Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1893-12-24
WILSON BILL AND VA. INTERESTS.
The Vlrginias and the South Robbcd-New
England the Beneficiary.
WASHINGTON, December IS, 1895.

| WASHINGTON, December is, 1895.
To the Editor Of the Dispatch:
| have just read your Washington spe-
| cial in Sundays Dispatch, wherein the
/ probable effects of the Wilson bill upon
the interests Of Virginia are. rs it seems
10 me, somewhat superfcally considered
As / have made the probable effects upon
the whole South of this measure a spe-
cial study. ! beg that you will give space
! for a few comments upon the contents
/ Of this Washington special, which l am
/ embOldenel to make because / know that
/ there is no paper published which has
/ more deeply at heart the real welfare
| of the people of the South In general, and
( of the two VirginiaS IN particular, than
/ the Richmond Dispatch. And | have
| every hope that If | can show wherein
! your correspondent is In error. even by
I Implication you viii hasten TO give the
/ correction Of such error speedy consiiera-
! ton which Is no more than you ought
/ TO do, since there are so many Nirginians
/ who look upon everything they may see
/ in the Dispatch as 'pOn Gospel truth
/ itself.
II is admitted by your correspondent
! that il will 40 hard with the miners and
/ mine-owners Of the Nirginias. unless, as
! is claimed by the trainers of the bill.
the free raw material will SO stimulate
manufacturing that mine-owners will
( have "A heavily-increased demand for their
I products"
Now. | ask where will free raw mate
rals stimulate manufacturing? If in Nir-
ginia and the South. then / should say
go ahead with the Wilson bill Just as
1t stands. But in the very next paragraph
| your Washington correspondent pracu-
cally answers my question Though ii is
doubtful If many Of your readers saw this
point by showing how free hides had
stimulated the boot and shoe manufac-
lures, not of Virginia. but of New Eng
land. Did free hides bring any boot and
shoe factories to Virginia? Then, If free
hides did not help Virginia, how are the
free raw materials provided by the VIII
son bill going to do il?
Again, let us see how the cotton fac
tories Of Virginia ana the South Will be
benefited by this measure. which. 1t Is
said gives to New England products pro-
lection to the extent of an average ad
Valorcm duty Of about 20 per cent. while
taking away all protection from the
three great products Of the South, or
rather the three greatest next to cotton,
which needs no protection.
THE SOUTH ROBBED.
The giving to New England Of free
coal will amount at some mills to say
ing of from forty TO fifty thousand dol
lars a year in fuel. The effect will be
that this saving viii go far toward the
wiping out, If 1t does not do so entirely,
of the advantage which our southern cot
ton mills now enjoy by reason OF their
proximity TO the cotton-iields. Therefore,
II is evident that the trainers of the
Wilson bill did not have southern cotton
mills In mind when they told the
Washington correspondent Of the Dispatch
that manufacturing would be so stmu
lated by tie bill as to compensate our
Virginia and West Virginia miners ana
mine-owncrs for robbing them OF busi-
ness now amounting to an even $s,NV,NO
a year.
I might cite other cases, but these are
enough 10 show that the South will be
the sufferer and pay the penalty of thus
transcendental pretense OF patriotism,
should il ever be enacted unamendod.
General Wheeler in recent hte.FIeA
he gave me for the Manufacturers lie
cord. puts the case from Alabamas point
OF view lust as Il might be stated from the
standpoint of those who are concerned
about the prosperity of the two Nlrginias.
"The people OF Alabama said he ARE
not protectionists. but they realize that
a large part Of the necessary revenues OF
government must be derived from tarir
taxation. and their position is that tariff
bill. to be fair. should not have higher
tax on articles they are compelled 10 buy
than upon articles they have TO SELL
"Nor was General Wheeler very wide of
the mark when he said:
AS free trade iS impossible some pro-
lection is inevitable. II any section Is
TO be sacrificed, II ought not 10 be the |
South. He is a poor patriot who makes |!
a scapegoat OF his own country.
THOMAS p. GRASTY.