American tariffs from Plymouth Rock to McKinley. A complete and impartial history of our tariff systems, 1620-1891

After Reading Hand to a Friend. LIST NUMBER 52. The Defender OKVOTED TO THE PROTECTION OF AMERICAN LABOR AND INDUSTRIES. PITBLIgBXD WHEKLl AT No. 135 WEST TWENTY-THIRD STREET, NEW YORK. Price 10 centM. S:*u''N-o.'i. New York, Sept. 7, 1892. %ryl.?f>- AMERICAN TARIFFS * FROM PLYIVIQUTH ROCK TO cKINLEY. A Complete and Impartial History of our Tariff Systems. COnrBIGHT. WHICH SIDE DO YOU CHOOSE ? JEFF DAVIS AND CLEVELAND. Congress sliall have poiver to lay and collect taxes, duties and excises for reveuae only, neces- sary to pay tbe debts, provide for the common defense and carry en tbe gorernment of the Con- federate States ; bat no bounties shall be granted from the Treas- ury, nor shall any duties or taxes on Importations n-om for- eign nations be laid to promote or foster any branch of Industry. —Article 1, Sectioti 8, Clause loflfu perma- nent Constitution of the Confederate States, adopted when in rebellion on March U, 1861. IVe declare It to be a ftanda- mental principle of tlie Demo- cratic party that the federal government has no conatltn* tlonal power to enforce and collect tariff duties except for the purpose of revenue lemly.— From riatform of Democratic Parly, Adopted June S3, 13!&. WASHINGTON AND HARRISON; Whereas It Is necessary for the support of the government for the discharge of the debts of the United States, and the encourage- ment and protection of manufac- tures that duties be laid apon goods, tec.— Preamble of First Tariff Law Signed by George Washington, July 4. 1T89. Congress has repeatedly and not ivlthout success directed Its attention to the encouragement of manufactures. The object Is of too much eoDsequence not to Insure a conttunauce orj*o efforts In every \¥ay nrblch shall appear eligible. — From George T/iaehington't Speech to Congrfm, dated December 7, 1796. AVe believe that all articles which cannot be produced In the IJulted States, except luxuries, should be admitted f^ee of duty, and that on all Imports coming Into competition ivlth the pro- ducts of American labor there should be levied duties equal to the difference betvreen ^vagcs abroad and at botae.—From Plat- form of EepMican Party, Adopted June Vt, American Tariffs FROM PLYMOUTH ROCK TO McKINLEY. A CoDiplel aiiJ Impartial History of onr Tariff SysteiDS. 1620-1891. 1. PERIOD Under Colonies, 1620—1783. 2. PERIOD UNDER THE GON^EDBRACY, 1783—1789. 3. PERIOD UNDER THE CONSTITUTION, 1789—1891 OCa»YRIQHX. D. O. HARRIMAN, A.iA., iraw TOHK OlttT. Cornell University Library The original of tliis book is in tine Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924089421022 PECK'S REPORT. ** Wages have risen and production immenselp increased under the McKinley Tariff," aaya the Democratic Labor Commissioner of Nt^w York, who was appointed by Governor Grover Cleveland. [From loteet annual report of the New York State Bnrean <// StatisticB of Iiaboi.] The period coveied by investigation includea the yjai immediately prior tt the enactment of what is termed the " McKinley bill," and the year immediately following its becoming law. That is, the data upon ^'liich the report has been made was for the year commencing September 1, 1.889, up to and including AugTist 31, 1890, and the year commencing September 1, 1890, up to and including August 31, 1891. Some eight thousand blanks were f.ddresspd and mailed to as many separate establishments throughout the State, and of this number, 6,000, or seventy-five per cent., were returned fully and con ectly answered. The figures contained in the following tables are based entirely apon returns furnished this bnrenu by over six thousand substantial, representative and leading bi^iness firms of this State. It is needless to comment upon the separate figures or the totals included in the above table [see page 4] : they tell their own story simply and with abso- lute truth. It appears! that there was a net increase' in wages of $6,377,925.09 in the year 1891, as compared with the amount pail in 1890, and a net increase of production of 131,315,130:68 in the year 1891 over that of 1890. A simple analysis of this table further demonstrates the inte;estiug fact that of the sixty- seven industries covered seventy-seven per cent, of them show an increase either of the wages or product, or both, and that there wera no less than 89,717 instances of individual increases of wages during the same y(ar. The figures included in the above table [see pa(;e 6] seem to be, and they are, in strict harmony with the facts established by table No. 1. Of the 68 industries included. 75 per cent, of them show an increased average yearly earning in the year 1891, while the total average increase of rearly earnings of the 285,000 employees was $23. 11. The average increase of yearly earnings of the employees in the 5t trades showing an increase, was $43.96 in 1891; as compared with j^,890. In addition to the investigation of this special subject, the bureau has continued its annual investigation of all labor disturbances c ccurring in the State during the past year. The total number of strikes reported for the year 1891 was 4,519. as agajnst 6,258 occurring in the year 1890, a ducrease of 1,740. Of the Jptal number 4,519—2,375 or 53 per cent, of thflm,w()re in the building trades, a faot that Seems td follow in natural sequence the results obtained in the special investigation of tlje "Effect of the Tariff on Labor and Wages." CHARLES F. PECK. Commissioner of Labor. SAVINGS ALSO INCREASED. The repcHi of the democratic superintendent of the Banking Department of New York state, shows that deposits in savings banks on July 1, 1892, had increased $86,882,516.35 over "the deposits on January 1, 1889, while the number of depositors has increased from 1,362,852 to 1,656,133 in the same time. Tabi.e Showing Increases and Decreases of Wages and Amount OF Production, 1891 over 1890. INDUSTRIES. Increases, Wages. Product. Dbcrbases. Wages. Agricultural implements Arms and ammunition Artificial teeth ;.*> Artisans' tools , ^ Awnings, flags, sails, tents, etc Boots and shoes ...,,, ^ Brick, tile and sewer pipe Brooms and brushes Building ■Burial cases, caskets, coffins, etc.:. Carpetings 'Carriages, wagons, etc -Cement, lime, pla'ster, etc Chemicals, acids,, etc Clocks, watches, "etc.. Clothing ■ Cooking and heating apparatus.,.. Cordage and twine Corks, cork soles, etc Crayofts and pencils Drugs and medicines*.... ., Dye stuffs and chemicals Eai'then and stoneware Electrical apparatus and appliances Emery ore i . - ; Fancy articles * Fertilizers ..:.. Fire-works and matchesv. v. Flax, hemp and juter goods, Food preparations . ^ . ; . v . . . . , Furniture Gas lighting. : Glass Gloves, mittens, etc ; Glue, wax and starch Hair work (animal and human} Ink, mucilage and paste Ivory, bone, shell, horn goods, etc.. Leather and leather goods Linen Liquors & beverages (not spirituous) Liquors, malt, (^istilled & fermented Lumber < .....*... ^ . . . Machines and machinery.... Metals and metallic goods Molds, lasts and patt erna Musical instruments and materials^ Oils and illuminating fluids. Paints, colors and crude materials.. Paper and paper goods Perfumes, toilet articles, etc Photographs & photographic mat'ls. Polishes and dressing Printing, publishing & bookbinding. Kailroad equipment - Rubber and elastic goods Salt .. ■.. Scldhtlfic instruments & appliances. Shipbuilding Sporting ana athletic goods....' Stone, marble, etc Tallow candles, soap and grease.. Toys and games (children's^ Tobacoo, cigars, cigarettes, etc.... Trunks and valises Whips, lashes and stocks Wooden goods #63,017 95 1,263 <^ 48,464 25 252,796 83 30,563 83 2,477 46 240,143 29 73.759 ^7 53. "9 98 .44.54189 2,705,262 21 210,311 56 24,572 28 21,101 33 33.765 OS 37.563 48 44.525 20 S,o88 14 34.77899 9,078 77 190.523 61 157.937 44 1,116 65 315,680 56 130,122 68 54000 78,361 61 55000 104,458 15 374,094 55 518,026 98 11^,467 99 22,191 05 521,817 jg 24,113 69 38,070 02 103,843 14 136,790 17 18,442 53 74,430 01 70,166 48 1,545 00 447,147,68 9,16069 177,933 34 $330.^38 85 1,143 00 425,699 20 49.444 54 348,772 35 1,881,738 83 219,124 66 7.5^6,390 27 '164,769 33 107,249 90 48,725 79 89,822 51 439.831 37 143,128 71 556,662 11 35,573 03 ""*6'8,688'23 201,115,54 29,898 23 27,72600 2,017,080 69 1,501,367 05 51,888 04 544,193 16 598,623 51 342.598 14 4,640 00 169,530 32 369,251 59 5,000 00 2.305,498 44 3.379.615 46 15,147 20 2,781,478 18 i."3,97i9i 978.943 76 126,109 50 330.377 30 101,225 99 781,990 01 1,459,34366 150,490 81 248,054 37 79.595 30 1,629 70 4,379.050 aS 758,791 ox $308,869,41 11,00095 101,597' 36 96,829 15 24,089 71 3.709.40 80000 51,03377 4,168 07 8,252 10 11,673 40 49,42414 107,421 80 25.274 66 7,182 II 10,360 73 1x2,38025 iSi»39-65 180,589 77 42.15479 Totals. Net... $7,571,666 37 (^37,342.227 83 <i,i93r74' 28 jt6,377,9g5 o» <3i.3>5,'30 68 A COMPARATIVB TaBLE SHOWING THE INCREASES AND DECREASES OF THE Average Yearly Earnings of Employes in the Year 1891 over 1890. INDUSTRIES Agricultural implementa Arms and ammunition Artificial tfeelh Artisans' tools Awnings, flags, tents, sails; etc Boots and shoes Brick, tile and sewer pipe Brooms and brushes Building ,. Buria 1 cases, caskets, coifins, etc Carpetings Can-iages, wagons, etc Cement, lime, plaster, etc Chemicals, acids, etc Clocks, watches, etc Clothing Cooking and heating apparatus Cordage, rope, twine, etc Corks, cork soles, etc Crayons and pencils Drugs and medicines Dye stuffs and c|Lem£Cals Earthen and stomware Electrical apparatus, appliances, etc... Electric ana gas lighting .>.. Emery ore . . . . . . .j. .,. Fancy articles.... T. Fertilizers .'. Fire-works, matches and sulphur Flax and hemp goods Food preparations Furniture Gas lighting Glass..... r«.... **" Gloves, mittens^ ^etc. Glue, starch andiwax Hair work (aninml and human) Ink, mucilage, caste and. blueing Ivorv, bone, shell, horh goods, etc Leather and leatlifr .goods Linen, etc Liquors and beverages (not spirituous ) . Liquor?, malt. ^Ustifled and fermented. . Lumber h Machines and mBchinerv Metals and metallic gqoas Molds, lasts and iiaitems Musical instruments and materials Oils and illuminating fluids Faints, colors, varnishes, .etc Paper and paper ^ods Perfumes, toilet articles, etc Photographs and photographic materials Polishes, blacking, etc.. . .' Printing and pubUahlng. . Railway cars and equipments. Rubber goods Salt ^ ,. Scientific instruments and appliances. Ship and boat building......... Sporting and athletic goods Stone, marble, granilo, etc Tallow candles, soap, grease, etc. ..... . Tobacco, snuff, cigars, ete Toys ■ Trunks and valises... ■ Whips, canes, umbrellas, etc Wooden goods •' - Average Yearly Earnings. 1890. $654 30 492 42 192 00 456 96 451 15 423 24 286 82 286 86 474 aS 452 45 389 50 498 31 467 28 476 37 505 81 355 67 506 48 335 97 »34 65 359 80 404 16 559 05 383 25 - 458 54' 588 19 'Mil 322 52 313 42 314 01 327 99 468 09 573 89 481 07 280 99 559 20 362 06 610 92 589 99 443 28 365 00 677 16 738 64 402 46 533 95 504 87 608 99 6cw 3^ 504 58 526 37 384 30 459 7' 443 ox 476 06 5» 99 527 87 398 fiS 483 62 ' 740 16 334 34 405 01 ♦79 «2 395 16 243 03 473 91 425 31 41338 $646 16 468 03 254 45 479 65 482 97 438 17 302 71 312 70 465 45 494 75 405 42 504 38 495 12 553 85 514 99 371 00 59S 90 338 03 336 42 341 38 463 79 545 36 422 83 413 75 607 40 393 75 44285 183 03 374 17 299 94 341 83 482 iz 665 73 S19 19 291 47 556 23 501 81 577 25 536 98 455 71 420 00 710 96 777 07 420 40 594 06 539 71 543 32 633 67 57409 614 63 434 57 479 50 502 OS 556 49 550 '7 633 06 408 64 44865 472 87 839 02 241 59 394 89 490 zo 424 OS 213 13 459 86 526 93 Increase or Decrease. increase. Decrease. $63 45 22 69 31 82 "4 93 15 89 25 84 42 30 15 92 27 84 77 48 9 18 15 33 90 43 a 06 I 77 59 63 39 57 '9 2X 54 33 60 75 13 84 X4 02 91 83 38 13 ZO 48 139 75 Z3 43 55 00 33 80 3843 !7 94 60 IX 34 84 30 34 69 5X 83 3$ SO 27 X978 60 04 80 44 28 x8 Z05 19 9 96 98 93 98 86 zl 04 28 89 58 53 34 55 "3 55 CALHOUN = WEBSTER AND V*» AND FREE TRADE^PROTECTION. THE OLD FIGHT HANDED DOWN. DEMOCRATIC PRINCIPLES IN 1892. Whereas, the Congreas of the United States, by various acts, purporting to be acts laying duties and Imposts on foreign imports, but In reality Intended ■for the protection of domestic manufactures, dec, hath exceeded Its Just powers under the Constitution, .... 'We, therefore, the people of the State of South Carolina, in con- vention assembled, do declare and ordain, and It is hereby de- clared and ordained, that the several acts and part of acts of the Congress of the United States, porportlng to be latirs for the Im- posing of duties and Imposts on the Importation of foreign com- modities, &c,, .... are unau- thorized by the Constitution of the United States, and violate the true meaning and Intent thereof, and are null, void, and no law. — Ordinance of NuUificalUm paesed by Soutk Carolina, through Delegate! assembled in ffmeral ComenUm, Nonembtr 27, 1832. REPUBLICAN PRINCIPLES IN 1892. I defy the man In any degree conversant ivlth the history— Iv any degree acquainted with the annals of this country from 1?87 to 17S9, when tite constitution was adopted, to say that protec- tion! of American labor and In- dustry was not a leading, I might almost say the leading motive. South as well as North, for the formation of the neiv govern- ment. Trithout that provision In the constitution It never could have been aAopteA.— Speech in Albany, 1814. INTRODUCTION. In order that there may be no misunderstanding between the reader and the writer of the following pages, relative to the meaning of certain terms and phrases, it may be well to define them here. A TARIFF is a system of duties imposed by the government of a country upon goods imported or exported.* There are but two kinds of tariff in the United States : 1. A Free Trade tariff. 2. A Protective Tariff. A FREE TRADE TARIFF t is simply a tariff for revenue only ; and revenue derived therefrom is intended for governmental expenses exclusively. It is the system which is in operation in England. Since it is (lesigned for revenue only, its duties are nearly all levied upon articles (except luxuries) that are in great and certain demand. It so happens, that the articles thus levied upon (except luxuries) are constantly required by the common people in their household economy, and that they can not be raised or produced prafltably at home, such as tea, coffee, ete., etc.; and therefore, cannot come into competition with home productions. A PROTECTITE TARIFF not only provides revenue for the ex- penses of the Government ; but, also, so discriminates its duties that they are levied principally upon imported articles that come in direct competi- tion with home indusitries, and so adjusts the rates that such competing foreign productions cannot be placed upon the bomb markets at prices less than the fair and reasonable home-market pries By this means the high wages of our home laborers are maintained, and need not be reduced to the low level of oheap_ foreign labor ; and under this tariff, articles of necessity for the common people injtheir household economy, and which cannot be raised or produced profitably at home, are admitted free of duty, such as tea, coffee, sugar, etc., etc. * In the United States there is no duty on exports. f Nowhere on earth does actual and literal free trade exist between two civilized nations, by virtne of which all custom houses, revenues and revenue officials, have been wholly abolished ; nor has it ever existed in that form between two such nations. An able writer on Protection says : "All the prosperity enjoyed by the American people — absolutely all the prosperity, without any reserva- tien whatever — from the foundation of the United States Gtevemment, down to the present time, has been under the reign of protective principles ; and all the hard times suffered by the American people, in the same period, have been preceded, either by a heavy reduction of duties on im- ports, or by insufficient protection ; thus refuting all free trade theories on the subject." — ^D. H. Mason. I wUl not here state whether or not I agree with][this statement ; but it is my purpose in this treatise to give inquiring readers an opportunity for judging for themselves whether or not the foregoiuj^ statement is true ; and I shall do this by no labored argument of mine, but by an HISTORICAL STATEMENT OF FACTS incur Colonial and National experience, which, in themselves, may constitute an argument at once convincing and irresistible. The proposition which I have quoted above is an exceedingly import- ant one ; for, if if be true, then we have discovered the correct principle of economic action, for our nation at least; and the one which should b^. made plain and clear to all our people to the end that protective-prinoiples may become the settled and permanent rule in our economic policy. And if it be false, th^ sooner its falsity is proven, the better ; for then we can take our reckonings anew, and start afresh in search of the truth. Let us carefully examine the facts, and let them determine which is true, IHS AUTHOR AMERICAN TARIFFS: FROM PLYMOUTH ROCK TO McKINLEY. CHAPTEE I. VmST FBII TBADI FIBIOD, 1620-1789—1. ITNDEB THE COLONIAL QOTSBM- MBNT — 2. UNDKE THE OONFEDBEAOT. Since 1630, and through our Colonial history, but especially since the Treaty of 1783, by which the ReTolutionary War was closed, and our Independence established, we have tried and thoroughly ^tested all the different phases of this economic question, from extreme free trade, under the Confederacy (1783 to 1789), to the high protective tariff, under the rule of the Republican Party, since 1861. FREE TRADE UNDER THE CONFEDERACY.— It is an historical fact, though comparatively few of our people seem to be aware of it, that during the Confederacy, the period preceding the adoption of our Consti- tution, we made for the first and only time in our history a full and fair trial of free trade, of practically unrestricted imports. England boasts of befng the great free trade nation of the world, but she has never hr."^. a free trade system that approaehes the one we " enjoyed " from 17^83 to 1789. How much we enjoyed it appears here- CONGREJSS UNDER THE CONFEDERACY.- Under the Confeder- acy, the States were held together by a rope of sand. The powers of Congress were exceedingly limited, especially on this question. It had no authority to enact a general tariff on imports without the consent of every one of the thirteen States, and such consent waa never given. The States thought that they were, individually, competent to manage those matters for themselves, and that they could protect their separate rights better than Congress could do it for them. Each State had the right to regulate its own trade, and each imposed upon foreign products, and upon the products of the other States, such duties as it deemed best. Each strove to secure trade for itself, without regard to.the interests of any other State. JEALOUSY OF THE STATES.— Je&lonsy ofj eaeh other aeems to llATe been the onderlyioK motive of their onf ostuaate aotions. Fean^ylii 10 Tania established a duty of two and one-half<per cent, ,'but even this W9S an ineffectual remedy ; for New Jersey opened a free port at Burlington, where the Pennsylvania merchants entered their goods, and took them clandes- tinely across the river to Pennsylvania, without paying any duty. New Jersey voted to allow Congress to impose a general tarifE, while New York, on account of her situation relative to Connecticut and New Jersey, and the advantages this situation gave her in the matter of im- portations, refused to do so. New Jersey, thereupon, withdrew her con- sent, and, in order to annoy New York, established a free port at Paulua Hook, opposite New York City, and New York merchants repeated the tactics of Philadelphia, and got their goods free of duty. Hamilton urged upon the States the necessity of stopping this suicidal | policy and of vesting Congress with full power to regulate trade, and he contrasted the "prospect" of a number of petty States, jarring, jealous and perverse, fluctuating and unhappy at home, and weak by their dissen- sions in the eyes of other nations," with a "noble and magnificent per- spective of a Great Kepublic ;" but it was years before he and others could persuade the States to do this. As just stated. Congress had no power in itself to lay duties or to regulate trade, and as the States would not agree upon a uniform rate of duty, each sought its own advantage at the expense of its neighbors, and, as a necessary consequence, the country at large fell an easy prey to foreign nations, which lost no time in passing such laws as they judged most likely to destroy our commerce and extend iheir own. ■; GREAT BRITAIN'S BARBAE0U8 POLICY.— Especially was this true of Great Britain, then as now, the most selfish and grasping commer- oiai newer on the earth. And her conduct during this period of the Confederac , was in conformity with the policy she has always main- tained. HOW GEEAi BRITAIN TREATED THE COLONIES— In 1699 Parliament ' decreed that "after the 1st day of December, 1699, no wool, yarn, cloth or woollen manufactures of the English Plantations in America shall be shipped from any of said Plantations, or otherwise laden, in order to be transported thence to any plaee'\hatsoever, under'a penalty of forfeiting both ship and cargo, end £500 ($2,500) for each offense. " In 1732 Paoliament prphibited the exportation of hats from province to province, and Imited the number of apprentices ^ be taken by hatters. In 1750, the erection of any mill or engine for splitting or rolling iron was prohibited ander a penalty of $1,000 for each offense ; but pig-iron could be exported to England, duty free, in order that it might be manufactured there, and rekirned to the Colonies. Later, Lord Chatham declared that he would not permit the Colonists to make even a hob-nail or a horse-shoe for themselves, and his views were subsequently carried into effect by the absolute prohibition, ir 1765 of the export of artisans ; in 1781, of woollen machinery ; in 1782. of cotton machinery and artificers in cotton ; in 1786 (when the States moat needed them"), of iron and steel-making ma- 11 chinery, and workmen in those departments of trade ; and in 1799, by tie prohibition of the export of colliers, lest other countries should ac- quire the art of mining coal. England's object was to keep the Colonists all farmers, so as to s^qjply her home people, engaged mostly in manufac- turing, with food and raw materials, and to compel the Colonists to take from her in return her manufactured products ; also to pay profit both ways ; in other words, to compel them to sell to England all they had to sell — their agricultural surplus — and to buy from her all they were obliged to purchase — all manufactured articles of any importance. This process was pleasing and remunerative to British manufacturers and capitalists ; but it'kept the Colonists poor, and almost ruined them. For, as has been j shown, they were forbidden to manufacture anything th^ipselves, and they were never able to raise an agricultural surplus sufficient to pay foi what they had to import. With no tariff on imports at home, but subject to such burdens oa our exports abroad as was pleasing to those to whom [we were obliged to sell, the imports of the Colonists in 1771 exceeded their exports by $13,- 750,000 — ah enormous sum in those days. Is it any wonder that our forefathers rebelled ? And not satisfied with these measures to prevent and repress all manufacturing enterprises in the States, she also^ attempted to destroy all our commerce by'enforcing most barbarously their iniquitous laws with respect to navigation. By the Navigation Act Great Britain decreed that "No goods or com- modities whatever, of the growth, production or manufacture of Europe, Africa or America, shall be imported into England or Ireland, or into any of the Plantations (American Colonies) except in ships belonging to En- glish subjects, of which the master and the greater number of the crew shall also be English." Our trade with her "West Indian Colonies was prohibited ; and, by the enforcement of these navigation acts, our commerce was nearly destroyed. As we had no tariff, foreign vessels and goods were freely admitted into our States ; while our vessels and goods were burdened with h^avy rates and duties in foreign ports. It thus happened that the prices of goods imported and the prices of our exports were subject to the wUl of foreign- ers. They demanded their own prices for their imports, and we had to pay them ; and they offered us their own prices for our goods, and we had to take them ; for, being without a national tariff, we were absolutely at their mercy. Before this' Navigation Act was passed, the Colonists had sent their trading ships to all the known ports of the world, and their commerce had become considerable and valuable to them, but by that Act it was annihi- lated at a blow. Even Burke declared In Parliament that " by it the com- merce of the Cojonies was not only tied, but strangled." Is it not true that England was' and is thjs most selfish of nations ? Her object will be stated in a subsequent paragraph. HOW THE STATES WERE AFFECTED.— In the comparative con- dition of the United States and Great Britam, after the close of the 12 Revolutionary War, not a hatter, a boot or shoemaker, a saddler, or a brass-founder here could carry on his business, except in the coarsest an(? most ordinary production, under the pressure of tRis foreign dictation' Thus was presented the extraordinary and calamitous spectacle of a 8uc> cessful Revolution wholly failing of its ultimate object. The people oi America had gone to war not for names, but for things : to redress theif own grievances, to improve their own condition, and to throw off the bur- den which the Colonial system had laid on their industry. To attain these objects they had endured incredible hardships, and borne and suf' f ered almost beyond the measure of humanity. ■ And when their independence was attained, they found that, by the ungenerous, uncivilized and unchristian legislation and action of Great Britain, it was merely a piece of parchment. The industry which had been burdened in the Colonies had been crushed in the Free States, and the mechanics and manufacturers of the country found themselves, in the bitterness of their hearts, independent and ruined. DANIEL WEBSTER in a speech on the 8th of July, 1833, affirmed the truth of the foregoing statements when he said : " From the close of the War of the Revolution, there came a period of depression and distress, on the Atlantic coast, such as the people had hardly felt during tte sharpest crisis of the war itself. Ship-owners, ship-builders, mechanics, artisanSj aU were destitute of employment, and some of them destitute of bread. British ships came freely, and British ships came plentifully ; while to American ships and American products, there was neither pro- tection on the one side, nor the equivalent of reciprocal free trade on the other. The cheaper labor of England supplied the inhabitants of the Atlantic shores with everything. Ready-made clothes, among the rest, from the crown of the head to the soles of the feet, were for sale in every city. AU these things came free from any general system of imposts. Some of the States attempted to establish their own partial systems, but they failed." GEORGE BANCROFT on page 433, Vol. I. Hist. Const., paints the picture of this period (1785) even a darker shade when he says : " It is certain that the English have the trade of these States almost whoUy in their hands ; whereby their influence must increase ; and a constantly increasing scarcity of money begins to be felt, since no ship sails hence to England without large sums of money on board, especially the Euglish packet-boats, which monthly take with them, between forty and fifty thousand poUnds sterling." Again on page 439 we find this : "The scarcity of money makes the produce of the country cheap, to the disappointment of the farmers, and the discouragement of husbandry. Thus, the two classes, merchants and farmers, that divide neafly aU America, are discontented and distressed." GfiEEBY SELFISHNESS OP GREAT BRITAIN.— It may be re- marked in passing that it has always been the leading ofejeot of Great Britain to manufacture for the world, to monc^olize the bulk of reproduc- tive power, and, if possible, to keep all other countries in a state of indus- 18 trial vassalage, by means of her great capital, her cheap labor, her aldll and her mercantile marine. Her policy has been, and is, to force all other countries to compete in her home markets for the sale of then- raw materials. Why? To enable her to fix the price of what she buys. It has also been, and is, her policy to force aJl other nations to compete in her homo markets for the purchase of her finished products. Why? To enable her to;fix the price of what she sells. Of course, that is business ; and if England can enforce such policies, she will, indeed, become the mistress of the world. This policy she enforced upon us under ihe Con- federacy. , In proof that this selfish policy has prevailed in England, many of her ablest public men might be quoted; but two or three will suffice at this tjme. ' Years ago, Lord Goderich publicly declared in the English Parlia- ment : "Other nations know that what we KngUsh mean by free trade is nothing more or less than by means of th^ r;reat advantages we enjoy, to get the monopoly of ali the markc '^s of other nations for our manufact- ures ; and to prevent them (the foreign nations) one and all from ever becoming manufacthring nations." David Sytne, nnothr ? prominent English free trader and Member of Parliament openly said i ' ' In any quarter of the globe, where competition show itself as likely to interfere with English monopoly, immediately tio capital of her manu- facturers is massed in that particular quarter ; and goods are exported there in largcr'quantities, and sold at such price: that outside competition is effectually- counted out. English manufacture: : have been known to export goods to a dfetant market and sell then under cost for years, with a view of getting the market into their own hands again, and keep that foreign market, and step in for tho whole when pricec revive." No comment is called for at this time ; but as tho reader follows this history, he wiU find the accuracy of the foregoii^g statement of the self- ishness of GreS^t Britain established beyond all questions ; and the reader is especially asked to read with great care what is said of her conduct toward this- country after the close of the War of the Eevolution ; and also, after the close- of the second war with Great Britain. RESriTS OF SUCH A POLICY — And so the years from 1783 to 1789 were lovely, halcyon days for the merchants and statesmen of Great Britain. In about three years' time, nearly all the money of the country had passed into the pockets of British merchants and manufacturers, and we were left "poor indeed ; "for not oiily did they take from us our money, but they took, also, our good name for integrity, independence and common-sense, which we had won in the Revolutionary War. As there was no tariff to prevent, foreign nations literally poured in upon us their products of every kind and description, in such quantities, and at such prices that our people could not compete with them. Our domestic iadustries were suspended. The weaver, the ■ha«^ autker, the haAies, the asaddler, the vopo-toAtt, wid mtsxf otfem, ' 14 duoed to bankruptcy ; our markets were glutted with foreign products ; prices fell ; our manufacturers, generally, were ruined ; our laborers beg- gared ; our artisans without employment ; our merchants insolvent, and our farmers necessarily followed all these classes into the vortex of general financial destruction. ' ' Depreciation seized upon every species of property. Legal pressure to enforce payment of debts caused alarming sacrifices of both personal and real-state ; spread distress far and wide among the masses of the people ; aroused in the hearts of the sufferers the bitterest feelings against lawyers, the courts and*th6 whole creditor class ; led to a popular clamor for stay- laws and various other radical measures of supposed relief, and finally filled the whole land with excitement, apprehension' and sense of weakness and a tendency to despair of the EepubUc. Inability to pay even neces- sary taxes became general, and often these could be collected only by levy and sale of the homestead." — Mason. Such were the ruinous results that necessarily followed the adoption of a free trade policy under the Confederacy. A writer of that period says: "We are poor, with a profusion of material wealth in our possession. That we are poor, needs no other proof than our prisons, bankruptcies, judgments, executions, auctions, mort- gages, etc., and the shameless quantity of business in our courts of law." HILDRETH'S HISTORY at page 465—68, Vol. Ill, speaking of this period, has this true but terrible indictment: "The large importation of foreign goods, subject to little or no duty, and sold at peace prices, was proving ruinous to all those domestic manufactures and mechanical employments which the non-consumption agreements and the war had created and fostered. Immediately after the peace, the country had been flooded with imported goods, and debts had been unwarily contracted, for which there was no means to pay." Our imports from Great Britain alone were $30,000,000 in 178:1^85, while our exports to her were only $9,000,000 — a frightful balance on the wrong side. They drained us of our last dollar and left us, for a circulat- ing medium, only orders on State tax-collectors and depreciated certifi- cates of State and Federal debt, themselves worthless. OT^ER CALAMITOUS RESULTS The distress became universal and calamitous. In the District of Maine, a Convention was held for the purpose of revolting from the State of Massachusetts. In New Hampshire, the people surrounded the building where the Legislature was in session and declared that it should not adjourn tiU it h3,d passed measures to abolish debt, or to relieve the people in some other way. In Massachusetts, fully one-third of the population joined in Shay's Eebellion on account of the abject poverty and distress of the people, and nothing less than military force was able to repress all these lawless ■demonstrations and revolts. Among the causes that»l6d to Shay's Eebellion Uildreth mentions: " the want ot a oertain and nmimerative market for the produce of the 16 farmer, and the depression of domestic manufactures by competitioa from abroad." The French, minister at that period after relating the foregoing dis- turbances, adds: "It must be agreed that these insurrections are, in a "great part, due to the scarcity of specie." In Connecticut, more than five hundred farms were offered for sale fo? arrears of taxes, which the owners were too poor to pay ; and in Pennsylvania, North Carolina and South Carolina, matters were scarcely any better. There was no market for real-estate, and debtors, who were compelled to sell their lands, were ruined, without paying one-fourth of the demands against them. Men universally distrusted each other. The bonds of men whose* competency should have been unquestioned could not be negotiated, except at a discount of thirty, forty, or even fifty per cent. ^ FREE TRADE THE REAL CAUSE OF THESE ETIIS. — It waa generally understood and agreed, by the writers and statesmen of that distressful period, that the widespread and almost universal ruin which then involved the States in general disorder, revolt and rebellion, were in great part, if not wholly, due to the scarcity of specie, or good money. In his "History of the Insurrection," Minot regards as one of the leading causes that led to those troubles : " The loss of many markets to which Americans had formerly resorted with their produce. Thus was the usual means of remittance by articles of the growth of the country almost annihilated, and little else than specie remained to answer the demands incurred by importations. The money, of course, was drawn off, and this being inadequate to the purpose of discharging the whole amount of foreign contracts, the rest was chiefly sunk by the bankruptcies of the importers. The scarcity of specie, arising principally from this cause, was attended with evident consequences ; it checked commercial inter- course through the community, and furnished reluctant debtors with an apology for withholding their dues both from individuals and the public." But the scarcity of specie, or money, was due, as has already been shown, to the free trade policy of that period, which allowed and encouraged such enormous excess of imports over exports, and thus necessitated the withdrawal of the gold and silver from the country to pay such excess. ' ' Had there been no free trade, there would have been no inundation of foreign goods ; had there been no inundation of foreign goods, there would have been no drain of specie ; had there been no drain of specie, there would have been no lack of a circulating medium ; had there been no such distress, there would have been no impulse toward insubordination to the State." (Mason). Consequently, it follows legitimately, that free trade was the princi- pal source or cause of the widespread discontent, distress, and the de- moralization of that period. I A SUMMARY OF THESE EYIl RESULTS.— Free trade was the starting point It was quickly followed by imports laifely in ezotaa ot exports ; then by a glut of foreign productions ; then by suspension of our own manufactures of all kinds ; then by a gradual, but complete, loss of aU our specie ; then by the necessary stoppage of most of our business ; then by the enforced idleness of our laborers and artisans ; then by uni- versal debt ; then by a crushing depreciation of real-estate ; then by a positive inability on the part of nearly everybody to pay their debts ; then by general distress and financial ruin ; and finally, by insurrections and rebellions vrhich threatened destruction to the life and liberties of the na- tion. " As this was the closest approach to absolute free trade ever tried by this country, so there was the largest harvest of dangers and calamities ever experienced by the American People." (Mason). * For this reason I have dwelt more at length upon the period of the Confederacy, and for the further reason that the causes of the terriWe sufferings and disasters of our forefathers, under the free trade policy of that period, are so little understood and appreciated. THE INFLUENCE OF ENGLISH TEACHINGS.— Lured on by these false doctrines of political economy, our people had been drawing closer and closer to the brink of individual and national bankruptcy, and conse- quent political annihilation ; and at last they stood where another step in that direction was impossible without plunging into that bottomless abyss. If they would survive as a nation, there was but one thing for them to do, or that they could do — and that was to turn away from free trade and lay hold on protection. Our forefa;thers we?e not fools, though they acted very fooUshly. They had beeti educated, as just stated, in the false doctrines of political ecOnotay aS taught in England — the most swinishly selfish system ever formulated by man i and these doctrines had been so firmly established in their minds that nothing less than the bitter school of adversily, I have just outlined, could correct and eradicate them. But standing there upon that brink of sure destruction, they had the good sense to see the truth, and to declare that, while they were wUling to give up everything, even to life itself, to maintain liberty and national in- dependence, they could not see any good reason why they should sacrifice themselves to maintain a doctrine (free trade) that had brought to them only distress, misery and financial ruin. DEMAND FOE A NATIONAL CONSTITUTION.— And now having discovered their impending danger, and the cause of it ; having been con- vinced of the false and ruinous commercial policy of England toward them — the policy of practical free trade — and having comprehended the fact that a home market and home protection affords the only real safety for the American people, they took immediate steps to convene a Consti- tutional Convention, to draft a Constitution which should secure these great blessings, with others, to them and- their posterity forever. They had learned tha± a strong central power was necessary, and that many rights, then reserved to the States, must be delegated to this central power. 17 THE LEADING QUESTION.— There were other great questions to be discussed and settled, but the leading question was : ' ' How shall we se- cure protection to home industries ?" " The people oft this country demanded a Union stronger than the Con- federation, for the very purpose of shielding home industries from the prostrating assaultsi of foreign competition, through the regulation of com- merce with other nations, so as to check or to prohibit the importation of commodities that interfered with the growth and prosperity of domestic manufactures ; and so as to give native productions an impetus which would develop all the resources inherent within the boundaries of the na- tion, essential for the supply and consumption of the population at all times. No fact is more securely established than is this." (Mason). In the debate on the first tarifE bill in 1789, Fisher Ames, one of the. ablest men in that Congress, said : " I conceive, sir, that the present Constitution was dictated by com- mercial necessity more than by any other cause. The want of an efficient government to secWe the manufacturing interest, and to advance our commerce, was long seen by men of judgment and pointed out by patriots solicitous to promotii, our general welfare.'' The historian, Bancroft, says: "The necessity for regulating com- merce (i.e., for providing a proper tariff) gave the immediate impulse to a more perfect Constitution." — (Vol. I., page 146.) Daniel Webster, historically known, as " the Great. Expounder of the Constitution," in a speech at Buffalo, June, 1833, declared : " The protec- tion of American labor against the injurious competition of foreign labor, so far at least as respects general handicraft productions, is known historically to have been one end designed to be obtained by establishing the Constitution." Years later he repeated this idea, but much dearer and stronger in a speech at Albany, in August, 1844, wheii he said : " In Colonial times, and during the time of the Convention, the idea was held up, that domestic industry could not prosper, manufactures and the mechanic arts could not advance,, the condition of the common country could not be carried up to any considerable elevation, unless there should be one government to lay one rate of duty upon imports throughout the Union ; regard to be had, in laying this duty, to the protection of Ameri- can labor and industry. " I defy the man in any degree conversant with the history, in any degree acquainted with the annals of this country from 1787 to 1789, when the Oonstituticta was adopted, to say that protection of American labor and industry, was not a leading, I might almost say, the leading motive. South as well as North, for the formation of the new government. Without that provision in the Constitution, it never could have been adopted." Another remarkable man who made a careful study of this matter (Bufus Choate), declared : "jA whole people, a whole generation of our fathers, had in view, aa one trrand end and purpose of their new govern* 18' ment, the acquisition of the means of restraining, by governmental action, the importation of foreign manufactures, for the encouragement of manu- factures and of labor at home ; and desired and meant to do this by cloth- ing the new government with this specific power of regulating commerce. This whole country, with one voice, demanded to have inserted in the Constitution the power to enact protective legislation, a power which they held as another declaration of independence — a power by which we are able to protect all our children of labor. This power must not be sur- rendered, must not sleep, nntil the Union flag shall be hauled down from the last mast-head— a slight which, I trust, neither we nor our children to the thousandth generation are doomed to see." | If there were room, this position could be fortified with other quota- tions from Fisher Ames, Edward Everett, James Madison and many others, but they must be omitted at this time. The Convention was held ; the Constitution was drafted, accepted, and adopted. The First Congress was elected under its provisions, and by this Congress, the splendid machinery of the Constitution was set in motion. CHAPTER II. riEST PEOTECTION PERIOD — 1789 TO 1816. 1789.— THE TARIFF THE FIEST QUESTION The tariff questioa wai the very first subject discussed by the First Congress ; and for more than one hundred years has been the one subject that has never been finally settled. Nullification, Secession, Banks, Slavery, and Reconstruction, have had their times of fierce discussion, and have aU been forever settled, but the tariff was never a more vital question than it is to-day. The first Act of the First Congress regulated the form of the oalk to be taken by officials, and was merely formal, but the first Act of that Congress aftecting the country was the Act establishing a Protective Tariff, passed and signed by George Washington, July 4th, 1789. The discussion was long and earnest. It was participated in by such men as James Madison, R. H. Lee, Charles CarroHj Bufus King, Olivei Ellsworth, Fisher Ames, Roger Sherman, J. Trumbull, and others ; and a Congress composed of such men passed a Tariff Act in the interest ot protection and not for "revenue only," for in the Preamble to the Act, occur these words : " Whereas, it is necessary for the support of the government, for the discharge of the debt of the United States, and f oi the encouragement and protection of manufactures, that duties be laid ou imported goods, etc., therefore be it enacted," etc. It may be remarked in passing that a large majority of that First Congress were farmers ; but they saw the necessity of encouraging and protecting manufactures, in order that they might be free from serrile anO 19 dangerous dependence npon foreign nations for the arms, the implements of farming and other machinery needed for their own safety, protection and independence. It is thus seen that the doctrine of protection to home manufacture? — to home products, was coeval with our national organization. It had its enemies even then ; and then, as now, the most conspicuous were either Englishmen or men imbued with English ideas ; but all of the leading men ; the men whose actions and legislation made the Revolution a suc- cess ; the men who formulated our glorious Constitution, and secured its adoption by the several States — all voted for the Protective Tariff Bill, Bind rejoiced greatly when it became a law. OPINIONS OP PKESIDENTS.— Five of these leading men became Presidents while the law of 1739 remained on our Statue Book ; and it may not be uninteresting nor unprofitable to learn right here what thfeJe greal men thought of Protection to home manufactures. GEORGE WASHINGTON, in his first annual message, speaking of ot* nation as ^' a free people," said : "Their safety and interest require that they promote such manC- faotures as tend to render them independent of others for essentiab., particularly military supplies. " In his seventh annual message he shows that " our agriculture, com- merce and manufactures prosper beyond example (under the tariff of 1788). Every part of the Union displays indications of rapid and various improve- ment, and with burdens so .light as scarcely to be perceived. Is it too much to say that our country exhibits a spectacle of national happiness never surpassed, if ever before equalled ?" In his eighth and last annual message Washington said : "Congress has repeatedly and not without success, directed their attention to the encouragement of manufactures. The object is of too much consequence not to insure a continuance of their,,, efforts in every way which shall. appear eligible." JOHN ADAMS, our second President, in his last annual message referred to our economical system, and congratulated the country upon the great prosperity then existing, and added: "I observe, with much satisfaction, that the product of the revenue during the present year has been more considerable than during any former period. "This result affords conclusive evidence of the great resources of the country, and of the -wisdom and efBciency of the -measures which have been adopted by Congress, for the protection of commerce and preserva- tion of the public credit" THOMAS JEFFERSON, our third President, often referred to as the Founder of the Democratic Party,, in his second annual message, in enu- merating the land-;marks by which yre are to guide onrselvra in all our proceedings, mentions the following as one of th,e most prominent: "To protect the manufactures adapted to our circumstances." Our protective system, under the Tariff Act of 1789, had produced i«sDlts far greater and more satisfactory than bad been anticipated ; «oA 20 in 1806 Mr. Jefferson found that there was likely to be a considerable sur- plus after paying all the public debt called for by our contracts ; and in his sixth a