Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1891-08-07
\ High Tariff wall

Under the heading Too Much Wealth
the New York Tribune says that on ''ev-
cry hand there are heard complaints that
the business of the country is not salts
factory" Il then proceeds 10 stiri>
butte this to over production. Ii is
curious, remarks the St. Louis Republic,
that after passing laws imposing higher
taxes on the people ito stimulate pro-
duction," our republican friends should
at once proceed TO moan over "overpro.
duction, but they always do. Tue Tri-
Dunes special grievance in considering
what it calls 1.-The superabundance of
wealth" is southern iron production, OF
which it says;
The chief manufacture industry IN
the northern states is affected TO some ex-
tent In the same way. The production
of pig>iroD last year was far in excess OF
the production in any previous year. l.
had been known that the consumption
OF iron had increased with extraordinary
rapidity, and II was assumed that even
the greatly increased output would be
met by the demand. But the results
have not sustained this expectation. Tue
consumption appears to have declined,
and, although many OF the furnaces have
been imperative during part Of the last
year, the stocks Of unsold iron are never
theless unusually large.
As Alabama is now producing more
pig-iron than Pennsylvania, and as there
is no way of protecting Pennsylvania
against its competition, the groaus Of the
Tribune over the ''supersbundance of
wealth are natural enough. But what
nonsense it is to talk of "supe1abuu-
dance of wealth in iron, as if iron could
be too abundant or too cheap when its
cheapness and abundance constantly in
crease the uses 10 which it can be APP
much room for the talk of the super
abundance of wealth in iron, though
ircn is now used for hundreds Of pur-
poses for which it could not be used then.
The increase OF its quantity and the de-
crease of its price make it available for
the purposes of civilization, and it is
with iron more than with any other one
material that civilization works Yet
all the economists" of protection ale
anxious te make iron scarce and high.
What the Tribune really means,
continues the Republic, when
it talks about "a supera buuiaDdance Of
wealth" Is that some OF the flies of mon
opoly are fast STUCK on the hone pot Of
protection. Allured by the hope of
large profits derived from taxes on the
people, capitalists have overreached them
selves. Under laws which operate
against the buyer and limit consumption,
they have produced stocks which they
cannot sell as high as they hoped and
this when they have liabilities to meet,
which, il uDmet, will mean ruin for some
of them. This is not bad symptom. 1t
only means that the laws of trade cam OF
be repealed by act of congress and that
the common sense of CIVILIZATION operates
in spite of the folly of the republican
party. 1t will not be a bad thing for
some of these spectators to be bank
rupted. 1t will make business less IN
natural by helping to restore normal con-
ditions. The larger the "overproduc,
ton" and ''the superabundance of
wealth" in the hands of the protected
capitalists of this country the better. If
it keeps on piliDg up on them, it may
convince them that it is not the begin.
ming and end of trade to control and
prey on single market Instead of sit
ting down and moaning because they
have more than they can sell at high
prices in ''the home market" they may
sc elk foreign markets and SO at last give
this country the place it ought TO hold
among the nations.