The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1888-08-18
HONEST PROTECTION,


HONEST PROTECTION.
The Inte,.OcSdn sums up the defense o
protectionism in the following "impregna
BILE" sentence:
mo protective duty was ever laid upon
single article, the home manufacture o
which grew to lar, Q proportions under l,
without the price being cheapened-th'
duty thus operating as boon Instead of [
tax"
And by way of illustration 1t states thi
fact:
"The duty on imported cotton prints Is
cents per yard; but the price of American
prints of equal quality TO English is Otter
lower than cents per yard, and very sci
dom more than one cent above IT,"
Gen. Garfield said: 81 am In favor o.
that kind of protection which leads to free
trade" The illustration of the Inter Ocean
comes here strongly In print. The cottor
manufacturers have enjoyed, from 1924 on
protection ranging from 30 to 100 per cent
As a result the home manufacture of cot
ton goods has grown to large proportions
so that now, according to the Inter. Ocean
on prints 1t is equal to 100 per cent. Yet
Notwithstanding that the bounty paid our
cotton spinners continuously for over SO
years now ables them to compete with
England on more than equal terms, the
enormous duty of at least Al per cent In
their favor is continued. Is II not abou,
time the people were having some return
for the bounty they have been paying for
over fifty years to build up our infant
cotton industries? Having 80 nurtured and
protected them that they can now success
fully compete with England, has not the
time arrived when the country Is entitled
to enjoy Gen. Garfield's free trade to which
protection In this case ought so fairly to
have led?
But, 1t will be asked, why remove the
tariff from cotton goods, siHce that tariff
evidently has no effect TO increase the price
to our own people, as such goods are as
cheap here as In England!
For this reason: The cotton manufac-
turers Of this country are leagued together
In q huge trust, through which they are
enabled to limit production to actual home
consumption at price which enables them
annually to divide from IS to % per cent on
the profits of their business. The tariff In
their favor is so high that they do this with
IMMUNITY. Remove that tariff and compel
our cotton manufacturers to compete with
England not only In the home market but
the markets of the world, and their output
would necessarily BIZ enormously increased.
The effect might not be materially to
cheaper cotton goods to our own people,
but increased manufacture would make in
creased demand for labor and thus in.
creased wages, vastly beneitting the works
ing people.
Is 1t asking too much for our cotton
,pinners that they shall now enter into
with the manufacturers OF
England? They enjoy every advantage.
They have the cotton at their own doors
and can buy 1t from one to two cents
per lb. cheaper than England can; they
save the cost of transporting their goods
ACROSS the ocean; and, as the reports of our
,onsuls abundantly show, and even such
fanatical protectionists as James 6. Blaine
and VIM. NJ Eyarts have admitted, they
enjoy cheaper labor, by 45 per cent, than
the English manufacturers do, for the req
son that our operatives work 10 hours more
, week and work faster than the English
operatives do.
The English manufacturers are enabled
10 maintain their mastery of the markets
Of the world over America only by the use
Of superior machinery while the American
spinners, assured by their trust combina'
ton of the home market at big profits, and
enabled to squeeze down wages to the
lowest notch. have Of course no desire to
enlarge their operations and compete with
England for the markets of the world. So
indeed, have our cotton msnufac
turers become under the sure profits which
with limited production protection gives
them, that their goods are VIGOROUSLY
inferior to those of England, and they have
as David A. Wells discovered TO
his amazement few years ago, bought the
cast off machinery of England and are
using 1t In their mills today because they
got 1t at a tritling cost compared to that of
the superior machinery in use in England
There are numerous other industries Of
this country connected with iron, steel,
leather, india rubber, &C., that have attsin'
ed the same maturity as the cotton industry
that are equally as able to stand alone, and
to which the only benefit of protection is
that 1t enables them to form huge trusts, to
limit production. depress labor and rob the
public by fixing their own prices without
fear Of competition at home or abroad. In
all these industries the amount of labor
employed would be doubled by putting
them on q free trade basis.
The Mills bill, however, does nothing Of
the kind. Instead Of removing the pro-