 1880 was $105, 453, All
more than between 1850 and 1860, and
that the wages paid in the same years
was $40, Pos, 951 In favor of the protect
i've period, and the value of manufac-
lures was 500, 695, $50 more than in the
free trade years of 1850 to 1860. So
you see, Mr.. Laborer, the growth of
wealth from manufactures, the capital
employed and the wages paid In the
protected period is hundreds Of millions
of dollars against you and in favor
of the American people. By the by,
Mr.. Laborer, when you were looking
over the census why did you pick out
that period between 1870 and 1880, when
we had FIVE years of stagnation in bust
ness, when the laborers wandered this
country as tramps, idle and begging
bread, for reasons that protective tariff
is not responsible for. Why didn't you
give US the per centage of the growth of
wealth. When we took our panic-rid-
den, empty treasury vaults, and idle
manufacturing country from out of your
hands and created an industry, an army,
a treasury and money, (all OF which |
are now acknowledged to be the best In
the world subdued free trade rebel |
lion, reduced the interest of the public |
debt, paid our debts, paid the soldier |
and placed the manufacturers of this |
country in better position than they
ever were. | refer to the period be- |
tween 1860 and 1870. l hope have |
made this thing clear to Laborer. If
not the next time 1 come to Richmond |
| will, if he has any property, show him
how easy it will be to get rid of it if he |
figures his business On the same basis |
that he tries to uphold his Democratic |
free trade growth of the wealth of this
country. Very respectfully yours,
JOHN T. SEAMAN.
Broke Her Pipe.