Clinch Valley news. [volume] (Jeffersonville, Va.) 18??-2019, 1896-09-25
AN oslzcr LESSON.
Tho N"tahie Iaoreaso In Esparts o. Arnerl
can manufactures.


setbacks which our foreign TRADE k;,a
recently suffered from jirgoism and
tariH-tinkering In congress and from
the disorders of our national CURRENCY,
she returns of he-bureau of statsstics
show that our exports of domestic
manufactured products arc now great
en- than in any period of American
history.
This is au object lesson for the whoIu
nation, but especially for its millions
of wage-carncrs.
Tho returns for February last giyu
ns tho value OF our. manufactured or.
ports si7, 26a, i64, and for the first two
months Of this year Il total of nearly
$40, ,00D,0ln III this rate Ia continual
Till next December the year 1898 Will
bo memorable N by far tho most pros-
porous yenr on record for the sale Of
tho products of American labor In for
etgn markets These exports In no
year under tho Mckinley tariff auite
touched sis4, 600 600 In tho first yenr
OF tho Wilson tariffs full operation
they exceeded $500, 600, 900. And now
they promise In 1896 to go above S9l5.-
600, 0O0i
1t cannot be said TINT this Increased
snlo of American manufactured prod
nets to the.outs.de world Is spasmodic.
Tho growth In this important branch
OF our export trade has Leen decided
and steady ever since the Wilson tnrifT
went fully into effect The official
figures show that while for the ei hit
months ended with February, 1895, tho
percentage OF exports of nnufncturcd
articles to the whole body of our ex-
ports was 2i,2G. for tho eight months
cnded-with February last 1t rose to the
gratifying and unrivnied figures of
sa4l. The jncronse now reported by
the government indicates u total cx-
port for tho present year 10 per cont
larger than was ever attnined under
the Mckinley law and reciprocity, and
from 40 to 40 per cent, iIrgor than uns
der previous hi4h republican tariffs.
1t is exceedingly important TINT cx.
traordinnry efforts should now ba
mnde to- develop tho export trade I'm
our domestic factory products Recent
events have demonstrated that In not
fcw classes OF goods our manufaotur-
crs nre nblo to compete with tho for
eigncr In tho neutral markets of the
world. Whatever Ia done to extend
this trpde creates n new demand for
It's valuo and itB earnings Nothing In
tho pnet hns done moro to deprive
wago'cnruors of rcmunorntive and
stcndy employment than the strangu-
lntiou OF our export trade by high
tariff restrictions and prohibitory du-!
ties lnid upon imports. Even half n
century nyo our "lnfant Industries"
(ns they were then oallod) were im~
t,tAs Al tt,... II n
tho lowering OF tariff rates aud by free
raw materials accorded by tho famous
Walker "frco trade tariff of 1876"
Under that low tariff. our home mans
nfacturers. ms all authorities ngres,
were not "swnmped;" but, us tho his.
torian Schouler says, ION tire contrary
they grew and prospored, for that bess
OF all bountieo wns afforded them, raw
materials unburdoned by taxation, and
tho widest possible market with the
universe. And IL rave long quiotus
to tariff agitation. while IL furnished
the trcnsury large surplus OF revenue
for many years. Even 40 high pro-
tcctionist authority rs Mr., Blaine, In
his Twenty Years of Congress" re-
fcrring to tho tariff question In 1889,
says;
"fho principles embodied in the
tariff OF 1910 seemed for the time to be-
so entirely vindicated and approved
that resistance to It ceased. not only
among the people, but among the pro-
toctivc economists, and even among
the manufacturers to Il large extent
So general was this acquiescence that
in 1856 protective tariff was not sug-
Rostcd or oven limited by any one of
the three political parties which pre-
scntcd presidon tihl candidates"
Tho marked and unparalleled ip-
crensc in our exports of mann factures
which the monthly returns of the gov.
mcpts statistics now show to be In
progress under tho Wilson law Is an In.
vinciblc proof that our industries will
not be swampesi by that turiT, but will
eventually (other things being ctluaD
do very much better than they ever did
under any republican tariff; The coun-
try will very soon see--if IL dies not al
ready see-tlIat republican tnrif-tinls-
ering IL not needed to advance the well
faro of the manufacturers, but Is really
a menace TO their Industries.
Tho Scared but starry flag of tariff
reform surviving the storm of its
many long BATTLES, will Goat proudly
in the coming campaign. IL will an
nonnco that by the victory 1t achieved
in is0, the intoIernble burdens Of tax
alton for the benefit OF protected" mo-
nopolies have been greatly reduced.
our ports have been opened wider
than ever before to admit foreign prod
ucts Indispensable for the develop
ment OF our domestic industries and
the comfort OF the people, and free
wool and batter clothing secured to-
the shivering millions of America.
But nc DEVICE that can be inscribed ON
its shining folds will elicit moro ap-
plause from the nation than that
which signifies that 1t hns caxved q
way beyond the seas by which tho
products of American mechanics and
workingmen have already gained new
and profitable conquests in tho most
distant markets OF the world,
The facts answer as with bsoad-