Fergus County argus., 1888-10-04

u
cepi one, and that WAS afterwards found in
"A crack in the fioor; that the Democrats.
having been disappointed ia the investiga-
fion matter. bccamc aggressive and pro-
posed to find policy ri some kind, there
lore they go back Ia n period of American
history which - the regret of this ag- aud
will be- of all others. and resurrect what is
known as the tariff reform i,lei Mr. t1eve-
land said in a message to TIA. congress Of
the United states that the collection of
more duty at the ports of the country on
foreign importations than was n~rrsssry
4" pay the running -NI~nses "f the govern
nlrnt Was an unjust aud ini,lnitous pro-
-ee,liug aud ought to l- aI,-oiut.l, abol-
i>he'i. Vow. this meant in common par
lance that Ne ought 1" have what il rofii-
monty called free trade" There is no
such thing in eNi-tense in any civiliz,-i conn
try a. absolute iree trade. There must be
Il duty levied to pay the expenses oI the
government. Let MS look back and see
how protection in this country WAS re
gar.ied in lG.r?. Whil. this side oi the At
lantie was still - colonial province of Great
Britain. whilr our iorefathers were strug-
Cling down in the wilals of New England,
trying to rLltivatc patches of land, the
English parliament made "a solemn enact
nent to- the effect that the building up Of
manufactures ia these American colonies
would l,c Diet rimentai To the manufacturing
trade oi England. That IarIia mentary act
-.
and shipment "f wool from these colonies
should he discountenanced and discour-
aged, for the reason that IL had u tendency
to build up an independent trade Tor the
colonies and make them independent of the
mother country. Now, this act Of 1863?
was followed by other acts Of the British
parliament tending to repress the growth
of trade in the colonies oi America. That
unfriendly legislation continued until "a
time came when, under the lead Of that
most magnificent patriot of any age
Wa-hingt ou-thrse people achieved their
freedom and esta ablishcd a government of
their own, and the very second act Of the
Washington administ ration, the very See
ond act Of congress which WAS signed by
George Washington was II tarifi to protect
American labor aud American industries
from foreign competition. loud applause.
Washington felt the necessity Of protecting
the in,lust rics Of this country So strongly
that during his eight years of adminisira-
tion at the head of the government he
signed ten different acts. His s,,rcessors in
oiiire cont inued this process of projecting
American in,lust rirs and it was continued
to protect all things that were produced in
this country against "a ruinous competition
with cheaper labor in other countries
'Toany individual who will read the his-
tory oi the l'nired States in its rclntion Ia
this tariff question. some of the iallacIcs I'll
free trade will become apparent. Iou will
lie told from the rostrum, and possibly
through The press in this territory, that the
effect oi IA reduction oi the tariff will bc To-
reduce the price of art icles which you con
slmc. Now that proposition is false, and
lal,.. in this. that il you insist on buying ~
foreign product, in preference to II home
article you will ordinarily pay the cost of
the ar,icle with the duty added. But an
ot her phase of the proposition comes up.
II you reduce the tarin tosurh II point that
our own manufirt urers must suspend or
pay less wages, land our men will not take
less wages; they strike before they do that
the moment that the American manuiac-
tur. is not sufficient To- supply the market,
or il broken down, We are at the mercy III
The foreigners. aud the universal rule has
been that they have raised prices clear out
of sight" lNoicr. That's 50" aud con
tinue,l cherrins.)
Th. orator of the evening then went into
an elaborate illustration of the workings "f
protection aud free trade. producing facts
tn bear cut his statements. and clearly
proving that the former was absolutely Tor
the best interests ol the country. III" then
referred to the Mills hill and what its effect
would be to the sheep raiser, in words as
follows. "tan our wool industries survive
il this Mills hill Incomes u law l want tn
call your attention To some iacts and hg-
ures in connection with this proposition.
We had this revenue reform from ls.'o To-
ia the United states Increased ~ per cent.
Between 1860 and 1870, under "a protect
i've rTFtlf rtIF EiIepIJ tn rhe tHitud stutpE III
creased % per cent. In 1867 the best tariff
hill ON the wool question that has ever ex-
-ted was passed the best adjustment "f
tariff ON that subject and under the foster
ing influence oi this bill, passed to protect
sheep husbandry, sheep increased in this
country in number ~ per cent between
1870 and 1s>,. Now. you take between
1870 and ! $50, under the tariff protection.
and compare 1t with the period oi time be
tween 1850 and 1860 there was an in
crease Of ~ per cent in one period and ~
per cent in the other-t" what will you
ascrib~ that Increase
Now, in 1SS3 II tarif Was passed 10y tn"
house of congress, in which II considerable
reduction was made in the tariff On wool.
and what WAS the effect of that tariff The
effect was u decrease 81 the sheep pro,lnct
Of the United states. sheep husI"n'iry has
not been as profitable as in former years.
| ! will show il in this way, that since 1SS:;
| the number "i sheep in the United States
has decreased about 5000. 600 when, rs a
matterof fact, il the incrca So obt aimed under
the original tariff had continued. il would
have increased the sheep 5000, 600 or make
difference of .iiet hing like =, 900, ,'mm sheep
on his cont in-nt. Now, IL II reduction Of n
small percentage has a tendency to decrease
the number ia the hocks, what effect will il
| have to nut the traffic on the free list alto