WHAT PROTECTION HAS DONE FOE AMERICA

Ashburton Guardian, Volume VII, Issue 1638, 17 August 1887, Page 3

WHAT PROTECTION HAS DONE FOE AMERICA

(San Francisco "News Letter.") No man with anything like a well informed and thoughtful appreciation of what a protective tariff has done for the Industrial development of this great country will desire to witnees a return to the " Fretrade" of the so-called political toonomUts. The day may come when we, Ilka England, may be able to open our ports and Invite and defy outside competition; but that Is not yet. To attempt anything of the kind whilst we have not jet overtaken all the wants of our borne market, In the matter of manufactures, would be. madness m the extreme. We , are simply not going to do it, and the ■ooner foieign traders take notice of that fact, and govern themselves accordingly, the bettor. And there ii good reason why we should not. We, aa a people, are getting on, exceedingly well under our present •ysteqLfaa feots of onr marvellous growth demonstrate to all the world. What are those faots 1 Let us hastily glance at what 20 years of Protection hat done for our nation. Under the present tariff we have grown from ft purely agricultural country largely dependent upon Europe for our manufactures, to a nation teeming with Important Industries. During 20 years we have added 20,000,000 to our population ; the number of our cities and towns with over 8000 inhabitants has actually doubled, having increased from 141 to 286. The population of our cities has more than doubled, having increased from 5,000,000 In 1860 to upwards of 11,000,000 In 1880. The important Industries have developed m the same proportions. The annual product of our coal ralDes has Increased from 14 000,000 tool m 1860 to 96,000,000 now, or nearly ■erenfold. Our iron mines m 1860 produced 900,000 tons of ore, but the stimulus of Protection has brought up the annual yield to nearly nine time that amount, or 8,000,000 tons. The various metal Industries of the country wtre m enroioving about 53,000 bands, consuming $100,000,000 worth of material, and producing $280,000,000 worth of annual products. To-day these same Industries give employment to 300,000 hands, consume $380,100,000 worth cf material, and produce every year $600,000,000 In value of manufactured good*, m 1860 about 130,000 were engaged In Industries relating to wood and Its manufacture ; to-day* 340,0G0 are so engaged, while the value of the annual prod not has increased three-fold, exceeding now $500,000,000. A judicious tariff haa Increased the number employed m the woollen Industiy from 60,000 to over 160,000, while the value of the yearly products of our home mills has risen from 980,000,000 to $270,000,000. In the cotton industry we have practically taken from England our entire home market of 55,000,000 customers, increased the number employed m our mills to 200,000 persons, and m the last two decades doubled the value of the product. Imports of cotton goods have declined from the enormons quantity of 227,000,000 yards m 1860 to almost nothing now, whilst m 1881 we exported 150,00 000 Yards. The silk industry shows a like Increase. Our 30,000 miles of railroad la 1860 have increased to 120,000 miles, or about equal to the railage of the rest of the world. And while all this has been going on for the benefit of the producer, the comuraer haa also benefited by a marked cheapening of prices. Before |he fostering care of a protective tariff made us independent of the foreign manufacturer we were subject to such prices, often exorbitant, as he chose to exact. Dow the keenness of home competition has settled all that. Prices under Protection are wonderfully leßs than under a low tariff. The opening of oor coal mines haa reduced the price of coal la the United States to less per ton at the mines than the cost m Great Britain, and, owing to the low rates of freight, to less per ton at the same distance from the mine. A polioy of Protection has reduced the cost of Iron and steel. In 1864, when our Bessemer iteel works were undertaken, American railroad managers were paying from 80$ to ICOS per ton for English steel rails dellfered at English seaports. Today home manufactured steel rails are quoted lelow 30$ per ton. The carriage of freight over our railroads has been reduced since 1873 from lcent 7mlls per mile to 1.07 m 1880, which is the lowest railroad transportation service In the world; The tariff has so reduoed the price of cotton goods to the consumer that maoy grades are now cheaper here than m England. A like experience is found m regard to woollen manufactures. The came Is true m respect to silk, glass, earthenware, and every kind of manufactured article that we can at this present writing call to mind. Millions have been saved to the consumer, buodreds of millions have goue to the wage.earning class, a home market has been secured to the f aimer, and, whilst everybody has been benefited and nobody hurt, we have rapidly grown to the proportions of a self-sustaining, Independent nation. These broad, palpable, and undeniable facts are the envy of the world. History records co such industrial progrees as has teen made m the United States during the paßt 20 yean. The present popularity and strength of »nr protective system lie In tbe prosperity it has g'.ven the nation ; m tbe great industrial cities it haß built up ; In the prosperous and diversified industries it has founded ; In the profitable home market it has given our farmers ; In the varied employment it has given tbe men snd youths of the c untry. In sll that goes to make a nation strong and prosperous ; m all that goes to mike a country great and independent ; m all that goei to bruaden the horizin of the laborer, Increase his earnings, cheapen tbe cost of what he boys, and improve his condition — m all this lies the strength of the protective system. Firm In the convictions of our leading leaders, deeply seated In the experiences of the country, strong m the hearts of a prosperous people, and laden with evidences of iti . flen fruit, we are not going to change it daring tho present generation at least. The tariff may undergo changes, but always towards Protection. We shall eertainlf not recur to the " early Colonial system," nor be seduced by the Manchester School of "Freetraders," charm they never so ounnlngly. Tbe America? •ystem is safe In the hands of those whe hare prospered under it.