Los Angeles daily herald., 1888-10-20
An Illustration i'm Point.

In 1879 congress passed bill putting
quinine on the free list. The duty was
twenty per cent. on the manufactured
article, and about the same on raw ma
terial-cinchona bark. While the bill
was pending, direful in the extreme were
the predictions as to the consequences
that would surely follow if the bill should
pass. Senator Morrill, of Yer-
mont, recognized Nestor OF
wisdom. in regard to the operation
of high tariffs, insisted that the factories
would be closed, and the business OF
manufacturing quinine ruined if the
article were placed on the free list. He
said: "Tbe manufacturers now import
annually 100000 pounds of bark, and
have large quantities on hand, and will
be deprived of any power OF proftably
using it, for they will be compelled to
stop the production Of quinine.
They will be closed at once.
My judgment is the repeal of this
duty will not result in giving the Ameri-
can consumer any lower-priced article fer
any length OF time, and that in the end
We shall have to pay higher prices. l
am very sure that the result desired will
not follow, and that within two years
from now prices will be much higher" 1t
will be observed that the assertions of
that period in regard to cinchona bark are
as alike those now being made in regard
to other raw materials as are two peas.
Now, how did the facts turn out? The
bill was passed. There were then three
factories in the United States that man
uiactured quinine-there are now six.
Quinine was then worth So so per ounce
it is now selling for so cents. The con-
sumption in 1882 was 1,600 600 ounces;
in 1SS7-SS about 4,000,00 ounces. In
one year after the abolition of the duty
on cinchona bark the importation was
doubled, and it has continued to increase
up to this time. So much for one
free raw material. Now, let us try free
salt, free lumber, free tin and free wool
Like results spring from like causes. We
import enormous quantities of manufac-
tured woolens. Put raw wool on the free
list and they can pretty nearly all be
manufactured at home. The New York
Herald recently printed statement by
one of the principal woolen manufac-
turers of the country, who showed that
it was impossible to keep the mills going
without more, and finer and better wools
He owns eleven mills, only one of which
is running on full time. The others are
idle, and would be for sale at low
figure if only purchaser could be found.
No one wants them because the business
is uncertain and Improbable. Being
asked what would happen if the duty
were taken off raw woods he replied, in
substance, that it wonld at once revolu-
tionize the whole business. Not only
would the existing mills be fully en-
ployed, but there would be room
for hundreds more. He could, in that
case, produce carpets for the American
markets at less price than they are
selling for now, and he could even send
them to Europe and defeat Englishmen
in their own markets. All this means
the best kind of protection to home in.
dustries. 1t is little short OF insanity to
bar out raw wools whilst we do not grow
twenty per cent OF the wool necessary to
the manufacture of our total consump-
ton of WOODEN goods.-lsan Francisco
Newsletter.