Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1888-02-09
!fur the Ellsworth American
The Tariff, No. 2

The Tariff No q
! II j. often Asserted by what would seem
to hc good authority. and FOR this reason
No doubt many are led 20 believe that the
tariff the dui, paid on imports. i some
how a burden hornc by the people; the
President In hi> message considers IL in
that light ami readily falls into tho line ~
democratic reasoning u>in. the hackneyeti
phrases OF that party with familiarity
hardly expected from AT original imde-
pendent Here i vha, he say, The
amount Of money annually cnaciet through
present laws. from industries and nccr>si-
tic> Of the people largely exceeds the sum
necessary 10 meet the expenses Of the
Government
Thi, assertion i made with such de
gre Of confidence apparently. a. would
seem 10 admit OF no doubt of IL truth,
when he knows that large percentage Of
our population do no; accept any such
doctrine CUR Industries suffer he say
Now thl~ statement aud even the whole
tenor OF the message : - different from
what believe 10 bc true that | cannot re
frain from offering little biz OF reply,
not a. a partisan ami not a. producer,
bat simply A. a work ing man with nothing
to sell but my labor cannot say yes.
and mo- because Simon" says 80 and
unles. the matter commends Itself to my
Judgment a. true. | must 'e2 leave To re-
ject it. 1t may he tina, this message j. III
tended solely for party use. but a. II Is
freely printed in all the papers. am en-
coursged Ia think that in some measure II
was intended for me 10 read and study
And a. All average man. believe that
/ many more will reject II. even among
those whose fidelity 10 party ienets have
never been known to waver. Men will t'e
led sometimes great way from the truth
by reason OF party prejudice, and what
some are pleased to call consistency" bu,
when 1t comes 10 vote bread out OF their
| own mouths the better nature prevails
/ and the bread i. saved.
/ The President assumes, as all who accept
/ his theory must assume. that the element
/ OF competition does not IN any sense enter
! into the question OF domestic and foreign
! production. In his treatment of wool
/ he starts out with this Idea, and claim,
| that 1t il ten or twelve cents higher than
/ II would be If admitted free. No man
| knows what wool would be worth II none
/ was imported, and il is equally certain that
: no man knows what it would be worth If
| admitted free of duty. don't know I'M
/ der what conditions wool Is raised abroad
| but If they can send il here and compete
with us after paying the duty. 1t is very
! evident that If admitted free. they would
drive our wool out of the market and our
sheep TO the slaughter house. There would
he no money go into the treasury 1t is true,
and it is equally true that we would be de
! pendent on strangers for our wooden
| goods, and for which they would quietly
take our money out of the country.
| Referring to the increased price which
| the tariff imposes upon everything he
SAYS: No matter how much or how little
We produce. and no matter how hard we
/ crowd our market with our products. the
| imported article with dIty added, estab-
( fishes the price for both. enhanced by just
the amount Of duty Now, If this winter
/ we lose half our number of sheep, and next
I year domestic wool is worth just twice
/ what it is this year, does any one believe
IL he Co.
/ less price, even if admitted free: or with
| duty on would 1t be still higher by just
| the amount of duty? These are questions
! IL would be well to consider before We
come to the polls TO vote. While this
question cannot be solved with figures,
and no rule in arithmetic will apply, and
/ while no man Is able to measure absolute
( " the remote and indirect effect of the
tariff upon our varied industries, still in its
immediate and plain effect and its general
/ influence il would seem there need be but
one opinion.
I The price of any commodity it must be
tent, and that indirectly, by the producer.
IL is true that he takes into account the
present and prospective conditions Of the
market, and must be a close observer of
the rules of trade, but he can never re-
ceive more than the market price at the
time he offers his goods for sale. When
goods are selling at price less than the
cost of production, or at very small
profit, they are often withheld for the time
being, and the fires in the furnaces allowed
to go out. In the meantime, consumption
exceeds the supply and the market rerives.
but sensitive as before to the law of sup
ply and demand.
But this is not all, otherwise it would
be an easy problem to solve, aud uni
form price might be maintained to a
nicely, even at a maximum limit. But
right here competition comes in and the
conditions are all changed. The proper
lions OF this important factor can never
be definitely known, hence the uncertain
ties of trade. But even competition If
conditions were equal, could not seriously
affect any business, but when we open our