Los Angeles daily herald., 1888-04-22
DOES TT BENEFIT OR INJUREs
The Tariff Debate in Boston
Some Striking illustrations.


fremont Temple, Boston, Governo
Ames of Massachusetts occupying the
chair. The question for discussion
was, Is the wage Garner benehtet
by the protective policy al
embodied in the present tariff
Everett P. Wheeler, OF New York, de
livered the argument on the negative
side, while the Hon. Benjamin But
terworth defended the protective sys
tenn. We take from Mr.. Wheeler'i
speech few striking illustrations o.
the beauties of protection:
Let me tell you what first led me te
study the present tariff:
THE LESSON OF A sHIPwREcK.
A German steamer ran down a bark
that had been built in Nova Scotia,
cut a hole in her side, knocked her
over on her beam end and left her
floating in the ocean off Nantucket.
Some enterprising skip er got hold OF
her, toWed her into port; she was
condemned for salvage and brought to
East Boston to be repaired. l. was
retained to bring a suit against the
German steamer, and | found that as
the vessel had not been destroyed, it
was necessary to prove what it cost to
repair her. | found out who had
repaired her, and what those
repairs cost, and to my astonlsh-
ment learned that it cost more to re-
pair her in Boston than it cost to build
the entire bark in Nova Scotia. Now,
remember very well, when boy,
to have gone to the ship yards and
seen ships launched in the East river,
as some of you, perhaps, have seen
ships launched in the harbor Of Bos-
ton, and | said to myself; Why is it
that ships can no longer be built in
New York or Boston, and that the
British are taking away all the ship
building trade? My evidence in the
, collision case answered this question
quickly, for l found they could build
ships cheaper. Then inquired: Are
their ship-builders any better than
ours? No. Does it cost any more for
wages to build ship in Nova Scotia
than in Boston? No; for although
our men get higher wages, they are
better workmen, and the cost of wages
on the ship is no more than it is in the
British possessions. Then / looked
into the tariff, and l found that every
article that went into the construction
of ship was taxed thirty, forty, fifty
and one hundred per cent-the ropes,
the timber, everything from the truck
To the keelson, paid a tax to the
United States Government. Ostensi-
bly, this was for the benefit OF Ameri
eau industry, but really 1t was to
enable the iron masters OF Peunsyl-
vania to get more for their iron than
It was worth. Ostensibly it was to
benefit the wage Garner, but really it
had destroyed or crippled the business
of every shipwright along the Atlantic
coast.
The building OF ships for foreign
trade is practically extinct. We only
build ships for the coastwise trade.
because foreign built ships are pro-
hibited from engaging in the latter.
The copper smelling industry former
ly furnished employment to great
numbers of people in Boston and New
York, but has been destroyed by
the duty on copper ore, the only
result of which has bcen to i'm
crease the dividends of the owners of
the mines Of Michigan. Base and
monstrous ingratitude they have
shown in entering into combination
with French syndicate to increase
the price of copl er all over the world,
ard thus levy tax on every manu-
facturer of brass or copper goods to
swell their already enormous divi
dends.
Even the protectionists themselves
deplore the decay Of American ship
ping, and are proposing, with mon
strous inconsistency, to give bounty
to American ships for carrying the
products of other countries to this
country, and for taking ours back in
return We enact a high-tariff, con-
fessedly far in excess of the needs OF
revenue, not for the purpose OF ex-
Guiding the goods of other countries,
and then having crippled commerce
with one hand, propose to nurse it
with the other.
THE PROTECTION OF MIR. WHARTON.
There is the great Meriden Britain
MIA company. They make plated
goods of the best quality. Years ago,
when this metal was discovered in
the mines of Austria, the miners
called it nickel because they could
make nothing of it. But our friend,
Mr.. Wharton OF Pennsyl yania, who
happens TO own the only important
nick 81 mine in the United States, has
fonnd out way TO make a very good
thing out of it. If Congress had passed
law making him Duke OF
Lancaster and giving him a
pension of $4,000 a year, you
would all have been Mortified and
called it wicked waste of the tax
payers money, heavy burden upon
industry, setting up of a privileged
class, opposed to the genius OF Ameri-
can institutions. But in all except
the name Congress does this very
thing when it puts SO heavy duty
upon nickel that the manufacturers
&. are compelled to pay Mr.. Wharton
what he chooses to ask for the pro-
duct of his mines. Now mark the re-
suit. The Meriden 4 Britannia Com
pany has been compelled to build a
factory in Canada, where it can
get nickel free of tax, and
with the products Of this fac
tory it supplies the demand for
plated goods in Canada and in Eng
land. All this might just as well have
been done in the United States if it
were not for the pension Of $4,000,
more or less, that our benifcent and
paterpal government compels us to
pay to Mr.. Wharton OF Pennsylvania.
Now assert, without fear of contra
diction, that if the manufacturers OF
plated goods in this country could gel
their nickel free Of tax, they could
supply the markets of the world. But
no! our industry may suffer, !oul
laborers be deprived OF work, our peo
pie lose The fruits of their skill anG
enterprise; all these may perish, bu
L 4.