The Bottineau pioneer. (Bottineau, N.D.) 1885-1895, 1890-02-01
roportionatc,y As many in ths south a. H.

AMERICA Ia A AMPLE E~xPERrENCE.
The American people had twice before
passed through . similar experience. On
tho eve Of the war Of 1917, congress guarded
the national strength by enacting a highly
protective tariff. BY its own terms this
tariff must end With the war. When the
new tariff was to te formed, a popular cry
arose against "war duties ~ though the coun.
try had prospered under them despite the
exhausting eject OF the struggle with Great
Britain But the prayer of the people was
answered, and the war duties were dropped
from the tariff Of 1915 The business Of the
country was speedily Frustrated. The peo-
pie were soon reduced to AZ great distress Al
In that melancholy period between The close
Of the Revolutionary war Inc the organiza.
ton Of the national government-l7s3 to
I7S9.
Relief came at last With the enactment of
the protective tariff Of 1921. to the support of
which leading men ofiboth parties patriotic
ally united for the common good That act,
supplemented by the act Of 1928. brought
genuine prosperity to the country.
Sectional jealousy and partisan zeal could
not endure the great development OF manu-.
features in the north and east which folio wed
the apparently firm establishment Of the pro.
tective policy. Out Of this strange compiled.
ton came the sacrifice Of the protective tariff
Of l834-28 and the substitution Of the com.
promise tariff Of 1888, which established IN ad
valorem duty Of 20 per cent. on all imports,
and reduced the excess over that by a 10 per
cent. annual sliding scale for tho ensuing ten
years.
The apprehension Of evil soon became gen.
eral, public confidence was shaken, the panic
Of 1897 ensued, aid business reversals were
rapid, general aud devastating. Tbvro was
no relief to the people until the protective
tariff Of 1912 was enacted; and then the
baneficent experience of 1924 was repeated on
oven q more extensive scale. Prosperity.
wide and general, was at once restored
During this long period free trade tariffs
were thrice followed by industrial stagna-
ton, by financial embarrassment, by distress
among all classes dependent for subsistence
upon their own labor. Thrice were these
burdens removed by the enactment Of a pro-
tective tariff. Thrice the protective tariff
promptly led to industrial activity, to fnan.
cial ease, to prosperity among the people.
It Is true that a financial panic occurred in
1873, and it's existence would blunt the force
Of my argument il there were not an impera-
lively truthful way Of accounting for 1t as a
distinct result from entirely distinct causes.
The civil war, which closed In 1856, had sac.
rificed on both sides a vast amount of prop
erty. Reckoning the money directly ex-
pended, the value of property destroyed and
the production arrested and prevented, the
total is estimated at 50 O0J 100000.
AMERICAS GROWTH SINCE 1880.
Notwithstanding the evil prophecies on
both sides, the panic did not come until eight
aud a half years after the firing of the last
gun in the civil war. Nor did it come until
after two great calanlities in the years imme-
diately preceding had caused the expendi-
ture Of more than 500, OOO, 900, suddenly
withdrawn from the ordinary channels OF
business. The rapid and extensive rebuilding
in Chicago and Boston after the destructive
fires of 1871 and 1872 had a closer connection
with the panic Of 1873 than is commonly
thought. Still further, the six years dc.
preston, from 1879 to 1879. involved individ-
ual suffering rather than general distress.
The country as a whole never advanced in
wealth more rapidly than during that period.
Viewing the country from 1851 to 1852
full twenty-eight years-the longest undis.
turbed period in which either protection or
free trade has been tried in this country, ]
ask MIR. Gladstone If a parallel can be found
to the material advancement Of the United
States.
In 1850 the population Of the United States
wa In round numbers 100000. At the
same time the population Of the United King.
dom was in round numbers 29,O0O,OoO q. At
the end Of twenty years uSSO,, it appeared
that the United States added nearly $3O,O00,-
10000 to her wealth, while the United King.
dom had added nearly $4,000. ZOO, 600, or
about one-half. The United Kingdom had
added q NM M RI hor por,,Io<;o, l,,,;~- 81.
period of twenty years., while the addition to
the United States exceeded la, 1000, 600.
In 1850 the average wealth, per capita, of
the United Kingdom was 81, 900, while in the
United States it was but $3.50. In 1880 the
United Kingdom had increased her per capita
wealth to $l,230, while tho United States had
increased her per capita wealth to $50. The
United Kingdom had in twenty years in.
creased her per capita wealth q per cent,
while the United States had increased her pss
capita wealth more than Gs per cent II al
towance should be made for war losses, the
ratio Of gain In the United States would Tar
exceed 100 per cent.
How PROTECTION HAS LOWERED PRICrA
John Edgar Thompson, late president OF
the Pennsylvania Railroad company, pur.
chased 100 tons Of steel rails in 1862 at q price
freight paid to New York; duty of IS per
cent. unpaid, Of sos. ~ gold coin. by way
Of illustrating Mr.. Gladstones claim to
superior quality Of manufactures under free
trade, the railroad company states that many
Of the rails broke during the first winters
trial. In 1870 congress laid a specific duty
OF ga per ton on steel rails. From that time
the home market has been held by our own
manufacturers. with a steady annual fall In
price, as the facilities Of production increased,
until the past summer and autumn, when
steel rails were selling in Pittsburg, Chicago
and London at substantially the same priceA
Docs any free trader on either side Of the
ocean honestly believe that American rails
could ever have been furnished as cheaply a.
English rails, except by the sturdy competi-
ton which the highly protective duty of 1870
enabled the American manufacturers to
maintain against the foreign manufacturers
In tho first place, and among American manu-.
facturers themselves in the second placei
English steel for locomotive tires imported
In 1895, duty paid, was thirty-four cents per
pound In gold. At the present time 1850
American steel for locomotive tires, Of a.
good quality - the English steel formerly
imported, Il furnished at four and three
quarter cents per pound and delivered free Of
cost a. tho point where the locomotives are
manufactured.
These illustrations might be indefinitely
multiplied. In woole1s, in cotton, in leather
fabrics, In glass, In products Of lead, Of brass,
Of copper; indeed, in the whole round OF
manufactures, It will be found that protection
a~Sbrought down the price from tho ate
charged by tho importers before protection
had built up tbs competing manufacture In
America. For many articles we pay less than
d paid in Europe. Il We pay higher for other
things than Is paid across tho 50 today,
figures plainly indicate that We pay Ies than
~ should have been compelled to pay II ths
protective systam had not bean adopted. and