The Mitchell capital. (Mitchell, Dakota [S.D.]) 1879-1918, 1888-06-08
TARIFF LEGISLATION.
ITS HISTORY FOR THE PAST ONE
HUNDRED YEARS.
First AIado Necessary by England's oppo-
sition to the Establishment of aiamufac-
lures in tho Colonics-Changcs that Eave
Been Made for Good and Bad.

lures in tho CoIonies-changcs that fsave
Been Made for Good and BAD.
Richard w. Thompson, of Indiana, was
n conspicuous figure in AmericalYspolitics
for many years before he became sccre-
tary of the navy in President Hayes cah
net. Tho lively interest which he has
always felt in revenue and industrial sub.
iects. coupled with the knowledge that
the tariff is the most absorbing issue now
before the people, doubtless impelled him
to writo book entitled 'sIIstory of tho
Protective Tariff Laws" The fundamen-
tai facts and statistics upon which the
author has elaborated upon Interestingly
and with as little bias as possible for a
man who is firmly convinced as to the
right or wrong of the subject. have been
carefully CLEANED and compiled from gov
'ernment documents, histories, biographies
of great tariff legislators and from pro-
ceedings of congress as found in The Con-
gressonal Globe and Tho Congressional
Record Here are some of the salient
points of the work.
ENGLAND's SELF PROTECTION
The more intelligent and public spirited
solonists, even in the earlier days OF Brit
;sh domination in what are now the At
lalgtic seaboard states, were aware of the
benefits which would result to them and
their neighbors from q wise and thorough
development of such natural resources as
they saw the country contained. British
policy, however, prevented them from es
tablishing any industries which would
offer competition to those existing in tho
mother country. In 1899 parliament en-
acted that no wool, yarn or woolen
manufactures of the American planta-
tioas Shall be shipped thence, or even
laden. in order to be transported, on any
pretense whatever" Twenty years later
parliament declared that ''the erecting of
manufactures in the colonies tends to
lessen their dependence upon Great
Britain " In 1742 the British board of
.,sade reported to parliament that the
;Aa,ercans had begun to manufacture
.;,sfs.r which, the board declared, Inter
iserrw wish the profits made by the British
h,.vre:tsnts." Other manufactures were
;4lso begun in the colorics, and that board,
!tarning of the fact, p. .itioned parliament
uo do something to prevent this.
Then began the first positive measures
by the British government to stamp out
tI.e enterprising spirit of the colonists.
The colonial governors, on the direction
of parliament, began an inquiry into tho
conditiol of American manufactures, and
reported that cloths for domestic use,
leather and q .ittlo poor iron were made
here This rpas deemed to be "prejudicial
to tho trade and manufactures of Great
Britain" Parliament therefore, in 1882,
prohibited the exploration from the colo
mics of any articles which would interfere
with the sale of like articles in England.
Nobody who had not served an apprentice
ship was allowed to make hats here and
the number of apprentices was limited to
two in each case. Pig iron expectation
was permitted because English mill OWL
ers required it, but no mills for rolling
iron were allowed to be built in the col
onies
LOW THE CoLoNIsTs WERE ROBBED.
g'hesactive opposition by England to the
.ests blishment Of manufactures in the
colonies which was begun in 1872. contin-
ued until the colonies gained their indie
pendence. Heavy penalties were provided
for making any of the articles whose
manufacture was prohibited by parlia-
.ment, and this interdict covered every
commodity which could compete with
British made goods. The navigation laws
forbade the expectation from, or importa-
rsion into, the colonies of any articles ex-
,cept in British ships. This regulation
was adopted to prevent the colonists from
building up q commercial marine. The
fixed purpose of England was to keep the
colonies in industrial servitude. and to es-
tablish and maintain monopoly in the
mother country.
Under such adverse circumstances it
was natural that the manufactures of the
country. even at the close of the war for
Independence. should have been both
crude and insignificant. As conse-
quence the country. as whole, had to
buy abroad much moro than it could sell.
This is shown by the following table,
compiled by British authority, giving
the amount of this country's exports to
:and imports from England in the seven
years Immediately following the revolu-