Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1884-08-15
Down With the Duties.

:
foreign nations with pretext for shutting
out from their ports American products.
protection" robs man of many benefits
OF civilization. One of the great boons con-
ierred by science is the increase in the lacili-
ties OF transportation. On land creeping
wagons have been superseded by flying
trains; on sea the sail has given way to
steam. Space has been to a great degree
annihilated. The result of this splendid
conquest OF the elements and hidden powers
OF nature has been to roll u golden tide TO
the doors of the nations of the earth. The
treasures of many cline lie spread before
the humblest man. Now is it not folly most
inexplicable for us to nullify, to cast away
these inestimable advantages by unnecessa-
rily imposing enormous duties on imports?
or what use is it to reduce prices by secur-
ing better transportation, by dredging har-
bors or sailing steamships, by improving
rivers or building railroads, if we turn de-
liberately around and raise prices by means
of tariff? Tariffs are obstacles in the road
exchanges and, in effect, obstacles are tariffs.
Every steep hill or mudhole on the high
way, every snag in the river, every jagged
reef or sandy bar in the ocean, is veritable
protective tariff
Often the devil of protection comes TO US
clad in the spotless robes of the angel OF
patriotism. If We abandon protection, il is
claimed, some other nation will seize our
markets, flood the country with foreign
goods and bankrupt our manufacturers.
Then, when every loom is idle and every
spindle still, the climax Of the chapter of
horrors win be reached as the dreaded
foreign nation raises prices to an-exorbi-
tant rate. "wnar,- NyIthe protectionist,
"shall we thus pay tribute to England
Would you not have your country indie
pendent?" Independent! All that word
brings with it the rattle of the cannon on
Bunker Hill. Prove to an American that
given policy is necessary to make us indie
pendent, and you have won his answering
support. Yes, we would have independ
ence, blood-bought though it be, the indie
pendence of great nation whose men are
free, whose thought is free, whose ships are
free, whose trade is free. And it is just be-
cause the tariff binders that accumulation OF
wealth, mars that general prosperity, and
degrades that sturdy manhood in which true
independence consists that we earnestly
oppose the Infamous system. So great
are the expenses OF our government, even
when most economically administered, that
u tariff for revenue only is amply sufii-
cient To enable our manufacturers to sue
cessfully compete with foreigners. II this
soere not true, the only just and censtitu-
tional policy would still be to reduce the
tariff until it yielded only enough revenue
to carry on the government. But, since
heavy taxation is absolutely necessary, it is
well if any portion Of our people can from
this great evil derive some good.
The principal if net the only ground upon
which protection is asked is the higher cost
of labor in this country. The difference
between the wages paid here and those paid
in England has been greatly overstated.
But whatever it may be, the immense exs
penses incurred by Englishmen for trans
portation go long way toward its cancel
lation The swelling waves of the Atlantic
give to the American manufacturer deal
Of protection against his foreign competi-
tors. Leaving out of consideration, how
ever, this important fact, it may be said
without fear of dispreof that a tariff re-
duced to strictly revenue basis would
fully compensate our manufacturers for the
high wages demanded by their employees.
In illustration of this truth, Mr. Morrison, in
a speech OF marked ability, cited the case of
one of the greatest industries protected by
the tariff He said: 1.-THE value of our whole
iron and steel product in the census year
cent, revenue tariff, as low as that of 1857,
when we had no war debt or pension list,
was adopted. The "a per cent. duty TO be
paid to import what we make would be
x71 100000 That is to say, the importer
under "a per cent. duty, before he comes
into competition with our iron and steel,
must pay $71,000,000, or $6,000,000 more
than all the wages paid for the whole iron
and steel product in the United States. The
people who consumed the iron and steel
product of 1880 could have imported it, paid
all the wages in iron works and mines and
saved $6,000,000, while the workers would
have been left free to follow other pursuits"
This is one Of many examples The foreign
manufacturer OF cotton goods in his rivalry
with the American manufacturer is com.
PEELED to contend against very heavy odds.
To our fields he must come for raw mate
rial; he must pay the freight on it from here
to his Mills and, after it has been made
into cloth, he must carry it across the ocean,
and pay the tax upon it, before he may put
IT upon the American market. Who will
hold that revenue duty in this case would
not be sufficient protection? Manufactures
say that they can't see it in that light. 1t is
an old saying, and certainly one worthy of
all acceptation, that none are so blind us
those who soon't sec. Manufacturers love
the darkness of error better than the light of
truth, because their deeds are evil. They
do not want any revenue reform. They
know that reform means the loss to them of
an immese subsidy stolen from fifty millions
of people; they know that it means honest
business at fair profits instead of monopoles
and swindles; and they know, further, that
1t means the downfall Of that system which
makes the many the helpless prey Of the
few, and under which, az the years roll
by, the rich grow still richer ande .ne poor
still poorer II u high protective tariff is
needed by our manufacturers that they NAV
be able to compete with foreigners In orr
own markets, ii without 1t our mills ana
factories and shops must be closed, how is
II possible for goods of our make 10 sell, as
Meg haze been ana nor are selling, at profit
and unprotected in markets beyond the
seas?
| am aware that ms a rule nothing is dull
er or drier than any array of figures. For
That reason, in discussing problems of poit
ical economy which, like every other branch
OF philosophy, consists of formulas for
iacts il has been my habit to translate the
language of arithmetic into ordinary Eng
llsh, being careful, OF course, that my YER
'N'A ohooiu NC SoiitStt tutb ip CoIClu-
sion should be drawn which could not be
verified by an appeal q figures and facts
But the following figures are so eloquent in
their exposure OF the ialsty of the claim
that revenue tariff would not reimburse
our manufacturers for the high wages paid
here, that must beg the indulgence OF the
reader. The value of the manufactures for
1880 was according to the census, 30, 1863, 579,-
19l, while the wages received by the PERSONS
employed In making them amounted 10
$947, 953,795. Now, ii, for the sake of argu-
ment, we concede that these goods, had they
been made in other countries, would, be-
cause of the difference in wages, have cost
less than they did here, by the sum total Of
all the wages paid to American laborers en-.
gagged in manufactures, the goods when fin.
ished would have been worth abroad a..
42l ,625, 1876. IL we had tariff imposing an
average tax Of 90 per cent, which, probably,
is too low TO afford the necessary revenue
the duty upon the $4,421 ,625, 1896 worth OF
goods, If imported, would have been $972,-
1857, and that sum is more than az tie
scd9es paid IN tbs country for making all Of
the goods!