Nevada County picayune., 1889-11-27
HUGH M'CULLOCH'S VIEWS.
The Ex-Secretary of the Treasury
 Writes Tariff Letter.

NEW YORK, Nov. 15.-In answer to request for an address upon the tariff, before the Reform club of this city, the Hon. Hugh McCulloch, Sec retary of the Treasury in the Cabi- nets of Presidents Lincoln, Johnson and Arthur, wrote the following let ter, which was read tonight amid much applause, at the regular semi monthly meeting of the club:
 WASHINGTON, D. C., Nov. s. DEAR SIR: 1 am glad to see by your letter of the 29th ult., that the main object of your association is to con- tribute to the influences which are at work all over the country to bring about reform of the tariff. am also glad to see that the association i is non-partisan.
 Unfortunately the tariff question has not been presented in Congress, nor before the people, as purely economic question. 1t has been in a l large measure treated as a sectional and party question, upon which there l has not been free exercise of inde- pendent thought and action. The time seems now to have come when the consideration of it can no longer i be controlled or restricted by sec tional or party influences. It has at l last been forced to the front, as question, too broad and far-reaching to be considered as any other than national question in the proper set l clement of which all our great inter ests-agricultnre manufacturers and labor-are deeply concerned. Let us glance at the condition of these in- terests under a system of taxation that savers more of the Chinese poli- cy than of the enlightened sentiment of progressive and wide-awake people.
 1. Agriculture. e.-Although the agricultural power of the country has been but partially developed, pro- duction has outstripped the demand. With the exception of cotton, none of the great staples of the country are bringing remunerative prices. | Farmers have painful knowledge of this fact, and are becoming inquisi- 1 tive Tn regard to the cause. They have discovered that the home mar ket, and the foreign markets which are open to their productions, are quite unequal to the present supply, and that as lands are now cultivated, the disproportion must steadily in crease, so that, unsatisfactory as is their present condition, the outlook for the future is the reverse of en- couraging.
 The question, therefore, has be- come to them pressing one, how can the demand be made equal to the supply; or what is still more impor- tant, how can further decline be avoided; the whole matter lis in nutshell" Demand and supply is the regulator of prices, are attributa- ble to the fact that supply exceeds demand, and as the former is steadi- ly gaining upon the latter, the ten dency of the prices is downward, until larger and better markets are secured.
 ,. Manufacturers. What is true in regard to agriculture is measura- bly, true in regard to manufactures. Stimulated by the tariff, the manu- featuring power of the country has been increased beyond the demand for manufactured goods. Hence combinations are forced to restrict production. These combinations must he short lived, because they will not long work harmoniously to- gether, and because they are at war with enterprise and industry, upon the activity of which the welfare of society depends. This fact cannot be disguised-protection has ceased to protect our manufacturers. While it is preventing foreign competition in our markets, it is shutting up the foreign markets to which we ought to have access, and should have but for the retaliation which it provokes, and the result is overproduction. What our manufacturers, as we'll as our farmers need, is an increase in the foreign demand for their pro- auctions. If there is any way by which this can be secured other than by reform of the tariff, which stands in the way of international 1. ., l. IL, 1,