Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1888-10-20

stanos Where arcss aTs 70 Be- manu- ma
factured here and sent abroad is the duty to ex-
And yet we are gravely told by THE TARrrF RE
FORMERS THAT WE CANNOT REACH FoRErGS MARKETS
TERrAr when in fact for foreign trade foreign raw
materials are practically free. This principle was
recognized as early as the administration Of
George Washington, and has been enlarged and
made applicable to all imported materials, the
drawbacks varying from 90 to 100 per cent.
terias in the presence of this facts The truth IS,
we are not SO much concerned about the foreign
market as we are about the home market. The
latter Is the best and we have not yet been athletic
control it. and until we do, that should be our
chief concern But IL any Of our people are sigh
ing for foreign market and valne it more highly
than our own they can import foreign raw mate
rial practically free of duty and after advancing
into the higher forms of manufacture can go out
and possess the worlds markets TAXED RAW MA
TERIALs DO NOT NOW STAND IN THEIR WAY. AND 1T IS
HYPOCRISY TO CLAIM OTHERWISE.
THE markets of the world in our present con-
dition are snare and a delusion:. We viii reach
them whenever can undersell competing
tons, and not sooner Our tariffs do not keep US
cut and free trade will not make it easier to enter
Of s our foreign s trade ~ha. We buy and what we
sell. In the year ending June 3d. 1887, we bought
of Mexico, the Central American States. British
Honduras and the governments Of the West In
dies and South America. products to the value of
STA 526, and we sold these governments OF our
products about ss15s per cent. IL amount OF what
showing that our protective tariff did not pro-
duce this uncomfortable balance against US,
need only state that more than one-half of the
products we bought were not subject to any tariff
at all, but were admitted free OF duty.
THE TARIFF FOR REVENUE MEANS CHEAP WAGES
Upon what terms can we adopt revenue tariff
cepting European conditions and submitting to
all the diScomforts and disadvantages OF our COM
.nercial rivals. The chief obstruction in the way
of a revenue tariff is the wages paid American
workingmen, and any return to that policy in
wolves reduction Of the cost of labor We can
not afford, Mr. President, to have cheap labor in
men and dear money. would rather elevate and
improve the condition of my fellow citizens than
money bags" This is a republic of free and
equal citizenship. The government is in the
hands Of the masses, and not of the few This is
S Sue 9 fss condition aaa the m psesa
their well-being their intelligence, their
preparation for the civil duties which rest upon
them, depend largely upon the scale Of industrial
wages. 1t is essential, therefore, that the best
poss BILE wages attainable shall be secured and
maintained This is vital and fundamental. We
can not without grave danger and serious disturb
ance-we ought not Under any circumstances
adopt policy which would scale down the wages
and diminish the comforts of the American work
ingmen. Their welfare and independence their
progress and elevation are closely related to the
welfare aud independence and progress Of the re
country, and we want none. We want the field
kept open No narrowing Of the avenues; no
lowering of our standard We want no barriers
raised against higher and better civilization.
The gateway Of opportunity must be open to all
to the end that they may be first who deserve to
be first, whether born In poverty or reared in
luxury. We do not want the masses excluded
from competing for the first rank among their
countrymen and for the nations greatest honors.
and we do not mean that they shall be. s3ss
FREE TRADE MEANS CHEAPER MEN.
Free trade or revenue tariff, will Of necessity
shut them out. 1t has no respect for labor. It
holds 1t as the mere machinery OF capital. 1t
would have cheap men that it might have cheap
merchandise. With all Of its boosted love for the
struggling million it is infinitely more interested
in cutting down the wages of labor than in saving
rs cents on blanket more intent In reducing the
purchasing power of a mans labor then the cost
Of his coat Things are not always dearest when
their price is nominally the highest. The price
Is not the only measure, but the where
with to buy it is an essential factor;
Few men before me but have found
In the course of their lives more than once that
that which was cheapest VIXEN measured by mere
price was the dearest when they were without
money and employment, or when their products
no price sa at "a ali with the abor re-
quired to produce them. Primarily, it is labor
which is interested most il this question OF pro
avenues OF profit and Investment or can wait for
his dividends, but the laborer cannot wait for his
dinner, and the United States do not want citi-
house of representatives to be in a condition of
dependence and restitution. That is not the
sort OF citizenship we want.
TPE MAGNIFICENT HOME Ma Rect K, t5t
Next to the laborer the farmer is the immedi-
ate bene iciary of the American system. Il
brings to his plantation city Of consumers. The
| farmer and the factor are brought into close
| proximity The problem of transp ortation is
| largely eliminated. He finds market not only
| for staple products which would bear transporta-
| ton, but for many products which but for home
| market would waste and decay in the fields
need not tell farmer in this neighboIhood of the
| beneficial effects of a home market His own
experience is better than any philosophy. Atlanta
has given him an objectrlesson. 1t has increased
the value value q his farm a9d enhanced
| Benjamin Franklin, In writing from London in
| III, to Humphrey Marshall, comprehended the
| situation when he said: itfl1s3s.i
Every manufacturer encouraged in our
| country makes part OF a market for provisions
| within ourselves, and saves so much money to the
| country must otherwise be exported to pay for
the manufactures he supplies. Here in England
| it is well known and understood that wherever
| manufacture is established, which employs a
| number of hands, it raises the value of land in
the neighboring country all around it; partly by
the greater demand near at hand for the produce
Of the land and partly from the plenty Of money
| country. 1t seems therefore the interest of our
| farmers and owners Of lands to encourage our
| young manufacturers in preference to foreign
ones imported among us from distant countries
The fathers OF the Republic appreciated the ne
cessity for home market. They were all farm
| ers and planters They could not sell to each
| other for each supplied his own wants. This was
| their situation. They recognized the importance
| of diversifyng the occupations Of the people.
They must promote other pursuits than the culti-
walton OF the soil. They must have, If they would
1 prosper, consumers who would absorb the pro-
ducts of the farm The result was a protective
| tariff, and under 1t the wisdom and foresight of
| the founders Of the Republc.hare been more than
| indicated. Andrew jackson put the case as well
| as has ever been done when he declared in 1924,
! where has the American farmer q market for
his surplus productY Except for cotton he has
| neither foreign nor home market. Does not
| this clearly prove, where there is no market
| either a home abroad that there Ia p1leh
| labor employed in agriculture and that the chan
| nels for labor should be multiplied? Common
| sense points out the remedy: Draw from agrcul-
| ture the superabupdant labor, employ it on
l mechanism and manufactures thereby creating q
/ home market for your breadstuffs and distribut-
benefits to the country" One-third of the cotton
| crop of the South is consumed at home. Who
would not wish that all Of it might fiiid market
| in the United States. We would be better of;
| you would be better off. The country at large
would be the gamer IL the whole cotton crop was
" our owa a 0y our own ssgae
1 We would make and buy more cotton cloths at
home, and send abroad for less; idle labor would
| be employed; idle capital find Investment, the
south would increase It's spindes and its looms,
and general and permanent, prosperity would
| follow. ~ te5 Nl3
THE SOUTH MOST NEEDS PROTECTION. f-
The tariff reformer seeks to fatter the New
| England manufacturer with the suggestion that
he no longer needs protection, and should turn
his influence in favor of the other system. He
|
/ In manufacture, such completeness of organiza-
ton, sucl, advancement in mechanical skill, that
| he has nothing to fear from competition abroad
| and that he has but to reach out Tor our own and
| the worlds markets and they are his. He assures
him be has nothing longer to fear from foreign
| competition but that his serious danger is from
home competition; that while he is indebted for
| his splendid progress in industrial development
| to a protective system, he has outgrown It, and
| il it is to be continued the people of the south
| and west win become his dangerous rivals, and
| that to avoid this new competition he invites
| him to assist in Withholding from the states
! which have been slower In Industrial develop
maat that measure of legislative aid which has
been so profitably invoked by the New England
states and to which they are indebted for their
| wonderful advancement In mechanical and in
| dustrial pursuits What do the south and the
west say to this narrow and provincial view! 1t
| may be true that the New England manufact-
urer has reached that rank and that degree Of
| perfection when protection to him Is not SO
sential as it once was but the west and the south
1 are in exactly the same condition that New Eng
| land was thirty years ago, and am sure will In
sist that the same fostering legislation shall be
accorded for their development that has been so
long enjoyed by their more progressive fellow