The new dominion. [volume] (Morgantown, W. Va.) 1876-1904, 1892-08-20
what the Tariff Is.

asses from New England fish dealer
A. Itis all the same. The pa
triotic New England fish dealer adds
the 50 to what, but for the tariff
would be his price, and makes his
beloved mackerel- eating countrymer
pay $l2 for the barrel of fish which
the Canadian would be only too GLAD
to let him have for $40.
@. Do you mean that when W.
exclude foreigner from our hom,
market, or tax him for the privilege
of it, we curtail the liberties of oul
own people?
A. That is the effect in the end
Nothing can be palmer. If you
make Smith pay for selling TO Jones
you make Jones pay for buying
from Smith. Ii Smith has 81
knife to sell, and you tax him %
cents for the privilege, he adds this
to the price, and makes Jones pay
$l.25 for the article. The penalty
therefore, falls ON Jones, at last
You make him pay rs cents for buy
ing 81 knife in the market of his
own country.
STONE WALL PROTECTION
q. Suppose there were a stone wall
thousand feet high around our coun.
sry-would it not be an advantage
to us?
A. There is some such wall around
every penitentiary in the world.
q. Yes: but / mean, would not a
barrier like that ronnd the whole
country compel us to develop our
energies and intelligence in produc-
ing the articles we now buy abroad?
In other words, would il not force us
to produce at home the 800, 000, 600
worth of goods and commodities per
annum, we now buy from other ma
tions?
A. Perhaps it would; but it would
also prevent us from selling the other
nations $700,000,000 worth of pro
ducts per annum, they now take from
US. When we cease buying from
other countries, we must cease sell.
ing to them. A high wall round the
country would certainly be very eff
fective protective tariff; indeed, it
would be the ideal of protection. But
it would make us a community of
prisoners, deprived of the liberty
both of buying from other nations
and selling to them. If we stop buy
ing. we must stop selling too.
PROTECTION Is SECTIONAL.
q. But ought we not to encourage
our home industries till they are able
to compete with those of other ma.
tions?
A. That time will never come, If
the protected interests are to decide.
They never admit that they are ready
to compete with foreigners.
@, Is not protection national, wise
and patriotic?
A. There is nothing national in it.
So far from this, it is essentially and
oppressively sectional-for it benefits
and enriches the manufacturing
states of the Northeast, at the cost
of the other states-and this cannot
be either wise or patriotic.
q. But will it not, after a while,
make us independent ofother nationsf
A. No: We can never become indie
dependent of other nations. as long
as we remain a civilized people. On
~ barbaric and savage nations are
independent Civilization may be
defined to be complex and constant
interdependence between nations-a
continual and ever increasing inter
change of commodities which each
has to sell, and others need to buy.
The most civilized, enlightened and
powerful nations are those that have
the most foreign commerce-that is,
those which do the most buying and
selling; and the most despicable are
those which have least to do with
the outside world.
PROTECTION A BURDEN ON AGRICULTURE.
@. What section of the country is
most benefited by protection9
A. The Northeast section, embrac
ing the nine states of Maine, New
Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts,
Rhode Island, Connecticut, New
York, Pennsylvania and New Jersey.
@ Why is this section most bene
fitedS
A. Because it is the chief seat OF
the protected niustries-those in
dustries that are selected for the spe
cial favor of the national government.
@. Are these nine manufacturing
states any more prosperous than the
other states.
A. Yes: they must be so, because
the other states pay large tribute to
them. As an unprotected farmer
pays taxes to protected manufac.
turer, so all the agricultural states
pay taxes to the favored section where
the protected manufacturers abound.
Q. Do you mean TO assert that I'M
der the protection policy, the nation
al government forces all other sec
lions to pay tribute to the Northeast
A. That is the practical working
of the system.
@. What interest suffers most from
this policy?
A. The farming interest.
@. Why?
A. Because farmers are the largest
class of workers in the country; and
because, also, they have no opportu
nifty for indemnifying themselves
against it. They raise unprotected
crops; and when raised. they mus,
take what they can get for them.
@. But does not protection benefit
the farmer in the long run, By null
tiplying mills and factories, increas
ing the number of persons employed
in them, and so giving him a home
market and high prices for his crops
A. No: The facts are just the 9th
er way. The report of the Commits
sioner of Agriculture, at Washing
ton, shows that the average price Q
horses has fallen from 800 in 1866
to $73 in 1889; mules, from 800 t
$40; mich cows, from $3.50 to $25
other cattle from $26 to SIT; sheep
from $3.50 to $2;,and hogs from ST
to $3.50. And the prices of the sta
pie grain crops show the same down
ward tendency. The Agriculture
Bureau reports exhibit decline il