The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1892-04-13
THE ARGUMENT FOR PROTECTION.


law has had an opportunity to vindicate
| itself by trial but two elections have been
held when the tariff was made a distinct
issue upon the stump. In Ohio the people
elected Major Mckinley, author of the
tariff that bears his name, governor over
Campbell by 81, 600 plurality. Campbell is
personally popular man, an able man. an
upright man who carried Ohio in 1889 by
10000 plurality. In Rhode Island last
week the Democrats, who had carried the
state in 1859, 1890 and 1891, were beaten by
the Republicans on the tariff issue after
hotly contested campaign in which the
tariff was discussed by the ablest cham
pions of both sides, both foreign and do
mestic.
On the floor of congress in the tariff
debate thus far the honors have been with
the Republicans, who have completely
vanquished the Democrats at every point.
The Democracy, since the Ohio election OF
November, 1891, have not dared to follow
the flag of Mills of Texas and propose the
repeal of the present tariff law. The tariff
act of 1890 is a protective tariff, in distinc-
ton from a tariff for revenue only. A
tariff for revenue only is tax and is paid
by the consumer, while protective tariff
is not tax and may be paid wholly by
another than the consumer. The present
tariff law aims TO give to us free of tax all
those articles necessary to our comfort
that we either do not or can not success
fully produce at home. 1t gives to us
free list Unprecedented in the history of
tariff legislation. The revenue tariff of
1916, the idol of Democratic worship, gave
us but II per cent. of our importations
free. The tariff of 1857 gave US but 18 per
cent. of our importations free. The pres
ent law gives us in the neighborhood of
one-half of all that we import unburdened
by any tax.
The single item of sugar transferred by
the Mckinley bill from the dutiable to the
free list relieved the taxpayers of the
country of a burden of 100000, 600. For a
century we had tried in vain to multiply
the production of sugar only to find out
that we could not raise more than one
eighth of our consumption of sugar. The
duty paid on sugar therefore was revenue
duty and tax affecting the price of both
the foreign and domestic product, so the
Republican party, in consistency with the
philosophy Of protection, placed sugar on
the free list as a non-competing industry,
while the Democrats all opposed free sugar
in the same breath that they all yelled for
free wool and free lumber.
The Republican party, in the hope to slim
ulate domestic sugar production, provided
for the payment of bounty to the domes-
tic manufacturer of cane, beet or maple
sugar, a bounty that has cost US about
s6,00O,000 the past year. The Democrats
declare that this bounty of $6,0O0, 900 to
$10,000,0 900 to foster the domestic sugar in
dustry is unconstitutional, and yet are
willing to pay 500, 900, 900 to the same end
out Of the pockets of the people by means
of revenue tariff. The modern Dem
ocracy, which is never weary of invoking
the memory of Jefferson, Jackson, Silas
Wright and Tilden, seem to forget that all
these able Democratic statesmen were pro-
tectionsts.
The Republican idea of protection as
embodied in our present law was stated
by Jefferson in 1909 when he said: "My
own idea is that we should encourage
home manufactures to the extent of our
own consumption of everything of which
we raise the raw materials" In execu-
] ion of this Jeffersonian idea, the Nc
Kinley law regards the tin plate industry
as one which by proper protection we can
establish here with profit to ourselves.
The total quantity of tin plates imported
into this country in the twenty years from
1871 to 1891 was 1922, $50 gross tons, and
the total foreign value 1901, 3ll, 4O4. In
addition we paid freights and importers
profit.
Is there any reason why this enormous
sum of money should have been diverted
from the channels of our domestic trade
to enrich Great Britain and feed her labor
instead of enriching America and feeding
its workmen? Tin plate is an iron and
steel sheet coated with tin. or with mix
ture of tin and lead, when it is called
terne plate. Tin plate is 95 per cent. steel
or iron and Per cent. or less tin. We
have the ore; the pig iron, the blooms, the
sheets and the tin, and If we have not tin
enough we can do as England does buy it
of Malaysia.
We have the machinery, the labor, the
capital: why not be as independent of
Great Britain and make our own tin plate
as we have become independent of Eng
land in the manufacture of steel rails?
There are twenty tin plate establishments
in operation or projected today in the
country, with a capital of 100000 and
an estimated caracity of $500 boxes per
week, good showing surely when we re-
member that it is but nine months since
the new tin plate tariff went INTO effect.
There Is no sound reason why the tin
plate industry may not in time prove as
striking and valuable an object lesson of
the benefcence Of the policy of protection
as the multiplication of the spindles of
New England, the iron furnaces and
FORCES OF Pennsylvania and Ohio. and the
growth of the American carpet industry.
Prior 10 1870 We had no steel rail industry.
but were wholly dependent on England for
our supply. She charged us for steel
rails $3.50 per ton in gold. Congress put
on tariff duty of SIS per ton. We now
produce more steel rails per annum than
does England, and the cost is nearly the
same in New York as in London. A year
ago the cost was less in New York than in
London.
Under the shelter Of our protective pol
icy We have our rails as CHEAP as the