Daily Kennebec journal., 1916-08-14
Editors Letter Box
Mr.. McGilIicuddy Reviewed.

Editor Kennebec Journal:
About a month ago Mr.. Gillicuddy made
speech in Congress in which he made
the statement that the Republican rea-
son for high protective tariff is that it
Is necessary.
First to create business and industrial
prosperity. and second to insure high
standard of wages for our laboring peo-
pie. He said: II will frankly say that if
such were the fact 1 would be for it, be-
cause 1 want to see this country pros
porous as much as any one"
The remarkable advance in industrial
prosperity of this country has been en-
phasized by every official report published
for the past 40 years, with the exception
of those issued during the Cleveland ad-
minstration. The success of farmer or
of a manufacturer depends on his balance
Of accounts at the end Of the year. If
this also holds true with nations, then
this nation was the most prosperous at
the end of the fiscal year June 30, 1913,
the last fiscal year that the Payne tariff
act was in force, of any of the great
manufacturing nations Our per capita
balance of foreign commerce was from
six to IS times as large as theirs. And
i this per capita net income is the only
true test.
We most emphatically claim that this
unparalleled prosperity can justly be at
tributed to our protective tariff For
while the per capita balance of trade
during the four years of the Wilson tar
iff act was but Sc; or one dollar and a
half a year, the balance during the next
ninplnV 10
over sos per capita.
The same conditions existed In the first
six months of 1919 under the Payne tariff
In comparison with the first six months
of 1914 under the Underwood act. The
only disturbing element in those months
In 1914 was the Underwood act, and that
was sufficient to cause a loss in the bal
ance of trade in the 1914 period of over 20
per cent. And on the first of Sept. 1914
: the entire balance of trade was wiped out
and there was a balance against us OF
about s25.000,00O. While from the first OF
March 1914, to the 1st of Aug, the begin
ming of the war, the balance was ahout
$40 O00. 600. And worse yet, while the calen-
dar year 1913 gave us a brade balance OF
over s69l 100000, or about &S,Mo0m per
month in the first eight months of lol4,
under the Underwood law the balance was
! but about two and a half millions per
month. or decrease of % per cent.
When we compare the miserable finan-
cial record of this administration with
! the remarkable prosperity of the pre-
vious 16 years under a protective tariff,
I wonder how much more evidence Mr..
McGillicuddy will need to convince him
that prosperity was due to the Repuhl-
can protective policy. Let me give an in
stance where the protective policy has
been conducive to the building up of one
of our important industries. and this Is
but typical of most of them In 1890
there were but $50 tons of tin plates made
In this country. The Mckinley law that
year placed a duty on them of two and
one-fourth cents a pound. Encoura ged by
this duty which prevented destructive
foreign competition we Immediately be-
gan the manufacture and the next year
we produced 2236,743 pounds of tin plates
The same year we imported 1,0364S9,04
pounds But the production steadily in
creased until in 1913 we produced 2.157 o55.
ooo pounds. and the imports decreased to
6,613.253 pounds in 1912. and our exports
amounted 10 over iol'VN''uV. Iout III i'io
the Democratic tariff reduced the duty
over 40 per cent. thus exposing our man
ufacturers to competition to the cheap
labor OF Wales and the production de-
creased in 1914 31o,Ooo.ooo pounds. and the
imports increased over 700 per cent.
This reduction of duty enabled the
Standard Oil Co. to place an order for
foreign tin amounting to S.5oo.oho