Virginia free press. (Charlestown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1832-1916, 1890-08-13
The Tariff in the Senate.


On Saturday Mr. Vance made an amusing
sneecb !, r;d;cule of the claim that the far
mer derived an, benefit from the tariff. The
manufacturer of wooden goods, he said, who
got seventy-five per cent. protection on his
goods said 70 the farmer, eff you give me
seyenty-five per cent. protection on my WOOL
en- goods against English and French manu-
features l will give you % cents per bushel
protection on your wheat and 10 cents per
bushel on your corn against England" that
does not grow bushel of corn, and does not
grow one.fiftb of the wheat that her people
eat. The one got cash and the other prom
ises. The cash was "the short run" and the
promises were "the long run" Whenever
the manufacturer got tired of reaping the
benefit of the bargain Oh his side he agreed
to let the farmer get his Innings" so Tar
the manufacturer had proved remarkably
long winded. He had not shown the slight
est evidence of being tired. The nature Of
the bargain between the farmer and the
manufacturer was well ILLUSTRATED by the
offer of one urchin to another, Jim, if you
give me bite of your big red apple | will
show you my sore toe." Laughter If
Senators insisted on TRIPPING the existing tax
on cotton ties, might not, he asked, when
some of them were on the hastings talking
about protection to American labor, some
man in the audience say, with great propri-
ETY.: "That is lie you know that you are
not for protecting all American labor, for
the seven million bales of cotton are OPP
pressed, when prepared for the foreign mar
ket by tax three times higher than that
imposed upon many other articles"
He confessed that he hated to see a new
industry rise in this country, because it was
sure to be pauper saddled on the treasury.
He hoped to see American manufacturers
flourish by the sweat of their brows and by
their own honest industry instead of by the
sweat of the brows of his people and of their
honest industry Every time that new
mine was discovered or a new industry es-
tablished it was Immediately fastened upon
the public treasury And now, for fear lest
there might come king "who new not
Joseph"-in other words, Democratic ma
iority which did know the people-it had
been thought necessary to provide by the
last will and testament of Republican Con-
gress for such paupers as might hereafter be
born in lawful wedlock to that community,
or in unlawful wedlock either So there
was to be an opening made for some manu-
facture of cotton. ties to be established, and
| it was said to be the duty of Senators not to
provide for the infant when it came, but to
provide for it before it came.
He would move to place cOtton-ties on the
free list. He could see the coming storm,
and he warned his Republican friends to get
under shelter while they could. He warned
them to take off the duty on cotton-ties, to
reduce the duties on the iron schedule, to
reduce the duties on the wooden schedule and
to give the farmer q chance that, when he
shipped his produce abroad, he could obtain
reasonable price for it. The farmer had
acted as the scapegoat long enough. lie had
been the ultimate payee and the common
vouchee in the protective system which had
enabled the manufacturers to make their
profits. Republican Senators had better, he
said, revise the tariff themselves, and revise
it justly. If they did not it would be like
the waters that accumulate above the dam.
Instead OF flowing over in quantities suffi-
cient to carry off the excess without damage,
they might gather strength and height until
they swep: away the whole dam and every
thing standing within its reach below. 1t
was time that something was done to equal
ize the burdens of the people and to shift the
taxation so that all should have part and
all be exempt alike.