Alpena weekly argus., 1890-03-19
speculations Made Profitable by Tax.
ing the People.

A citizen who invests his money and
labor in manufactures has great ad-
vantages over the citizen who invests
his money and labor in agriculture.
The first, not only has the prospect of
realizing profits from his regular bus
iness, but he also has bonus in the
shape of a protective tariff, which tar
if, by keeping out foreign competing
goods, gives the American manufact-
urer the right, by law, but not by JUS
tice, of increasing the price of the
goods he manufactures.
Let us take cotton, for instance
This country is the greatest cotton
grower of any in the world. Europe
has to come here to purchase large
part of what she needs for her mills.
The American cotton is taken to the
sea coast. then carried over 5000
miles in vessels to England, then TAX
ell inland to the mills, there to be
manufactured into cloth, and then it
is shipped to this country, to a large
extent, to be sold.
During the year 1888, the value Of
cotton goods imported into this coun-
try, was s2S, ,706.703, and the duty
collected on said goods was s11 1,491,-
S97. The tariff tax, or bonus, rang
ed from 35 to 50 per cent, and the av-
erage tax paid on all the goods inn
ported, was 40 per cent. That eleven
millions of dollars Of taxes on cotton
goods were paid by. the American
farmers and laborers.
The American manufacturer, with
free raw cotton in his own country,
comes before the people and says he
can not successfully compete with for
eign manufacturers who buy their
cotton here, pay two ocean fre;ghts,
and incur other expenses that the
American manufacturer is free from.
He wants the people to pay large
part of the expense of running his
cotton mills, as he desires to make i'm
mense profits out of his cotton specu-
lations. He requested Congress to
bar out foreign cotton, and thus en-
able the American cotton manufact-
urer to advance the price Of the cot
ton goods he makes in his factory.
Congress responded by imposing
taA of from 35 to So per cent. This
tax then really became bounty, and
enabled the American manufacturer
to charge the people of this country
from 35 to 55 per cent more for the
cotton goods they purchased, than
they would have had to pay if they
could have purchased said goods in
the markets of the world.
With raw cotton grown at home,
and with two ocean freights and 9th.
er expenses in their favor, the Ameri-
can cotton manufacturer ought to be
able to compete with the world and
pay his employees better wages than
are paid in foreign countries.
He, however, has discovered that
he can realize large profits by having
the people taxed for his particular
benefit. That is much easier for him
than TO compete with the world. He
relies on the home market, he derives
great profits from the American peo-
pie who have been placed at his dis
posal, and he has been given the right
and privilege to make an assessment
OH every family in the land for his
own personal benefit. He can, by
means of the tariff tax bounty, enter
every American home and extort,
over and above the cost of the cotton
goods he makes, a bonus Of from 30
to 55 per cent. The American cotton
manufacturers speculations are there.
fore made extremely successful by tax