Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1888-10-07
WHY NOT DISCUSS?
Solid Facts Preferable 10 GIItserIsg
Genersli:Ies OF Republie8ns-An
Open letter irom
Tue Free Trade dub 10 the Protective Tariff
LesEue-A Challenge 10 the Pro
tecsio niatr OF Ohio.
cleveland Plain Dealer.

hSselVe IrO.ecLlVe IRrin League:
GKNTLEMEN-Whent the organization OF
your league WAS announced through the
press, and credited with being non parti-
sau, this non-partisan club welcomed
with pleasure to the arena an advocate Of
the theory we have organized to oppose.
You announced IL as your purpose to
secure fair discussion Of the tariff q1es-
ton and to disseminate Trustworthy
information" We desired such discus
sion ana the dissemination OF "trust-
worthy information" and promptly on
September IL addressed 10 You
an Invitation for puolIc discussion, as an
earnest Of the good faith with which we
clsim to be willing to submit both state
meots OF fact and reasons to the just but
eevare test Ct public criticism. We de-
sired sn early answer aud early public
discussion, and so named September 10.
By which date we requested that cur in
vitGtion be accepted or declined. Our
only answer has been the announcement
By your secretary that the communication
had been properly referred, The lapse Of
time warrants tie inference that the refer
ence RsG to be q method SID the easiest
Of its final disposition. Whether this
dispose! OF cur Invitation TO discuss the
tariff casts doubt upon the csndor otyour
statement OF c wish for thai discussion CT
is confession that your theory will net
admit Of examination we must leave the
public to judge.
The club expects to command popular
approval and commentator, ind to I'D
VANCE the cause 1t has espoused by tenn
perste and Just discussion, and, above
all, by vigorously &dhering to statements
thzs will bear the test OF searching srsIy-
SIS Rnd upon the most careful considers
ton will In sll respects accord with truth.
Il is NOT seeking for any OF It's members
special "proiection" by taxation Of others,
and, while we eeek equality OF all before
the law and the liberty Of free exchange
OF the fruits OF toll and the privilege OF
making the wages OF labor purchase the
larges5 reward, we are wiling to
submit ell claims to the IN
biased, unparalleled and non-perti-
can Judgment Of an enlightened
ard patriotic public. We are sure that
we appeal to men who will not accept
clsmor SO argument and will not believe
that phrases become syllogisms by reps
tition. We do not presume that the peo-
pie who sre so Ignorant OF history, either
st home or abroad, that we can pervert il
lions for csndor can escape uuscsthed
Nor do We believe that we would long be
credited with sincere non partisGnship or
homes, philanthropy, or that our state
ments would long continue to command
attention or our literary perusal when Ii
YVES seen that in the advocacy OF our
cause we were guilty Of either reckless
ness or abandon.
In our discussion, then, we shall en-
deavor to exhibit temperance in argu-
ment and fidelity to truth and logic,
which will not lose us the respect of
even those who, from interest, biss or
hAest conviction may differ from us.
Having neither selfish nor partisan ends
in view, we may honestly follow the
lamp Of truth wherever 1t may lead.
In view OF your declaration that you
have organized for the purpose, among
others, OF Disseminating trustworthy III
formstiop," how do you reconcile the
statement in your preamble that "every
repeal Of our protective duties in the pssi
has been followed by disastrous
consequences to both capital and ID
boz" with the following historical fscts?
During the period from 1850 to 1860
ten years Of low revenue tsrif-the whole
value of sill our wooden manufactures
increased more than AZ per cent. The
number CT hands employed increased ISL
per cent. Tbs amount Of wages in
creased 81 per cent-sWice ss fast as the
increase in the number Of hzuds. In tbs
Nav England states the increase IN the
value cE the producer OF this industry WEE
90 per cent. The increase IL Massa
chusetls Was 81 per cent, in Rhode Island
176 per cent, in Vermont Gil per cent, II
Maine s34 per cent.
In the maputact re Of hosiery the IN
crease in the value Of the produc! wSs, IN
the eastern gtsssg, 4Sl per cent. Il w1a
529 per cent. in Connecticut, 81 per cent
in New Hampshire and 373 per cent. In
Massachusetts.
~ cotton factories the value in the
product in the United States increased II
per cent; the number of hands employed
Increased 231 per cent; the amount CT
wsges paic increased 80 per cent. In Ne ~
England the increase in the value Of the
product wss over 81 per cent; the num-
Der OF hsuds employed increased 90 per
cent, spd the amount OF wages increased
SO per cent. Massachusetts increased
her product II per cent, New Hampshire
So per cent. Rhode Island over 81 Per
cent, Connecticut 1l6 per cent, Maine
1871 per cent, Vermont 27t per cent.
In the six New England states the
increase in the value of the product In the
manufacture Of boots and shoes wAs So
per cent. In Massachusetts the increase
, was % per cert in Connecticut 10 per
sent, in Msine SO per cent. snd in Rhode
IslSnd 337 per cent. The production in
New Englsud alone in 1860 was greater
thsn the aggregate production OF sll the
states In the union in 1850.
In the msnufscture Of hardware New
England increased the value OF her
products 100 per cent. and in this industry
also her product IN 1860 WAS greater than
the product Of all the states In 1850.
Although the representatives In Con-
gress from New England in 1916 opposed
the tsrif reduction and protested that it
would ruin their industries. after eleven
years. trial Of that low tariff, with above
results, in 1857 eighteen out of twenty
seven, two thirds of their representatives.
in Congress, voted for further reduction
CT nearly 20 per cent. and an enlarged
free list.
The increase OF wealth in the United
States from 1850 to 1860 wss 126 per
cant, from 1860 TO 1870 1t was 81 per
cent, and FROM 1870 to 1880 it was 46
per cent.
Farm wealth increased from 1859 to
1850 81, OBS, 149, 4S3, being 1o1 per cent. +;
from 1860 to 1870 IS, 143, 465. 1877,
being SO per cent; frsm
1870 to 1880 ss79, LIS, 1894, being
9 per cent.-lhe increase oeipg almost as
great In the ten years from 1850 TO 1860,