BENEFITS OF TARIFF PROTECTION. 



facturers had reduced the price to 25 cents a yard, and under the present Protec- 

 tive tariff this competition between rival interests has reduced the price of de- 

 laines to 15 cents a yard. In black alpacas the same facts are apparent. In 

 1857 these goods sold for from 75 cents to $1.2$ per yard. At that time all the 

 American manufacturers imitated foreign trade marks in order to sell their goods. 

 The tariff of 1861 and succeeding years stimulated the manufacture of alpaca, 

 and to-day it sells at from 25 to 45 cents a yard, the quality being fully equal to 

 the high-priced goods of 1857. The prices of cotton goods, coarse woolen goods, 

 boots and shoes, hats and caps, iron and steel rails, and even bar-iron and salt 

 are less to-day, in currency, than they were in gold in 1857, and it is pretty 

 generally known that in 1857 prices were exceptionally low for partial Free 

 Trade eras. 



It requires only that the farmer should consult his memory to 

 know that he sells his produce at higher prices, and buys his sup- 

 plies more cheaply now than he did previous to the war. His 

 agricultural implements are not only less than then in money cost, 

 but they are of a higher grade of usefulness, are more durable, and 

 accomplish their work in a more satisfactory manner. We appeal 

 to the farmer whether he does not now enjoy larger comforts, have 

 greater conveniences, realize higher profits, and see, generally, an 

 easier time than he did previous to 1861. If this be so, has not 

 the farmer been signally benefited by our system of Protective 

 tariffs? Had the policy of Protection to home industry been 

 hostile to the prosperity of the agricultural classes, the result must 

 have made itself felt in the every-day life of the farmer. When we 

 learn that he was never so thrifty and comfortably situated as at 

 the present moment, we are forced to conclude that the policy of 

 Protection has been, not only harmless to his interests, but posi- 

 tively advantageous. 



Why should Protective duties reinforce the power of manufac- 

 turers, East or West, to demand high prices for their products? 

 The necessary tendency of a Protective tariff is to increase the 

 number of persons engaged in a particular branch of reproduction. 

 This certainly means a more powerful and energetic competition 

 for the sale of the fabrics made. Now we ask, in all fairness, does 

 an addition to the persons who are producing a certain product 

 operate to enlarge, or to reduce, their ability to compel the pay- 

 ment of higher prices? When more people are seeking to sell a 

 given article, is the natural tendency of this competition for sale to 

 increase or to decrease values? If a manufacturer has a constant 



