The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1897-01-15
Three Cents on Cotton.

which is sitting for hearings" and asked
for duty of three cents pound on cot
ton, iE order to shut out the Egyptian
long staple which is being shipped to tue
New England mills in competition with
the same class of cotton produced in some
parts of the Southern States. The cotton
shipped from Egypt, India, China, etc.,
to this country is purchased with silver
bullion bought in America for 81 cents an
ounce
If silver was remonetized by this coun-
try, the importers of cotton would have
to pay I2o cents all ounce for it, which
would make it cost the shippers about five
cents pound more for cotton in the East,
which would be protection of five in
South would not have to go back on its
record of opposition to protection"
New England doesn't want "protection"
to cotton, wool and wheat The cheaper
the factory owners can buy these things
the cheaper they can produce finished
goods. England factory people for the
same reason want whole line of free
trade. They want our open markets to
sell their goods in. Our manufacturers
only want protection" on the goods
they manufacture, so that they can keep
the American market to themselves. This
comprises the entire tariff theory of "pro-
lection" at the present time. In the early
period of manufacturing in the United
States, the manufacturers, or those wish
ing to go into manufacturing, asked for
tariff to protect them from being crushed
out by the wealthy foreign manufacturers
who could and did, ship in their goods
and sell them at prices below the cost of
making them, which crushed out the
weak establishments i'll this country be-
fore they got fairly on their feet. Com
petition among our home manufacturers
they argued would lower prices, after they
had become fairly established Compe-
tition did lower prices, but it eventually
created numerous trusts to prevent the
fall in prices.
A tariff will not help the farmers of
this country becuse they must always ship
their surplus products, and the price set
in Liverpool for them governs the price
in this country. The lower the English
manufacturers can purchase their raw
material and breadstuffs the less the cost
of producing their manufactured goods
Here we find American silver playing
an important part. The wheat, cotton,
wool they can buy in Asiatic countries
with our silver bullion at 81 cents an
ounce ill place of $I.2e cents an ounce, is
almost equal to 100 per cent profit to the
manufacturers of England over what it
would be if they had to purchase Amer,
lean silver at its coin value, which they
would have to pay if our minis were open
to free coinage of silver.
The reconciliation of silver by this
country would protect our manufacturers
against England, for the English manu-
facturer would then have to pay the diff
ference between 81 cents and $I2o for
wheat, cotton, wool and other Asiatic
raw materials. In short while it built up
free coinage in this country would we'll
nigh ruin the manufacturing industries in
England, while the farmers of Great
Britain would be benefited i'll a cores
ponding degree to the farmers of America
who export grain They as we'll as Amer
lean farmers would be protected against
the wheat cotton, wool, etc, of Russia,
Argentina, India, Egypt, China, ETC.,
silver money countries, the products of
which cost just as many ounces of silver
for given quantity Of goods, as though
silver were 81, 20 instead of the present
price, 81 cents an ounce
The reconciliation of silver would
be much greater protection to the
farmers and manufacturers of the United
States than any tariff could possibly be,
and through lthese two great lines of in
dustry and through them all intermediate
ooHlNSS VI liliuSlly. lie pIOleCllOI Oh
our agriculture from the effects Of our own
silver as at present handled, would be the
greatest protection to every line of honest
industry in this country that can possibly
be devised. Added to the above named
benefits would be the steadily increasing
volume of circulating money which an
increase in business hourly demands.
If manufacturers and farmers would
study the silver question intelligently,
and understand its influence on the in
dustry of the world, they would be dis
gusted in place ofdeceived by the rascally.
as we'll as silly outcry of the Rothschild
daily press about ''53 cent dollars" ire
pudiation," the Single gold Standard"
anarchy" and ''mob rule" all scare
crows invented by set of as arrant
rogues as ever escaped the penitentiary,
to frignten the gullable people, as the
bug a-boo" in the dark is used to
Brighten children.