Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1888-03-22

salt, lumber, Mne, and wool. The rev.
enue from these is $4,000, 600, SO that
by taking off the tariff on raw material
you will reduce the revenue TO that ex-
tent, but you will destroy $500, 100000
worth Of capital now engaged in the
production of raw materials, and throw
ont of employment 100000 laborers,
and our iron mines from Birmingham TO
Maine and west to Lake Superior, will
become the tombs of buried industry
even as they are now languishng and
lying in stupor on the threats of this
great change.
As to the third method by which the
President proposes to reduce the revenue
that of increasing the list of free
articles subject to import duty-Repub-
licans are quite willing to meet him on
this ground as to articles we do not
manufacture, on which we do not have
competition. As to adding to the free
list, for the purposes Of reducing the
revenue, Republicans have always done
this and are willing TO do so now-if
any of this class of articles can be found
that are not on the free list
Now does President Cleveland's re.
ducing plan reduce7 Some Sl2,000,0O0
less on raw materials may be the effect
but that is but moiety of the amount
sought to be cut Off What then must
be the object of this attack upon the
import TARIFFS it not something
/ deeper than the mere reduc
ton of the revenue? When the plan
proposed is entirely inadequate to reach
the avowed object, and when the
machinery for carrying out that plan
accomplishes more stupendous result
land all the machinery combining to
that particular result-may we not be-
lieve the latter is the true object? The
machinery by which the President under
the guise of reducing the revenue, pro-
poses to effect that end will withdraw
all protection from our manufactures,
nor reduce the revenue dollar. That
is to say free trade is proposed. As
soon as tariff ceases to protect, you
have practically free trade-a term
which means anti-protection and does
not necessarily mean an entire removal
of tariffs; if that were so England would
not be free trade nation for she has a
large class of import duties of which
she collected last year 500, 900, 000-as
against Sls6,O00,O00 collected by lis
on import duties. And yet
England is always spoken of as a free
trade nation. The English status of
things is exactly what is proposed by
President Cleveland--a reduction Of inn
port duties which will give us no pro-
lection, blow at every industry in the
land, English paid labor, or none at all
and all under the guise of reducing
the revenue. Aud how speciously does
be prepare the public mind for this by
preiudicial remarks about our manufac-
tories, that they are making "immense
profits along the line" and that the pub
lie have to pay it because they pay on
manufactured goods the enhanced price
of the duty, besides the price Of the
goods In his own words, "thcse laws
as their primary and plain effect, raise
the price to consumers of all articles
imported and subject to duty, by pre-
cisely the sum paid for such duties
Wise men in our nation have won
dered that the President should be
guilty of such a mistake, but it is re-
peated over and over again by free
traders -when the fact is this is not |
true of any of our manufactured articles,
through home competition, except sugar
and recon the former the con-
sumner paying the SIC tariff. II is
shown by the statistics that at least
three-fourths of the articles on the tariff |
lists are by home competition sold here
at far less prices than the imported
articles can be sold for in our market |
The remaining one-fourth is more or
less effected in the same way except |
sugar. The manufacturers do not get |
the benefit of the tariff except rs a pro-
lection against foreign competition. |
Free traders claim we are always paying
this tax. 1t is not SO in hardly single |
instance. There is hardly anything |
among the common necessaries of life
but can be bought cheaper here than in
gland-c ottons, machinery of I'LL |
kinds, calicoes. On Gallo the duty Is |
cents a yard, and yet through home
competition, calico can be bought as low
as cents yard OF blankets (wooD |
we can buy them as cheaply here as any
place in the world. What does Mr..
Dudley, lately U. 5. consul at Liverpool, |
say? Upon investigation it will be
found that nine-tenths Of the manufac-
tured commodities used by farmers of
our country, including the clothing, |
household goods, furniture. implements |
Of husbandry, tools, ETC., are as cheap |
in this country as they are in England,
and in some instances even cheaper
As to the immense profits Of our man
ufacteries; Henry + Coe, of Boston,
well known public man, in a published
letter to A. NJ Garland, secretary, New
York, states in reply to a request Of Mr..
Garland to give him the results Of cot
ton and wooden manufacture. that of 20 |
corporations working cotton in Maine,
New Hampshire and Massachusetts,
representing a capital Of Sol, 1853, 900 the |
profit was 1859 per cent. He further
says, "the average Of wooden mills are
doing very much poorer than cotton
mills 8" And right here comes little
Democratic testimony. The present
Secretary Of the Treasury in his report
to accompany the message. says II
am, however, so convinced of the i'm
minent danger to largeto large industries
engaged in the manufacture of worsted
and wooden goods unless a change is
soon made in the duties on wool and
manufactures thereof that I deem il