New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1892-11-04
POPULAR OBSERVATIONS.
DESTRUCTION WROUGHT BY FREE TRADE
EFFECT OF DEMOCRATIC TINKERING on THE
MANUFACTURE OF oUININE.


To the Editor The Tribune.
sir: The Democratic members Of the Comml'tec
on Wars and Means In 1-7J cssaycd tariff revision
True 10 the heorctic effect Of their free trade maAis
they committed n fatal hunder by removing ths ouS
of 20 Der cent from quiniDe, which WAS the only
manufactured article placed on the free list Ihi'
example should teach us our duty. hever to be for
gotten Manufacturers and practical protectoms'S
protested against such an act, but said cral'!
demagogues, theorists and emlxaries Of Free Ifaoe
book-taught professors who get the" ecohonhc euu
cation from the Golden Club Of London, I'VE must
DO something TO reduce this surplus, snd therefore
we demand free qulnlnc for our constituents anu io'
the people If qunine had been cheinchi "''
producible in the United states it wpul have ma
terslLy altered the results but the fact remains
that we possess three the largest Manufacturing
establishments in the world, and, colecuNeN' hes
possess sufficient ability, capacity ana capNl 10 sup
ply the world under favorable conditions IN 'ne
extraction OF quinne frop, Peruvian ana cihcnona
bsrks, manufacturers in 1852 employed alcohol ana
fusel Oil. Alcohol, however was subject III this
country 10 q war tax OF ~ 50 per sanoh'
which together with cost Of its production, mace
the COST ~ per gallon The foreign mahulac'urer'
having no special taxes TO pay, receiNeo Ills
alcohol employed In the arts at about 80 or DO Genus
per gallon. 1t will thus be readily seen no" id'a 'he
competition 10 US. The foreigner Win MS che"P
labor and cheap alcohol would, in a few years, en-
10 this war tax of 81 SOL presume more to con
tnue the political influence of the whskey ring than
to promote the commercial opportunities OF the poo
pie-th. price at that time for Qunine being az or
more an ounce. account OF the high price oil eA-
tractives few years ago new process was dis
covered for manufacturing Quin'ue, which almost
entirely dspepscd with alcohol and fisel oil, which,
together with the low price Of tho cultivated barn
imported from the East INDIES, Instead Of from South
America as before Goth arks having been on the
free list for years., has caused the price con
tinuslly TO decline. until, Mt the present wnuhs
Quinine can be purchssco III large qu.nuno9 o
25 cents per ounce
.Ho IA =, exclaim subsidized, INSCRIPTIONS or In
ron,ncent writer's on our ytlaiDous tariff" who ex
hbit constitutional disposition to introduce mlsrePre
sentations, price in 1852, 81 per ounce pnce IN
1892 25 cents per equals protective robbery
81 20 per OUNCE adding that the public are be'hs
sw,ndcd on hundreds Of protected articles BY the same
nodus operandi. How long Will submissive puohc
submit to such brigandage"
American chemists. on the other hand. Will oe1eha
themselves by submitting tho following: "Give us
hearing before a practical non-pa tsan conlmssioi
and when We have finished we viii ASK congress ~
protect us against the badly fed and housed labor OF
Europe BY reestsblishing tax OF 10 or 10 per
rent nd valorem or any fair discrimination that will
p,evcnt foreign manufacturers from unloading their
Recommendations in our home rkets at the same
pnce III ycn protect will keep our laboratories
in full operation. idle hands employed al iul
wages and furnish you with quinine cheapy as any
foreign manufacturer Furthermore we Will state that
in placing quinne on the free list YOU failed to pro
tect us at home because You compelled Us 10 pay
exhorbitant war taxes alcohol az 20 gallon con
sumed IN the process employed in 1873, while the
foreigner had his alcohol free Of revenue duties OF ~
80 cents a gallon. Not being willing TO reduce the
earnings OF wage carners hall or oh>lnru VIC
had 10 succomb to foreign competition. and preferred
to await the time when wisdom would prevail III
our National Congress. We can compete successfully
at home and respond to the entire demand ny
prohbltory tarif-to which we are as much ehuueu
a, any other fairly protected industry"
Here is statement. furnished by the Bureau OF STA
,is,ics at Washington which will demonstrate Why
o,,riu, .ho,Id he projected The statement may be
nrr,nent that have no Interest In Quninc, excepting
as an occasional consumer:
TO 1892.