The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1888-09-26
INDIANA AND THE TARIFF.
EXPERIENCE OF ONE HUNDRED YEARS
High Wages In the Early Days Before We
Had Manufactures and a "Home Mar
ket'-Tippeeanoe HarriSOn's Fight for
Slavery-An Historical Review.


could be framed for the purpose Of ''pro-
tecting home industries" 1t would seem
that ninety-nine years of experience
ought to enable us to form some
reasonable conclusion as to the merit
of the various systems. OF course, to
do this in detail would be an enormous
work, but 1 shall essay TO point
out some of the more prominent features
of the historical effects OF the tariff, and
the conclusions which should be drawn
from them, as they have appeared in the
state OF Indiana.
A formal provision of government was
made for the region including Indiana in
the year 1887, but it was not put in force
in our settlements until 1890, and the next
five years were so occupied with Indian
wars that very little immigration to our
borders occurred. In the five years fol-
lowing many people came over the Ale
ghenies to the Ohio valley, but only
small part OF them located in our section,
so that in 1900 there were less than 900
people in the whole region now comprised
in the state of Indiana. The civil and
political development of our common
wealth may be said, therefore, to have be-
gun practically with the organization Of
Indiana territory, in the year 1900.
The tariff laws of the United States had
no effect on our early settlers. Until 1903
the country west Of the Mississippi, and
about its mouth, belonged to Spain, and
almost all the trade of the scattered popu-
lation was with the Spaniards at New Or
leans, or with various nations of the An
titles and other islands. No custom
houses were maintained on the Missis-
sippi, and consequently our people had
practical Tree trade. They had no man
ufacturing interests, except so far as their
construction of rude articles for their own
use may be called manufacture. Strange
to relate, with no manufactures, no home
market, and no other blessings
of a protective tariff, wages
were very good-better. indeed than
in the countrv east of the Allegheny noun
tains, where a protective tariff averaging
about Is per cent ad valorem was in force.
A petition from sundry inha6itants, in
1896, represents this as country where
laborers cannot be procured to assist in
cultivatingt the ground under 81 per day, eX-
elusive of washing lodging and boarding;
and where every kind oftradesmen are paid
from dollar and a-half TO two dollars per
day" American State Papers, Public
Lands, vol. l, p. go.
This state of affairs was very unsatisfac-
tory to the richer portion of the people
who employed laborers, and therefore they
asked that congress would amend
the ordinance of 1877, which was the
fundamental law OF the terri
tory, so that they might bring slaves
here, and this question was soon the great
political question in Indiana. Until the
territory became a state, in 1916, national
politics counted for very little. The peo-
pie of the territory were all members OF
the pro-slavery party, which wanted to
bring slavery into Indiana, or OF the anti
slavery party, which desired TO keep it
out. The first named party was commonly
called "the Virginia Aristocrats;" its head
man was Gov. William Henry Harrison.
The other party called itself "the People"
and its leader was Jonathan Jennings.
The pro-slavery party was overcome; In
diana became a free state, and Jonathan
Jennings became its first governor. An
interesting article on Gov Jennings will
be found in the Indianapolis Journal of
Aug. 26, 1888. and the recommendation
there made that monument be erected
to him should be adopted, Tor he conferred
a great benefit on the state by defeating
the advocates of slavery.
From 1S00the immigration grew rapidly
and the country began to assume the APP
pearance of civilization. There was
great deal OF hard work to be done. Very
few people nowadays have any compre-
hension OF the toll and hardship involved
in moving into heavily wooded country,
such as Indiana was, clearing farms,
building houses and fences, and getting a
start in life. Probably the best description
of ali this that has been written will be
found in a series of articles by Judge ID.
D. Banta of Franklin, which were printed
in the Indianapolis News at intervals
from May 80 to July 20 of the
present year They refer particularly to
the settlement of that part of Indiana
known as the New Purchase, but there
was very little difference in the pioneer
life of the various portions OF the state so
far as labor and hardship were concerned.
The forest was to be cutaway and burned,
and beneath the trees was "a dense thicket
OF spice wood, hazel, green briers, young
saplings and other underbrush, and un-
derneath that down trees, scarcely less
numerous than the standing, lay rotting
in the dank soil" After putting in the
day at cleaning land, the honest toiler
turned to his half-made cabin, ate his
supper of corn bread and bacon and
passed the night in trying to keep warm
in winter or fighting mosquitoes in sum-
mer. If he had bad luck with his crops
he ate acorns instead of corn bread.
In these good old times the government
was taxing the people by its tariff laws to
build up the "infant industries" of the
country, or rather part OF them, for it
did not seem to take much interest in
building up the infant industry of agricul-
ture in Indiana. They did not claim that
the tariff was for the protection of Ameri-
can labor in those days, and no one would
have believed il if they had. SO all of
these Indiana people paid tariff taxes on
all the manufactured articles they bought,
and the "infant industries" received the
benefits The natural result of it was that
they bought as little as they could get
along with. As Judge Banta records it,
there was usually about one hand
saw, one cross-saw, one broad-ax, one
auger, one chisel and one drawing-knife to
a neighborhood, and neighborhood then
comprised extensive regions as compared
with the neighborhood of to-day" 1t is
not very remarkable that one man should
have planted his corn crop with a shovel
and another with an AK, as our chronicles
informs US they did and it must be graft
flying to remember that these men had
duly paid the tariff tax on the ak and
shovel when they bought them, and so
aided in the patriotic work of building up
the infant iron industry of Pennsylvania,
and the manufacturing industries of New
England.
1t must be admitted that the great pro-
tectiye system encouraged "home indus