Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1888-08-22

e for the sale of his surplus produce. In the
e third place, the destruction of our manufac-
: lures leaves the foreiger without competition
n in our market, and he consequently raises
/ the price of the article sent here for sale
e as is now seen in the increased cost of iron
y imported frem England"
In December 1857 President Buchanan in
his annual message to Congress said
4 The earth has yielded her fruits abund-
antly and has bountifull, rewarded the toll
. of the husbandman. We have possessed all
: the elements of material wealth in rich
a abundance, and yet. notwithstanding all these
advantages, our country in its monetary in
I interests is at the present moment in a de-
: plorsble condition. In the midst of unsur-
: passed plenty in all the productions, and in
all the elements of natural wealth. We find
$ our manufactures suspended, our public
works retarded, our private enterprises of
different kinds abandoned, and thousands of
D useful laborers thrown out of employment
t and reduced 10 want
: This testimony wonld condemn "a revenue
{ tariff in any court of the land. 1t ought to
force a like verdict from the great jury of
) our countrymen.
One of the chief complaints against the
! protective system is its alleged hindrance TO
foreign trade and foreign market for our
own products. 1t is argued that if we could
import raw material from other countries
free and manufacture such raw material into
product for use, we could expert them at
great profit and thus secure standing in the
markets of the world. This theory is wholly
as believe, illusory. 1t is without substance
We have an example of free raw material in
a certain line of manufactures-that for
leather for boots and shoes, etc. In 1873
hides and skins were made free so that our
manufacturers could import them without
Icustom-house burdens. They have had free
trade" in their raw material now for six
teen years. This industry has been an
Exceptionally successful one, aud vet Won
cannot avoid being surprised when | say TO
you that in those sixteen years we have been
able TO export but per cent. of the leather
production of the country.
But if free raw mateIial be necessary to
secure an export trade and the foreign mar
kets, then | answer that our manufacturers
today have substantially free trade in foreign
raw materials which they make into the
finished product in the United States, pro-
vided they exportit. Sections 30l9 1920, |
302l and 3022 of the United States statutes |
| provide for the remission of duties on all !
| foreign materials used in manufacturing for |
| the export trade. The law is positive that |
all articles manufactured for export from i'm |
ported materials upon which duties have
been paid shall when exported be entitled |
to adr9w back of 80 per cent. of the duties |
on such raw materials.
And yet we are gravely told by the tariff |
.reformers that we canhot reach foreign mar
kets on account OF the high tariff on the raw |
material, when, in fact, for foreign trade |
foreign raw materials are practically free |
This principle was recognized as early as |
| hn adj mi I'M Strut ,.f aIt
and has been enlarged and made applicable |
to all imported materials, the draw backs va |
rying from 80 to 100 per cent. What be-
comes then of the cry for free raw materials |
in the presence of this fact. The truth is
we are not SO much concerned about the for |
elgn market as we are about the home mar
ket. The latter is the best and we have not |
been able to control it, and until we do. that |
should be our chief concern.
| 1.-The markets of the world in our pres
ent condition are snare and delusion.
| We will reach them whenever we can under
| sell competing nations, and not sooner. Tar
ifs do not keep us out and free trade will
not make it easier to enter them. Let me
give you brief exhibit of some of our for
| eign trade. what we buy and what we sell |
In the year ending June 30th 1887 we
| bought of Mexico, the Central American
States, British Honduras, and the govern
ments of the West Indies and South Amer
lea, products to the value of Sl75 .46S ,526,
and we sold these governments of our prod
ucts about 80 ID per cent. in amount of what
we bought of them, or about SCI, 900 900;
and as a showing that our protective tariff
did not produce this uncomfortable balance
against us need only state that more than
one-half of the products we bought were not
subject to any tariff tax at all, but were ad-
mitted free of duty.
Upon what terms can we adopt revenue
tariff system in this country? In one way
only, by accepting European conditions, and
submitting to all the discomforts and disad-
vautages of our commercial rivals The
chief obstruction in the way of a revenue
tariff are the wages paid American working
men, and any return to that policy involves a
reduction of the cost of labor. We cannot
afford, Mr.. President, to have cheap labor in
the United States. Cheap labor means cheap
men and dear money. would rather elevate
and improve the condition of my fellow cit-
zens than increase the value of money AID
the power of ''money-bags " This is Re-
Government is in the hands of the masses,
and not of the few. This is our boast, and it
is a round one. The condition of the masses,
their well-being, their intelligence, their
preparation for the civil duties which rest
upoh them. depend largely upon the scale of
industrial wages. 1t is essential, therefore,
that the best possible wages attainable shall
be cured and maintained. This is vital
and fundamental. We cannot without grave
danger and serious dsturbance-we ought
not under any circumstance-adopt policy
which would scale down the wages and
diminish the comforts of the American
Next to the labOrer the farmer is the i'm
mediate beneficiary of the American system.
1t brings to his plantation a city of consum-
ers. The farmer and the factor are brought
into close proximity. The problem of trans
portation is largely eliminated. lie finds a
market not only for staple products which
woul1 bear transportation, but for many pro-
ducts which, but for a home market, would
waste and decay in the fields | need not
tell a farmer in this neighborhood Of the ben
| efcial effects of home market. His own
experience is better than any philosophy. |
Atlanta has given him object lesson. 1t ,
has increased the value of his farm products
and enhanced the value Of every foot of |
ground he owns.
| Benjamin Franklin, writing from London, |
in l77l, to Humphrey Maashall, comprehend |
ed the situation when he said
Every manufacturer encouraged in our
country makes part of market for provis-
ions within ourselves, and saves so much |
money to the country as must otherwise be |
exported to pay for the manufactures he |
supplies Here in England it is well knawn |
and understood that wherever manufacture |
I is established which EMPLOYS a number of /
hands, it raises the value of land in the neigh |
| boring country all around il; partly by the |
\ greater demand near at hand for the produce |
of the land and partly from the plenty of |
money drawn by the manufacturers to that |
| part of the country. 1t seems therefore the |
| interest Of all our farmers and owners of |
lands to encourage our young manufactures !
in preference to foreign ones imported among |
us from distant countries"
The fathers of the republic appreciated !
the necessity for a home market. They /
we're all farmers and planters. They could |
not sell to each other for each supplied his /
that