Book Description

Excerpt from The United States Magazine, and Democratic Review, 1847, Vol. 20 We have italicised a few lines which embrace the principle of protection in in length and breadth, and regard the sentence as an involuntary homage to the immutability of sound principles. The few lines we have quoted are singularly comprehensive in their meaning. They admit that up to this time the influence of protection has been to induce the production of small crops only to sell at high prices; that is, to demand from consumers a great deal of money for small quantities of food. This is for the interest of the pro ducer of food; and the intervention of government was called for, to prevent consumers from getting more for less money from abroad. The moment the government intervention is abandoned, the producer is obliged to arouse himself and seek to retain the trade, by giving more for less money than even foreigners can afford. A natural consequence is, that the people of England obtain more enjoyments. It follows necessarily that where small quantities are produced, although the proprietor may, by charging high prices, get as much money as for a larger quantity at low prices, yet the laborers, and all engaged in handling and transportation, get much less; and this is one of the greatest evils of the protective system, viz., that it enhances the profits of capital, and diminishes both the employment of the poor and the amount of their earnings. This is a result precisely the reverse of what has been alleged to be the effect of protection; but a little reflection will convince every one, nevertheless, that such is the case. The above extract states truly, that the cultivator will seek to indemnify himself by larger crops. This is true in every species of production. The unprotected cultivator and manufacturer must produce larger quantities. If the English farmers raise two thousand bushels where they now produce fifieen hundred, and sell it for the same money, they must, out of the amount they receive, pay to laborers all the expense of harvestin handlin sacking, transporting, &c., &c., the extra five hundred bushels. Here wil be one-third more work in such case for laborers than now. The greater demand for laborers will produce its usual result in advancing their wages, and their general condition will be vastly improved at the expense of the overgrown profits of it landed aristocracy. The same reasoning applies to all manufactures in this country, where the tendency of the protective system has been to produce small quantities at high prices. To manufacture large quantities, at low prices, involves a greater demand for raw material, at enhanced rates, more employment to Operatives, and, as a consequence, higher wages, and an improved condition, all which only tends to modify the dividends of capital. As an illustration of the opera tion of the tariff, we will take from the printed reports of eight leading Lowell factories the number of yards of cotton cloth made per week, the number of pounds cotton consumed, and the number of hands employed, January 1. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.