The Portland daily press., 1888-04-13
MaIne,s Condition.


ought not TO be reduced aud that of preventing
reduction OF the revenues, they chose the least.
MaIne's Condition.
Our miserable tariff afilcts and oppresses the
ships upon the State of NJ ine all whose resources
and whose geographical situation, fit 1t for large
foreign commerce, which the tariff restricts and
destroys. Thrust out on the Atlantic ocean, In
the very pathway of the great course of Internal
ional commerce, itis by the building, owning and
vast trade, which rich and enterprising people
OF sixty millions ought TO have with all the rest OF
tbe world, that Maine % might prosper and grow g
Maine gained the leading and promising position
among the States she had thirty years ago, and
No, Maine prospered under a
policy that considered commerce one of the
great interests to be encouraged and not taxed TO
death, and will flourish again when sense and
sanity shall take the place Of the craze OF protec
tion.-Eastern Argus.
About once year the Argus indulges in a
wall of this sort. Fortunately the facts do
not sustain it. Maine has not grown poor
under this miserable tariff but prosperous,
as glance at the census reports will show.
Shipbuilding, 1t is true, has declined, and the
carrying trade, but not on account Of the
tariff. The decline in our carrying trade
between 1855 and 1860, before the present
tariff was enacted, was as great as during
any period of the same number Of years af-
forwards. In 1855 75a per cent. of our exports
and imports were carried in American yes-
sells In 1860 the per centage had declined to
661 per cent. The Argus cannot attribute
this to our miserable tariff" for we were
then living under the free trade tariff Of
1876. From 1865 to 1880 under protection
our imports and exports which measure our
foreign commerce increased twice as much
as they did in any similar period before the
war under revenue tariff, so that the
decline in our carrying trade could not pos
sibly have been the result Of the diminution
Of our foreign commerce by protection as
the Argus intimates, for as matter Of fact
our foreign commerce did not diminish but
increased largely. The truth is our carrying
trade was destroyed by the unrestricted
competition of foreign nations. and our
coastwise trade would also have perished long
ago had it not been protected. England could
build iron ships cheaper than we because
she could get cheaper labor; she could man
them at less expense because her sailors
would work for less pay per month. There
fore she could do the carrying trade at less
rates than the vessels Of this country. She
beat us simply because she could do tue
work more cheaply, just as she would beat
US In the sale Of manufactured goods were
our manufacturers to be exposed to her unre-
stricted competition. 1t was free and unre-
stricted competition with the cheaper labor
Of England that broke down our carrying
trade. and instead Of its destruction being
attributable to protection, as the Argus de-
clares, 1t is the direct result Of lack Of protec-
tion. Undoubtedly the loss of the ship
building industry and the destruction of the
foreign trade was serious blow to Names
prosperity, but it was not the effect Of the
tariff.
But Maine has prospered on the whole, in
spite Of the loss of its shipbuilding, as
comparison Of the census statistics of 1860
with those Of 1880 will abundantly show.
In the former year there were in the State
$50 manufacturing establishments, with a
capital of $22044, ,02O. These establishments
employed about $4,000 persons, male and fe-
male, and disbursed for labor annually S.
310,89l In 1880 the number of manufactur-
ing establishments had risen to 4, 4,4S1, and the
capital invested in them to $49988, i'll. The
number of persons employed by these estab-
ishments was As, 900, while the amount paid in
wages was $5l, ,12o, ,70s. These figures certainly
indicate prosperity in one of the great de-
partments Of industry at least. Since 1860
surely our agricultural industry has lost
nothing. even though, by reason Of the open
ing up of the cheap and fertile lands Of the
West, its gain has not been large. The CEN
sus shows an increase of nearly $40, ,0OO, 900
in the value Of Maine farms, and large in
crease in the value of their products. The
granite industry has been almost entirely
created within the last quarter Of century,
and a good many other occupations which
were unknown In 1860 now give remunera.
tive employment to thousands Of men and
women. Wages have risen in almost every
department of labor, while the cost of living
is less than twenty years ago. The deposits
in the savings banks. which perhaps furnish
as good an indication as can be obtained, Of
the condition of the masses, have shown
very remarkable increase during the last
quarter of century. In the face Of such facts
to declare, as the Argus does, that it looks
as if nothing was left for the people too old
to migrate but to keep hens" is to wantonly
and in utter disregard of the facts slander
the State and its people. All things consid-
cred, Maine is in more prosperous condi-
tion to-day than 1t ever was before. How
much Of its prosperity is due to the protective
tariff we do not undertake to say. But that
some of it is we have no doubt. Many Of the
industries which to-day provide thousands
of laboring men with the means of liveli-
hood could not have existed had it not been
for the wise fostering of protection. The
benefits of the system have not been felt by
manufacturers alone, but the profits of farm
ing and fishing and mining have been en-
HANGED by it. The Mills bill proposes to re-
move this protection in very large degree,
and expose our industries to the competition
of the poorly paid labor Of other countries,
and the Argus approves this programme on
the theory, apparently, that it will build up
our carrying trade, whereas statistics show
conclusively that it was under a free trade
policy that our shipping began to decline.
We do not believe that the Argus's pro-
gramme will commend itself to the intelli-
gent people of the State. Its pessimistic
views will not deceive them, for the facts
that confute them are patent to everybody
who will take the trouble to look around