The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1884-04-30
THE POLICY OF FREE TRADE.
How Englands Selishness Has Ruined Ire
Iand-Free Trade in America.

HOLAOL UT AAe@ADA4'
How Englands Selfshness Has Ruined Ire
Iand-Free Trade in America.
Samuel waningford, in Bloomington Telephone.
If l know anything about what governments
arc formed for it is to protect citizens OF the
country, and more especially to protect such as
cannot protect themselves. Selt-preserVauon is
said to be the first law of nature, and should hold
good in a government. The greatest good to the
greatest number unless number combines
against us to ruin, then we should take care OF
ourselves; in other words protect ourselves
If had my way about this matter OF trade,
would not allow any government to sell any
thing in this country that we could produce
enough of ourselves, unless they paid a duty
more especially, England If England
could have had her way about
the question of tariff, she would have had us to
say free trade. Then it would have supplied us
with everything from the penal code to the
poor-house Jacket from the thin swaddllng
clothes with which it would have welcomed us
into this world to the stout rope with which 1T
would have hurried our forefathers out. The
history of Ireland proves that by Englands free
trade it had from the restoration of Charles the
| H. in 1860 to 1888, one continued famine; also
in l726, 1879, l764 and NO. showing that under
free trade 43 900, 900 acres of the most fertile
land in the world could not keep 1000 900 per
| sons from starving, because England forced
| Ireland to buy her manufactured goods, and,
consequently, had to ship such things
as they raised to eat to pay for them,
making provisions scarce and high in
ireland, thereby starving the poor. Grattan
carried protective tariff through the Irish Par
lament in 1883, and from that period TO 1899 Ire
land enjoyed period Of unmitigsted prosperity;
| population increased from two and half to five
! and half millions, with no poorhouses, no
standing army to suppress crime, nor did it have
the feeling to evict the paupers to keep them
| from eating up common ants. Local assess
ments were unknown, because taxation was
light, religious prejudices were dying out and
| giving way to liberal ideas, and the Irish were
| becoming united, happy and prosperous PEG
pie. By force and bribery ireland was deprived
both of Parliament and protection, then
came free trade, and in its train pauperism, ig
noranee and crime Henry Cary tells
mechanics fled to England in search of work.
wandering from place to place, offering to work
| for bread. suppose they were what our mod
ern lords in this country would call tramps.
! They were forced to lie in dog hutches and hog
| pens or lie in out-houses wages declined 90 per
cent. in England enabling the English manu-
| faeturer to undersell the world 1t was then
that the King of England said that starvation
| was the best recruiting officer in his MajestyS
| service. Look at ireland now groaning under
| Englands free trade. Famine has covered her
| like garment ever since. Now, will any party
undertake to enforce this Internal nightmare of
free trade in this country! If they do it will be
! like Wendell Phillips. because they have only
read one Side of the question. Phillips was a
free-trader until he read Cary on tariff. We
had some terrible experience with free
trade in this country from 1885
| to 1913 What was the RESULT A
| bankrupt government, bankrupt States and cit
les. The whole time of our legislatures, national
and State, occupied in passing stay laws in
reading pitlful appeals from millions of laborers
and mechanics out of employment and their
| families starving. Alexander Barring tells us
! that during that period threefourths of all the
money proceeding from the consumption of the
produce of the United States in all parts of the
world was paid to England for manufactured
goods, and Englaud's lords were saying then
| that the United States more beneficial to
them in their independent free trade condition
than it could have been as colonies. No wonder
now that England wants that Infamous black flag
of free trade hosted over this country; no wonder
this country is filed with free-trade pamphlets.
Plenty of English gold will be sent
here to help the party that will put free
trade plank in their platform in 1884 for she
could spend millions of dollars here to get to
| adopt free trade and then make money by the
| operation. In our trade with England during
the last four years the balance is against her to
the amount of 1896 ,486, 900; in the last three
| years the balance of trade in Spain is against
| her to the amount of 5000 060, 145 In 1872 Eng
| land had go blast furnaces in full operation;
our protective tariff closed 800 of them. | have
| only glanced at the murderous record of Eng
| lands system of free trade Had time to look
! it up and follow it through Portugal, India Tur-
| key and the West Indies, all who would read it
| would come to the conclusion that her
| social system, like her penal code, was
conceived by devils, written in human blood
| l will now repeat what | said in former letter
published in the Telephone. If our manufactor-
| les get the price of their goods too high others
can start manufactures and home competition
will keep prices down. Going back to the days
of free trade in 1928, when cotton goods were
selling for % cents per yard mind you for
unbeached cotton they started few mills in
| this country and went to Congress and asked
that tariff of s cents per yard be placed
cotton goods. Congress had the wisdom to
grantit, and before it was repealed the same
article of cotton clothes were selling
for IA cents. That is one single article
l could mention them by the score if l had time
and thought you would give space The South
ern people are rapidly changing their minds on
the tariff question They have too much at
stake and do not want their cotton mills stopped.
1 passed two cotton factories as l came down
here in this State, one at WILLIAMSON and one
called PIEDMONT At each place the employees
have built nice little towns and the very looks of
the places show that they are prosperous and
happy and if l had my way about it England
would never sell another shirt pattern in this
country. 1 know | would be the last man on
earth to protect corporations to rob the poor. All
men that know me know that l have been fight
ing all such things
ABBEvILLE, S. c., April IS.
A Cheese-Paring Policy.