The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1891-12-16
THE TARIFF oE1sio.
What 4. Was That tho Democrats Gave III
l

~. - Nuuhht ih tAi ltVFs .N-HH
Robert Elii Thompson IN Irieh lI'ond. 4
Tint tariff [lsiDl was as unprinciplcd
n piece Of dcmagogy as ever was per.
pctratcd by an American Congress. 1t
was carried by tho joint vote Of the
west and tina south, the farmer OF tho
west being told that it would secure his
enrichment BY enabling tho frcest
exchange OF his food products with tho
British empire. At the same time his
wool was protected by so heavy n duty
thnt tho foreign wool sufficient 10 make
Il blanket paid q heavier tax than did
tho blanket itself. This WIS tho kind
OF raw materials unburdenud by tax.
alton which the wool manufacturers Of
America cnioycd-importcd wool paying
thirty per cent while blankets, and In.
deed al tho co0rser grades OF woolcns,
paid but twenty-five per cent and tho
finer but thirty! As d consequence.
the importation OF WOODEN goods was fur
moro than doubled, at tho expense OF
homo producers, while tho American
farmer derived mono OF tho pretended
advantage, as'the foreign wool manuiac.
turers would not take his wool ut any
price which he could afford to sell, and
tho homes market for wool was para
lyzed. A report to Congress IN 1856
says OF sheep: "Flocks were scnt TO the
slaughter bccGhae tho WOODEN factories
had been sold ut auctionor converted 10.
other services" In the decade, lS5O.GO,
there was but five per cent increase in
the number OF our sheep.
Iron Jared nearly rs badly. Not that
crude iron was on the free list, any
more than it is now. But the duty OH
imported iron rails, hardware, structu-
raj iron, etc, were put so low that the
business OF ~iron.making was reduced to
n low cbb. 1t is n common saving in
Pennsylvania that the monuments to
Samuel j. Walker and George NJ. BAL
las-tho Vice President whose casting
enacted tho Walker tarIlr-arc to be
found in tho ruins OF tho old furnaces
in tho Allcghcnics, which had TO be
abandoned. Yet-the national demand
for iron was extensive through this
this whole period. Tho country was
beginning its railroad system, thanks
10 the strong arms and willing hearts
OF tho men whom free trade
and its consequence, tho Irish
famine, drove from their homes 10 the
new world. When the tariff was ell
acted America was supplying excellent
iron ut $50 q ton. After its enactment
English iron went down 10 SO q ton.
and tho ad valorcm duty went down
with the price. When American com
petition had been crushed, the English
price went up. to $50 n ton, and above
tin some cases to $50 4 ton. That
was how we saved money by buying
abroad instead OF Mt home. The rail.
road men learnt L lesson from that; and
when the change came from iron to
steel they asked Congress to impose II
duty OF $50 Il ton on imported steel rails
in order TO make them independent OF
British manufacturers OF these rails.
That is why rails sell now for less than
that amount.
Among tho worst faults OF this stupid
and unprincipled tariff were those OF ad
valorem duties. The tariff of'1Sl2 like
the early tariffs generally, especially
those Of 1924. 1928 and 1882 had i'm
posed mostly specific duties, which
guarded American manufacturers
against being swamped by large i'm
portations under low duties in hard
times. The Walker tariff converted
nearly all OF these into nd valorem
duties, so that duties were high in good
; times, when their protection was least
needed, and low in bad times, when it
ID most required. So palpablc was
this injustice that Senator Calhoun pro-
posed as preferable 4 sliding scale ar
rangcmcntofdutics by which theyshould
fall when prices roscand rise when prices
fell. II was the last "Reminiscences OF
Calhoun's carly advocacy OF 4 protec-
tive tariff; but it was not adopted. The
Walker tariff was also fruitful OF custom
house frauds and corruptions, because
OF these ad valorem duties. 1t was
under its operation that these abuses
became rampant, as its duties icll hcavi-
est OH the goods OF least bulk and there
lore most easy to smugglc, and us it
offered every kind deepening for falsc
invoices. We have not recovered from
the moral harm this model OF tariffs in
tlictcd on the public service and our
political life.
Cotton manufacturers did not iarc so
badly, because they were longer and
better established; yet they made COM
plant OF the tariff in publications. | find
in Mr.. Stephen Colwclrs library, now
in possession OF our university. Paper
making WAS both bad and dea :; and, in
deed, SO were nearly all the staple arti-
clcs OF that day. Everything We have
protected has become moro plentiful,
cheaper, and OF better quality.
What, then, OF shipping and COM
merce? Mr.. Schoulcr is very badly in
formed ii he thinks that the prosperity
OF Amcrican shipping made any distinct
advance during the period covered by
tho walker tariff, OF. that it maintained
that prosperity to tho close OF the pc.
riod. 1t is the era OF 1S2S.50 which is
the heydayY OF American shipping,
thanks to tho protection furnished BY
Washington's navigation laws. Already
with 1855 there is a marked decrease in
our total tonnage, traceable to the shift
from wood to iron in ship-building. He
refers moro than onCo to the subsidies
paid to our young steamship lines and
to Mr.. Walkers Jealous but most incon-
sistant advocacy OF that policy. He
boasts OF thcgreater speed OF the Collins
Line, to which an American subsidy
was paid. Why has he no mention OF
the withdrawal OF that subsidy in 1855
ut the instance OF Mr.. Jefferson, Davis
and the complete abandonment OF the
line before the war broke out?
Tho era OF the Walker tariff is one OF
great Importance for Americans to
study. 1t shows at full length into
what kind OF condition our Revenue
Reformers arc trying to bring us now.