Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1888-01-30
BURLEIGH 4 FLYNT, Pubs,
Augusta, Maine.
The Clevelandites in a Corner

The President in his Free Trade essay
sent to Congress and the country in De
cember expressed himself as favorable to
removing taxation from the nccessaries Of
life. The Republicans are very DESTROYS
OF doing this, and are ready to vote at
once to abolish the duties on sugar to the
amount OF nearl, sec, 900, 900. The Dem
ocrats Immediately hang back, and say let
Us make clothing cheap.
1t is at once shown them that the cloth
ing of the masses is cheap, that it is made
OF American wool and cotton, in American
mills, by American labor paid in Amer-
can prices, aud that to reduce the tariff on
wooden aud cotton goods would not reduce
the aggregate revenues, while it would
bring in English goods to take the place
Of those of American productions thus
pressing out just SO much American labor.
Completely foiled in their arguments in
this direction, the Cleveandites say, give
the country free salt" Well, the amount
Of salt which each laborer, each family,
uses costs but very small sum at most.
Let us see what would be the real
amount of gain to each family in the land
by removing all the duty on salt Refer
ring to this free trade dogmatsing about
salt the Chicago lnter-Ocean says that in
1916, and in all the years of opera
ton of the Walker tariff,
though salt was practically duty frec,it was
very costly, and its manufacture in the
United States was reduced that the
Legislature of Michigan offered bounty
of 80 cents per barrel of $50 pounds on all
manufactured in the State, In 1889 the
Morrill, tariff placed duty OF 80 cents per
barrel on imported salt whereupon Michi-
gan repealed its bounty law. At the time
OF the Morrill, tariff coming into operation
the production of American salt was about
56l,3ss barrels per year, and the makers
sold II at Sl.5s per barrel, to which the
bounty of 80 cents Is to be added. So
much for free trade in salt. In 1887 the
manufacture of Michigan salt was 1914
800 barrels, and the price was 60 cents per
barrel. the barrel costing 10 cents, and the
duty being, under the tariff of 1889 30 l-3
cents. As matter of economy repeal of
the salt duty does not seem imperative.
Prices are lower under protection than
under free trade. In answer to the other
equally false assertion Of the free trader
that American salt is not as good quality
as English salt, the Michigan Salt Asso-
citation invites test OF the respective
merits of the two articles, being ready to
forfeit $4,000 If the English salt is better
than their own.
There are in the United States very
large undeveloped resources for the pro-
quality, the cost of which is chiefly the
value of American labor and capital used
in its production. No genuine American
citizens can be willing to crush out this
American industry. But whichever way
the salt question is decided, the total of
the surplus revenue is but little effected
No, gentlemen Clevelandites, you cannot
dodge behind the clothing issue, the coal
question, or the salt box. The patriotism
and the common sense of the Nation
demand cheap sugar. Take off the $50. o00.-
600 on the universal necessary of life, give
the bounty for the production of American
sugar. The ground occupied by the Re-
publicans on this question is impregnahle. |