Griggs courier. (Cooperstown, Griggs Co., Dak. [N.D.]) 1885-1902, 1888-08-17
PRICES UNDER A PROTECTIVE TARIFF

Th" attorneys for free trade. who
seek to create prejudice against the pol
ICY n1 protection by charging that it en-
hanceS the cost to consumers. can hest
be met by comparison of prices OF
few articles in common use.
In 1850 salt then on the free list. sold
to consumers at an average price Of So
per barrel. The tariff on salt III barrels
is now II cents per hundred pounds (ol
say 333a cents per barreD, and the
average price is not more than half that
of 1860. AS salt has been made the
subject OF special attack it may be we'll
to ascertain just how much of the
present price goes to the manufactures,
against who II is saught TO create pre-
! iudice. In 1857. at the works IN Mich
igan, salt sold for go cents per barrel
and OF this sum 20 cents was paid to the
cooper for making the barrel All be
tween this price and that paid by con-
sumers went for transportation and
profit of middlemen.
The manufactures of plate glass was
established in 1866, when the foreign
made articles sold for $50 per square
foot, and the price has steadily lowered
until now it is Is cents per square foot.
Pig Iron in 1850, sold for s2222.73 pei
ton. With a taliff of So. - per ton it
now sells for SIS.
Steele rails were first made here in
1857, when the prlce was Sl66 per ton.
Ike tariff has been as high as S2S per
ton, and is now Sl7. Steele rails are
now quoted at S3l and have sometimes
been lower
\ favorite plea of free traders'is that
with wool and woolens on the free list
'the poor mans blanket wonld be sold
l for one-half its present. price-when the
. fact is prices for blankets OF equal
quality are about the same in the United
States and England. Here is the proof
Last year the secretary of war invited
bids or supplying army blankets OF
four pounds weight and allowed for
:, eigners to compete on the same terms
d as American manufacturers. that /;
without paying the tariff. The lowest
n British bid was only 80 cent per blanket
. less than that of America. The tariff
Il If it had been charged, would be about
VI Sl.5O, Our free cabinet officer pays II,
e taxes and buys nothing in this country
h The money for our national! treasun,
:. went to a foreign country, and Ameri
II can soldiers are to sleep under British
S. blankets. because they can be made il
IS England for thirty cents less than il
: this country.
y And here is some testimony from Tn
IL other side: Matthew Arnold. the EN-
Ell inent English scholar, statesman an!
y. free trader advocate. recently deceased
- last year made tour of this country
i and atterwords gave his conclusions i
the Nineteenth Century Magazine
H. tApril, 1855 In this paper the write
I'd admits that conditions in the mite
;" States are favorable to ''that immens
MS class of people" whose incomes are les
of than 81 800 year, while in Englau
ch the advantage us greatly in favor {
"a those with incomes above that sum.
G. OF wages he says. "the humble kin
o. of work is better paid in America tha
ch with us. the higher kind worse. Lu,
So ures are, as have said. very dear
o, above all. European luXuries: but
ei workingman' clothing is nearly !;
or cheap as in England, and plain food
nd on the whole cheaper.-EX.