Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1888-03-30
THE PROPER TITLE FOR Mr..
MILLS BILL:
A BILL TO NEUTRALIZE THE BOUN
TIES OF PROVIDENCE AND IN.
POVERIsH THE PEOPLE.

NO Otnef pOIllOn vi Jne edltn llas
been so richly endowed by the AL.
mighty with the powers and re-
sources needed to promote the wei
fare of its population as our own
country. In nearly every section
of Its vast area may be found rich
deposits or reservoirs of salt. a sub
stance essential to the health alike
of men and animals. lt has hltb'
ertO been collected or prepared for
use chiefly from the subterraneous
reservoir in central New York and
on the shores of Lake Michigan
But it is no less abundant in other
parts OF the country, and requires
only the application of labor and
capital to give il value, and to fur.
nish it for use TO any extent which
may be demanded by the increas.
ing numbers Of our people. IL is
proposed in the tariff bill prepared
by the Democratic members of the
Ways and Means Committee TO re.
move all protection from the salt
industry, and to stop the produc.
ton of salt IN the United States
until the wages of the people EN-.
plOyed in It can be reduced so far
as to enable them TO produce salt
as cheaply as II can be imported.
Our hills and valleys in every
direction abound in forests Of the
most useful varieties Of trees.
which with reasonable care will
provide all the lumber required for
our people for an indefinite period,
and in it's preparation for use EN-.
ploy the skill and labor of thou
sands Of men. The same tariff bill
puts lumber sawed and hewn,
boards, planks, hubs, wagon-blocks,
laths, shingles--in fine, all kinds Of
manufactured lumber not advanced
to a highly finished article-On the
free list. Under the tariff logs are
free, but lumber to which Amer.
can labor has been applied is pro.
tected by duty Oftwenty-per cent.
or more. The men who work in
the varied industries engaged IN
preparing lumber tor use are now
told that they must hereafter &c.
cept the wages of cheap foreign la.
bOrs, or Onr American forests must
wait for storm or fire to sweep them
from the earth.
Beneath the surface of the ground
and within the bosom of the noun
tains our blessed land is provided
with stores OF the finest marbles
and building stones, inviting the
industry and skill OF our people to
quarry and fashion them for use.
The labor employed in this work is
now protected by duties OF from
twenty to fifty per cent. ed rdtOrem,
and yet large quantities of marble
and stone are imported. The new
bill proposes to remove all prOtec.
ton, and leave the American mar.
BILE and stone living in the hills IN.
i'll the men now quarrying them
shall be content to 90 TO work for
wages which will enable them to
compete with the foreign marble
and stone workers.
No other part OF the world has
such abundant and valuable sup
plies of clay and kaOline for the
fabrication of bricks and pottery.
They are now being extensively
used under our present tariff, and
give a living to thousands of fami.
lies. The proposed tariff puts them
on the free list, and bricks as we'll.
II it is adopted, the clay. the kaO.
line and the bricks will furnish
freight to foreign ships, and our
own stores lie unused where Prov
idence has placed them.
Our deposits of limestOnefor COM
mon lime and cement have been bus
lily worked under the present tariff,
with advantage to all engaged in
it, and to the people dependent
upon them. Under the proposed
bill, lime and cement are on the
free list, and the deposits of lime
stone, together with the bus7 men
working them, threatened with un-
willing rest and ldleness.
North, South, East and West
abound in the common metallic
ores, readily yielding to the skill
and industry Of our people mex.
haustible supplies of the metals in
dispensable to civilization and to
the independence Of the nation
Some of these the proposed bill at.
tacEs directly by placing them on
the free list, and others 1t assails
by either reducing the duties be.
low the point of protection, or re.
ducing the duties on articles man.
ufactured from them, so that these
articles will be manufactured
abroad, and the American ores
wholly or partially cease to be used.
The wages Of miners must come
down, or the ores remain useless
in the hills where they originally
deposited.
The soil and climate of the whole
country are especially adapted to
heep-husbandry. This industry,
distributed through all the states,
one of the most valuable to our
farmers, and surpassed by few IN
importance among all our indus.
tries. Under protection it has
thriven till its product has exceed
ed 800 millions ofpounds and prom.
ises, il encouraged, to supply all
the wool required tor the wants of
our population, at a constantly di'
minishlng cost. This industry,
too, is now meRaced with annihila-
ton, and with feeble cunning those
who have plotted 1t have aimed to
bring the wool manufacturers to
their support by the bride Of even
higher duties.
A fertile soil and seasonable rains
have enabled our farmers along the
coasts to produce excellent crops of
almost every variety of vegetables.
Their labor has been protected by |
from ten to twenty per cent. duty |
on imported vegetables, and they /
have hitherto found this protection |
under ordinary conditions |
to exclude the productions of other
countries But they have found
to their sorrow that when high
prices prevailed here, cargoes of oil
sorts of foreign vegetables which