Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1892-09-07
THE TARIFF.

The tariff is the all-1mpOftant issue
of the campaign upon which we have
now entered. Shall there be revision
of our tariff laws, and as consequence
of such legislation, reduction of tax
alton, or shall it become the policy of
our government to maintain perma-
nently high protection? The position
of the two leading political parties
upon that question cannot be mis-
understood The republican party, as
Illustrated by its recent enactment OF
the Mckinley law, stands for a high
protective-in other words, a pro-
hibitory tariff. The democratic party,
as emphasized by its utterances and its
acts, is the advocate of tariff REFORM
The issue is squarely presented. Upon
one side are the advocates of high
protective or prohibitory policy-a
policy that enriches the few at the ex-
pense of the many. On the other
the advocates of such reduction of
tariff duties as will give to our manu-
| facturers the benefit of cheap raw ma
terials and lessen to the consumer the
cost of the necessaries of life. The
argument advanced by the early advo-
Gates of a protective system was the
necessity of protecting our Infant in.
dustries.n Yet Mr.. Clay, the author of
|
name is inseparably associated, de-
clared such protection to be only
temporary, and that SO soon as such
| industries were able to stand alone,
tariff duties should be reduced. The
compromise tariff law of 1888, of which
| Mr.. Clay was the author, provided
that at the end of ten years there
should begin a rapid reduction of
duties. until the average rate should
not exceed twenty per cent. In view
of the fact that protection to the in
| FAINT industries' has more than trebled
since the passage of the bill of which
Mr.. CLAW was the author, Clay would
himself, if living, be now denounced as
a free trader by the prOtectionists. In
stead of being lessened, protection has,
year by year, under republican rule,
increased. In proportion as these in
dustries have grown stronger and mere
powerful, they have demanded yet
greater protection.
| 1t is worse than idle to speak of its
benefits to the American farmer. What
he demands is both a foreign and a
home market for the products of his
farm. 1t is mockery to tell him he is
protected against the corn and wheat
products of the whole world. While
| he is compelled to sell in the open
markets of the world, he should be al
lowed the poor privilege of buying
what his necessities require without
paying high tribute to the protected
| classes of his own county. TO the
mechanic and laborer no less than to
! the farmer protection has proved de-
| fusion and a snare In no instance has
it opened up to the farmer additional
market for a pound of meat or bushel
of grain" Has it in a single instance
| given to the mechanic or laborer in
creased wages? The present high
tariff adds1argely to the cost OF articles
necessary to the comfort OF the wage
Garner. How has he been benefited.
Has it increased his wages? Has it in
any manner benefited his condition
Recent events connected with the N; st
highly protected establishments OF
this country sadly attest the fact that
a high protective tariff affords no pro
| lection to those who earn their bread
by daily toll 1t was never intended
to benefit them. Long enough has the
/ wage Garner been deluded by the cry
that high tariff means high wages
Wages are governed by the great law
of supply and demand. If the claim of
the protectionist is well founded, why
have not wages increased as tariffs
have increased? Why constant re
duction of wages in the most highly
protected establishments in the land
To the toiler the Mckinley bill has
: ''kept the word OF promise to the ear
but broken it to the hope"
In his great speech against the high
ts riff corn laws in the British Parlia-
ment in 1913, the matchless orator,
Daniel O'Connell, said: But what is
the meaning of protection? 1t means
an additional sixpence for each loaf
that is the Irish of it. If he had not
the protection the loaf would sell for a
shilling, but If he has protection it viii
sell for one and sixpence. Protection
is the English for sixpence, and what
is more it is the English for an extorted
sixpence The real meaning of pro
lection, therefore, is robbery-robbery
of the poor by the rich"
i When the tariff bill of 1861, increas
ing the average of tariff taxes from 1!
to 35 per cent, was under considera
ton, Mr.. Morrill,, the republican author
, of the bill, said: st was not designed
) as a permanent system, but only as