New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1896-01-06
PART II.
PAGES II TO is.
MANCHESTER ECONOMICS.
r,cCoNTENT WITH FREE TRADE IN Ian
CASHIRE-THE WILSON COTTON
SCHEDULE.
Manchester. Decemher 16.

SCHEDULE
Manchester, December Is.
Manchester reverences the memory Of Richard
-ohden. but does not invariably practise what he
oreached His gospel of free trade founded
SIMON the principle that the wealth OF the world
.,or,a he increased and the comfort and happ-
ness Of mankind be promoted If every community
,,era occupied with industries for which it was
esnecially adapted. That principle has been vio-
"a ted in the construction Of the Manchester Ship
Canal
Liverpool had peculiar advantages for conduct
ing the shipping business. 1t was an old port.
IT'S merchants had been shipowners for centuries,
I, had magnificent system Of docks and ter
,ninal facilities and it was an established COM
,rerrial centre. with business connections with
every portion Of the world. Manchester was not
on the coast it had devoted its energies to cotton
spinning and weaving for generations; and 1t had
no facilities for competing in the shipping bust
,ess with one Of the greatest ports in the world
Surely Mr. Golden would have advised Manches-
Ter to connne Itself to its cheapest and natural
Industry and to allow Liverpool to enjoy mon
opolv Of the shipping trade But Manchester has
NOT been content with its ascendancy a
manufacturing town. 1t has undertaken at
enormous cost to rival the historic port. The dis
oen's principles are disclosed by the present con-
dition of the Manchester ship Canal
The flo shares of the company are selling to-day
at u. with preferred stock at 22s. The share
holders have never received penny on their in
,estment: and the value If their holdings has
steadily declined. The Corporation Of Manches-
fer. which rescued the enterprise from impending
bankruptcy, has increased the volume of NUM-
cipal Indebtedness with an unremunerative in
vestment upon which int rest is RENTED from
year 70 year The canal tolls do not suffice to
meet current operating expenses and inefficient
dredging The depth Of the waterway. which was
70 be 26 feet is barely 30 feet owing TO the made
ouate dredging. and the engineering work is in
complete large portions of the banks not having
been properly lined up and protected. The COM
.nerce Of the world has been invited. but II does
not come Only one cotton ship has entered the
canal this year from New Orleans-and that a
small vessel of LAS tonnage. a ship which
brought cotton from Egypt lay in dock for fort
night vanly awaiting cargo. and finally sailed for
New-York in ballast. The few ships which have
cleared for India have gone out half empty. and
have filed out their cargoes in Liverpool There
Is a coasting trade which is gradually Increasing;
but the foreign commerce. which the canal was
designed to develop. Is insignificant in comparison
with that of Liverpool Local pride is strong IN
Manchester. No public journal can afford to tell
the truth about the canal but every merchant
knows that its construction was colossal blum
der and that the town is n aintaining hopeless
struggle against the shipping supremacy Of Liv-
erpool.
WORKING FOR PROTECTION.
There are other subjects however on which the
press and manufa cturers Of this public-spirited
town are more outspoken and unequivocal even
" in with the traNi-
tons Of the Golden school Mir James Lowther
has been organizing a protective conference In
London and boldly advocating the abandonment
Of free trade and the establishment Of preferential
relations between the mother country and the
colonies to the disadvantage Of the rest or the
world The time has been when the barDarlsni
of protection has not had a single apologlSt or
defender in this nursery Of free trade. Mr. Low
ther who boasts that he spells Protection with
big "P" now receives more respectful treatment
A leading journal of Manchester admits thal pro-
lection is in the air. and releases Itself from the
rld Free Trade dogmas because they are mani
sestlv so inapplicable" 1t declares that while the
English economic system l. still maintained to
great extent with success, there are many mai
yidual instances in which the pressure of foreign
tariffs causes distress and even extinction 70
etaple trades and that with regard TO these in
dustries 1.-The old Free Trade patitudes afford no
satisfactory answer" 1t even denies that 1t Is
Invariably true that the consumer pays the import
duty and insists that the Lancashire cotton
manufacturers are now paving three-fourths or
the Indian deficits out Of their pockets This
IS strange talk for Manchester. where Richard
Golden and John Bright taught the gospel or
Free Trade and proclaimed that the millennium
of universal peace was close at hand.
A CHORUS OF Discomfort.
This is not single voice crying in the wilder
ness All Lancashire is seething with discomfort
with an imperial system which enables India 10
impose duties upon English cottons. The bimetal-
list movement has been strong in this portion or
England because it was assumed that rise in the
price of silver and an Improvement in exchange
would relieve the Indian exchequer from the ne
cessitv of Lowing these duties. This agitation
rnant its force when Mr. Balfour and other BIZ
,oe,aIlists I'm the Government confessed Their In
ability 10 act upon their private beliefs. Then the
Lancashire delegations were sent down TO the
India Office TO protest against the latest develop
tnent Of our slack Free Trade system uhueI winch
our colonies or dependencies can 7rotec' 'her III
dustries against other portions OF 'he h""Pie'
whilst powerless to do 80 against the ou'aiue
world" They returned with frank cohieSSo"
from the Secretary for India That ne coWn uo
,otniro for the relief Of their Industries These
revenue duties, as they are termed are op''"'"'
90 hiring into existence native Industries o"
large scale and to that extent they are pro'ec'Ne
duties
The enterprising manufacturers OF spihi"'s anu
weaving machinery in Lancashire are cooper
ntine with cheap labor in the far tds'-'h i"''"'
China and Japan-to dispense to large 'N'e''
withimportations Of coarse nsirom f'ls' ~"'
Every spindle or loom that is shipped u ''''
countries has the promise Of The potency o' 'o'"
~ .,.h ,,arcbestor goods Lancashire