Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1888-01-18
Free Trade MendEoity "

FORT WORTH, TEX, Jan. Is, 1881.
To the Editor Of the Gazette.
"Free Trade Mendscity" is the heading
IF s two and hall column article in 6
December number Of the Manufacturers
Rscord, printed at Baltimore. TIE article
is, in and OF Itself, an over prOfusiOn @:
subtlety, raeEdscity aud presumption. I,
lacks every essential Of g pgIfect under
standing OF the subject il talks about. Il
presumes - speak from e stand
point Of Intelligence, 'but from The begin
Ming 10 the ending Of the article, there
are evidences OF either g disposition to
deceive its readers. or disgracsful want
OF knoTledge on the subject treated.
Free trade. What is il? Who is for t.?
Wh0 wants it? Wnat socitt', community
CT party advocates it2
VIII the Record for once speak plainly,
cardidly and truthfuliy, and tell Itg read
ers what free Ira1e IL and Whist political
party sdvocStee it in this country. Does
the Record say That President CievalsnG's
recent message TO Congress advocates
free trade? Can the Record point 10 and
name any one man of.auy prominence in
any party in tbs country who is free
trade advocate?
Free trade is not o tenet OF any OF the
almost parties IL this country.
Free trade means, IL it meaus anything,
the aboliti3n OF 81 customs duties, the
shutting up Of OF ell custom houses, the
sbolis1ment OF ali collectors CT customs,
and The free admission OF al foreign
goods snd products, whether raw
materials or manufactured articles, and it
means the establishment Of = system Ci
Internal dirsCt taxation CT the people for
the support and maintenance Of the gov
eminent. This is eZactly what free trSde
means; nothing less ormoTe.
Now, is there enc sentence, one lire,
one word III the Presidents message
which can be tortured, however ingeni-
icusly, into such q meaning? Czn the
"Record" find single legislator, state or
ns.i0nal, 8 single prominent man, Demo
crst or Republican, mugwump or what
not, who has written, spoken, or even
thought Of advocating its true and
literal sense, free trade?
The trouble is thst the Records ar:i-
Gle in question is fi1shy, csgCh-trap mess
OF stuff, calculated and designed, from
beginning to end, 50 deceive it's retdere,
and please few thousand American
manufacturers from whom it receives rs
support, and whose most enlarged ideas
of government policy is that the Jew must
and shall control the mapy-thot is &c
ssy that the msny consumers shall by G
schedule of high duty tax on imports pro
tect the few in their efforts to control the
American market, whereby the already
rich shall be made richer, and the a!ready
poor slall be made poorer.
The Record does not seem to know thai
even the very rankest protectionist is IL
one sense free trader. Ii manufscsu-
rer Cf raw material, he claims protection
on the manufactured article, because i
gives him high prices OF his manufactured
goods, but as il is to his interest to puT-
chase his raw material at the lowest pos
sible price, he wants that raw ma.etia.
placed on the free lat, and
hence is both proteCtionist
snd free trader. His interest
lies in having as little competition &:
possible IN the sale sf his manufactured
goods, and the worlds open market fol
the purchase Of his raw material. In thi:
he is both 6 protecflonist and free trader
not from principle, but wholly from self
interest.