The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1905-04-23
BEAT DOWN THE TARIFF WALLS.

In the current number of the Manu-
facturer's Record. Mr.. Edward Atkin-
son has a thoughtful discussion of the
question of widening Cotton Mar
kets." The eminent statistician takes
as his text the following extract from
letter written by Mr. VIM. l. Holt, of
the Lakeside Mills, Burlington, North
Carolina:
THE writer has noticed for some
time past the enormous business the
English mills have been doing and the
stupendous exports, and am unable to
understand why we are not getting our
portion of same. There must be some
thing radically wrong, and can't see
why we should sit back and let them
do it ALL
Mr.. Atkinson says that the above
extract from Mr.. Hollis letter is IAN
exact statement of the conditions" and
he details his conversation with Ger
man exporter of goods to South Amer
lea as they journeyed on a train to
Manchester. The exporter told Mr..
Atkinson that he had purchased 1000
bales of our drills to send to South
America, adding:
"They are better goods than the
British. They are preferred by my
customers, and / wish / could buy
more, as | am now going to Manches-
ter to buy 1000 bales of British drills
to send to the same market
In answer to Mr.. Atl6inson's 'Why?"
the exporter gave a minute statement
which boiled down was because Eng
land snapped goods without a tariff
tax, gave long credit, and had best IA
cilities for shipping. Concluding Mr..
Atkinson says:
''NoW, so long as we tax the wool,
the hides and great number OF small
miscellaneous products that we might
imlort with profit from South Amer
ica,, admitting only nitrates and coffee
freq of duty, and so long as we keep
in force navigation laws that obstruct
merchants in making their freight ar
rangementS, we have no right to eX-
pcct to export cotton goods freely or
anything else. The round trips dre
impractical BILE. We are protecting the
manufacturers of cotton fabrics OF
Lancashire and the shipowners of
Great Britain so long as we maintain
the present taxes on imports of the
goods which are the means of pay
ment in South America and so long
as we maintain acts for regulating the
shipping of this country which have
swept our flag from the sea. What is
true of South America is true also of
every other continent and When a sys-
tenn of true protection to domestic in
dustry by the removal of taxes on for
eign imports except for the StrcteSt
revenue purposes, is entered upon, and
o true system of developing the seago-
ing ships and steamers of this coun-
try by the removal of the obstructive
taxes and absurd conditions of our
navigation laws, we may then share
with Great Britain in the export of cot
ton fabrics to meet the increasing de-
mandS of the world and restore our
flag in the ports of other continents"
There is more sound political econ
omy and horse sense in the above
statement than has appeared in all the
protection, so-called, speeches of a gem
Grafton. The folks who need a tearing
down of tariff walls more than any
other people in America are the man
ufacturers of cotton. They have to
pay much more for the machinery they
buy because of the protective tariff
and because it forbids an exchange of
PIOuuClS Will otHeI Countries lley are
shut out of foreign markets. Five
years ago there were more than
enough spindles to supply the home
market, and unless the cotton manu-
facturers are given access to foreign
markets they cannot hope for better
conditions. England is erecting more
mills and putting in more spindles and
finds ready market for the product
of it's mills because it swaps goods with
customers. The high tariff rates pre-
vent this swapping by American man
ufacturers, and therefore shut them
out of the markets that they must Sc
cure if they are to have a fair chance
with the English mills.
Tear down the tariff walls.