Phillipsburg herald. [volume] (Phillipsburg, Kan.) 1882-1905, 1884-07-17

duction, but that the volume of imports
was so much greater than was antici-
pated at the time the Tariff revision was
made by the last Congress. Canton
must be the rule. There must be
enough money raised to pay the expen-
ses of the Government, the interest of
the public debt, and to provide for the
redemption of the bonds that will ma
ture. If the volume Of imports had
been less, the reduction would have
oeen much greater than WAS estimated.
The importations exceeded the average,
and the reduction was not so great as
had been expected. There must be
care exercised rash and inconsiderate
action will resultin embarrassment.
The Democratic party has in its
ranks a band of free trade fanatics,
whose wild mouthings are of incalcula'
BILE danger to the business of the coun-
try. The Democracy is without fixed
principles in the matter of the tariff.
Its members profess every shade of doc
trine, from ga tariff for revenue" to
free trade. Hurd, Morrison, Carlisle,
Hewitt, and others, are men high in the
councils of the party. If the Democ-
racy is placed in power, these men will
be IN a position to carry out their wild
vagares. Their utterances in Congress
have been a constant menace TO every
industry and enterprise in the country.
II has added enormously to the feeling
of uncertainty in business circles, and
has cramped every avenue Of activity.
AS usual the worAingmen have had to
bear their full share of this burden
manufacturers took in sail, and kept con
tinuously N safe waters. Their EN-
ployees were kept down III pumbers,
and the amount of work was curIaiied.
to keep within the limits of the decreased
production. The cost to the country
from the feeling of insecurity, the results
of the mouthiugs of these agitatOrs, Is
estimated by Henry carey Baird to be
not less than one thousand million Of dol
lars for the period since the election of
1888. This seems an enormous esti :
mate, but it must be remembered that a
paralysis which operates upon 30 200,
600 Of people soon runs up to a surpris
ing total. We have THIS para ysis in
that form known as .uverproductions.
This is a very useful word, but it Is
somewhat of misnumer At the pres
ent time, our manufactures in certain
lines are depressed from ''overprnduct
ION. This means that the demand has
decreased below the average. Conf
dence has been lesSened, no one buys
things he can possibly do without, aud
the demand in certain lines is curtaIled.
Hence the market is oyercrowded, and
''overproductiUn" is assigned as the cause.
The moment there is !essening Of the
hours of labor, with decline In wages,
il any industry, there is a curtailment of
the demand for food clothing, houses
for the countless commodities which peo-
pie will bay and use if they are able.
| This reacts upon the industries which
supply these things, the demand lessons,
and "Cverproduction' sets in in that par
ticular line.
| Hurd and his contTereS nave Deen
threatening this country since the begin
ming Of the Session of Congress with a
long stride in the direction of free trade
Nothing has been done 5y the House in
that direction, it is true; but these threats
have had powerful influence upon bust
ness. The possibility that this country
was to have poured upon it the urmar-
ketabIe productions of Great Britain,
which has had not over three years OF
real prosperity since 1866, has led every
one to prepare for the threatened storm,
if possible. Nobody buys on declin-
ing market anything unless he absolute
Is needs it, The result has been 10 bring
American manufactures to a stahdstill Ill
almost every apartment Toledo
Blade.