Arizona weekly journal-miner., 1888-10-31
l1nan vfmy Jouann- -uInER
WEDNESDAY. OCTOBER sl. 1888
Hard Facts

Hard Facts
 "It is not necessary to burn our cus- tomh houses to reach condition of things practically worse than free-trade. A revenue tariff destroys our home indus ,ry and deceives the people. A reveune tariff in 1890 reduced the country to abject poverty. threw workingnen into idleness and removed a home market from American farmers. During that period flour sold in Pittsburg for $I a barrel, lumber $a per thousand it toek twelves barrels of flour to buy yard of foreign broadcloth. Tea was worth $I a pound or one barrel Of flour, and . farmer took home two pounds of codes for one barrel of -four, and sold five bushels of oats for 88 cents, and took in exchange a foreign manufactured jewsharp. I took these figures out of the books of a country grocer. A reve- nue tariff reduced our country to like condition in 1857. closed our factories, and, for the first time in the history of the United States opened soup houses to feed mechanics. The panic in 1887 lost to the nation as much money as 1t took to suppress the last rebellion, and left the country so poor. in IS4o, that an agent was sent to Europe to borrow S1o,ooo, 900, where he could find no person who would take loan. After his return few hundred thousand dollars was offered by citizens of the govern ment at the modest rate of interest-at from 6 to sa per cent per annum. The cry of the workingmen was, according to the Pittsburg dispatch of that date :: Give us work give us work at your price our families are starving we have nothing for them to eat.'
 "The whig party coming into power in I84o gave the country protective tariff in 1892, and brought prosperity to the American people, work for the working man and a home market to the farmer. In a846 the democrats again introduced a revenue tariff and with the assistance of another reduction in 1856 brought on the panic of 1857. During the rev. enue tariff period from 1850 to 1860 the wages of the workingmen for la- borers was from 50 cents to 7s cents for mechanics $I to $I.5o. Corn was burned for wood in Illinois and Iowa. The money of the country was SO poor that in traveling from one state to an other one had ts pay per cent and 10 per cent exchange on the money to do business with. Out of the no banks in Illinois. when all finally failed five of them only redeemed their notes at par. While men were working at Sc cents day in 1859. flour was quoted at $9. so per barrel. All foreign manu- factured goods were held up at a very high price, because the tcompetition of American manufactories had been wiped out by driving them to bank ruptacy.
 "The democratic party claim that they are not for free-trade. The history of that party is more truthful than their claim. In the 1848 platform they con- graduated themselates on the noble i'm pulse given to the cause of freetrade by the repeal of the tariff of I84a.
 "The platform of 'sa on which MT. Pierce was nominated, proclaimed fol 'unequivOcal free-trade.' The platform of I8s6 on which MT. Buchanan was nominated, dec Jared in favor offree seas and progressive free-trade throughout the world ; and when the southern wing of the democratic iparty went into re- bellion, a section of their constitution prohibited them from ever having protective tariff, still greater evidencea of the democrats principles being free trade. There has never been an official proclamation issued by that party iu favor of protective tariff. Our demo cratic friends claim that the farmer i, robbed by reason of high tariff on stee rail and railroad material by paying high freights to compensate the com pany, and yet the London Ironmongel ef I884 shows that the freight rates, 1T the United States are cheaper than in any other country in the world, as the follow ing rates on coal per ton per mile for thu following named countries prove Belgium, i1z cents per ton France IN cent per ton; German. aH cents England, 3:to : cents United States cent.-John F. Scanlan. Chicago.