Democratic Sentinel, Volume 7, Number 49, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 4 January 1884 — Page 1

VOLUME VII.

j THE DEMOCRATIC SENTIHEL. * '1~" T"Z," ~a •'"■V'T - A DEMOCRATIC NBWSPAPKR. PUBLISHED EVERY FRIDAY. »T Jas. W. McEwen. ■ | RATES OF SUBSCRIPTION. I •Mymr „ $!.»• F Rixmonikt 75 krttantiu SO z A.dv«rtißixiK Routes. One c«. M m a . one year, «so oo Half column, “ 40 o) hr ■ ■ m T« n i>cr coot, added to foregoing price if vverusements »re set to occupy more than <ngio column width. rrgetional parts of a year at equitable rates f ./» ,18in «» 8 cards >ut exceeding 1 inch space *MiV ar ! •’ 3° r Bix “°ntbs: » 2 for three “°yc«s and udrertisements at es- ; Abashed statute price. heading notices, Srst publication 10 cents line ; each publication thereafter s eents a «.Tt< arl r ® dv ®rt|»enients may be changed P Mrt * I JZ <•■«•!» three months) at the op»j"• advertiser, free of extia chargeaaverttsements for persons not residents M Jasper county, must be paid for in ad*aaco of first public ition. when less than Tawsrsx'ttjK’'*’ *" 4

(M ORDECAI F. CHILCOTE, Attorney.at-I.avr ICNSSBUHB. .... INDIANA Practices in the Courts of Jasper and adt collections a spe $ Offlc °.pn north side of u ashingtor F street, opposite Court Hr use- vim, I. S. D WIGGIN" ZIMRI D WIGGIN R. s. & Z. D'WIGGINS Attorneys-? t-lua/w, Rensseheb . - g . Indian/ Practice in the Courts of Jasper and ac K'l’lingcountn.s. make collections etc < Office west corner Nowels’ Block. v„nl SIMON P. THOMPSON, DAVID J. THOM P8O» Attorney-at Law. Notary Public. THOMPSON & BROTHER. Hensselaer, - Indiana Praonce in allthe Courts. ' «ARION L. SPITLER. „ T Collector >nd Abstract oi "„ e Yh* trticular attention to paying tax.selliiii and leasing lands. V2iijs FRA Nd. w B < OCR . Attorney at Law And Real Ewtaie Broker. Practic<*i* in all Courts of Jasper, Newtoi wd Benton counties.. Lands examined Abstracts of Title prepared: Taxes paid. Collwctloxxß a, Speciality. 4 -TAMES W. DOUTHIT, ATTORNEY-AT-LAW AND NOTARY PfTBLIC. tou^iig??;„X B lae^nd. Ma{eeVer ’ 8 UeW hTw'snzdeh, Attorney at Law Remington, Indiana. •OLLECTIONS A SPECIALTY. BIRA W. YEOMAN, Attorney at Law, SOT ART PLRLIC. Real Estate and Collecting Agent. Till practice in all the Courts es Newton Benton and Jasper counties. .Offiok:— -Up-stairs, over Murray’s Cit’ Drug Store, Goodland, Indiana. DO. DALE, • ATTOKNXT-AT LAW MOWTtCILLO, - INDIANA. Bank hnildiae. up stairs. X. H. LettaMßlDGl. y. p, nrTTIBI LOUGHRIDGE 4fc BITTERN. Physicians and Surgeons. Washington street, below Austin’s hotel. Ten per cent, interest will be added to all ascon nts running unsettled longer than Ihree months. vim *■ . .11 I, . I - - ■ - - DR. I. B. WASHBURN, Rntuelntr Jn<f. tails promptly attsnded. Will give •peels) attei Me* te the treahneat es ChiMie tflaoMee. ** ■" 1 'J ft. 8. Dwiggins. Zlaud Bwiffr'M, PreaMaat. o«sAte? Citizen* 9 Bank, RENSSELAER, IND.. Uoeß a general Bankins busings; give* J speeial attention to eolleeUons; retni'Mneeamadeonday of st m/. B | •«hange; Int»rret paid bataneea: egrtlfieates bearing interest leaned; ex-«-inge bought and told. This Bank owns the Jhi-wlar Safe which took the premium at the CfleAff ’ Exjolition in 187 s. This Safe is protected by one of Sargent s lime Locks. The bunk vault used te as good qs ean be Hr. fit. It will be «ncn from thn foregoing that tMe Baah furnishes as good saenrtts to depositors as san be. ~ AUaaEO M OUT. THOMAS THOMPSON ■ Banking Honkm OVA M «olv*>-I"k K e« ,OS,a ®T‘r t * H y to A. wOsy kA. Thompson. Bankers. BeMaolaor. lad. Dees general .Banking business Buy and sei! exehaoge. Collections made an all available points. Money loaned Interest paid on specified timosi'-posits &e. Ofllee same place us eld firm of A. McCoy & i Thompson. . aprU.’gl

McCracken & kirk, boots & shoes liberal colrn-o. rensselaer Indiana > -—? ' J ■■ - ■ A I i * , • ' * '"jMH

The Democratic Sentinel.

THOMAS J. FU. lbs, Shoos, Hals, Caps,

Wevery pair warrant'd FOR SALE BY THOMAS J. FARDEN, 3 Doors East of P. O. Rensselaer, Ind. A complete line ot light and heavy shoes for men and boys, women and misses, always in stock at bottom prices. Increase of trade more an object than large profits. i See our goods before buying.

Gents’ Furnishing Goods! N WARNER & SONS . DICAI.ERS IN Hardware, Tinware 5 Snath Side Washington Street. RBn)SSESAER. - - INDIAN.: Groceries, ■ ■ Hardware, Tinware, Woodenware, Farm Machinery, BRICK & TILE Our Groceries a»e pure, and will be sold as low as else where in our Hardv are. Tinware and Wdpdenware Depail ment, will be found ei cry thing called for. Our FarmMaHii nery, in variety, of the most approved styles. Brick andTile, mam factured by us, and kept constantly on hand. W»respertfi’l'y solicit your patronage. BEDF( )RD &WA RNER. f . - J . • -' » iMioißiaicr BITTERS WILL POSITIVBLY AW» N WHBgMMB «• A Dyspepsia, Chills and JA V RlaaA Fever, Kidney Disease, Tx 00 liver Complaint, rUnfier.* •800 REWARD FOR ANY OF T|iE ABOVE CASES THAT THIS MEDICINE WILL NOT CURE OR HELP. I the-’ee"*’?* arelrt dlgr.ti<m, produce a healthy and laxativu effect, and « remove all varieties of disease calculated to mider-niin* the natural vlgor of the bodv. “nieir object in tv f protect and build up the vital strength and energy while removing causes ot diss ae.And operating asfc a cure; but are no less useftU as a preventive ot all classes of similar ailments bf 'wilding up the " system to a good and perfect Mate of health, and making it proof against disease. One bottle uloue*’

> RENSSELAER, JASPER COUNTY, INDIANA, FRIDAY. JANUARY 5, 1884

HEWITT ON TARIFF.

The Albany (N. Y.) Abgus prints the following letter from Congressman A. 8. Hewitt, a member of the ways and means committee: New Yobk, Dec. 26. 1883. Edwin Atwell, Esq., Managing Editor of The Argus, Albany, N. Y.—Dear Sib: I am in receipt of your letter in which you say j The Argus s now engaged in an inquiry into the causes and effect of the present depression of the iron industry. It is especially desired to be known what relation this state of things bears to existing tariff conditions.”— You ask my opinion in reference to these points. 1 answer that he proximate cause of the pieient depression of the irrn industry is to be found in the fact that the capacity for producing iron is in excess of its actua 1 consumption, not only in this country, but in those foreign countries which are large producers of iron and steel. When the supply exceeds the demand, prices fall. Establishments which cannot produce at the current price without loss, are compelled to suspend operations, and thus comes the actual depression to which you refer. The ultimate causes of such a state of things are usually manifold; sometimes they are too obscure to be discovered with certainty. For example: The influence of abundant harvests, or of a failure of crops, upon the general condition of industry, is unquestioned. Yet these very causes may produce prosperity in some branches of business, while they produce depression in others. So in regard to the influence of tariff legislation.— If duties are suddenly raised, at a time when there is a demand for the foreign product, prices will goiip, and the iron business will be prosperous,If, on the other liana, duties so as to admit of a larger supply of the foreign product, the domestic business will for the time being be unfavorably affected, and depression will resu<t. These, however, are only immediate and temporary effects. As a matter of fact, prior to 1878, under the highest tariff ever known in this country, we had a long period of depression in the iron business. But about that time railway enterprises were undertaken on a large scale, producing a sudden demand for more iron and steel than the world was prepared to supply. Prices advanced all over the world, and to these prices was added rhe very high rate of duty then prevailing upon foreign iron brought into this country. The profits of the domestic business became excessive, and the owners of existing works proceeded to enlarge their capacity to the utmost, in order to gather this harvest of great profits, while new capital was attracted into a field in which the returns were known to be be abnormally large. The business being thus overdone, a glut of iron resulted, and the reaction has brought about a state of things even worse than that which existed prior to 1878. The evil from which we now suffer is, therefore, largely due to the fact that the war tariff imposed higher duties tfian were needed for protection, thus giving excessive profits to the manufacturers in a period when the profits would have been large enough without such high protective duties. We are suffering from unnatural stimulation, which aggravated the excitement when the public interest required that it should be allayed, and now aggravates the depression by the excessive capacity for production which i t engendered. How long this depression will continue no man can predict. But inas much as eras of prosperity and uuptess.wn succeed each other in eyelet it is certrin thaf soo fl ri-

er or later we si all come again io the period win itthe doman t. for iron will exceed the supply. Unkss our revenue legislation be meanwhile reformed we shall then have a repetition of the experience thro’ which we have passed since 1878,an experience which shows that excess ive profits are, in reality, of no real benefit, either to the manufacturers, except in rare instances, or to the counti y at large,while the evils resulting from them are serious. They are es pecially injurious to the workingmen of the country, who are the chief sufferers when the inevitable reaction to unnat ural expansion narrows the field of employment for labor. The lesson to be derived from this experieuce is that the duties on all kinds of iron should never exceed the lowest possible point which, in time of depression, will protect the domestic market from the flood of foreign iron which otherwisejmight be poured into its lap, Such rates of duty, provided they are specific, will, on the average, yield the largest amount of revenue; because when the price rises, and the producer no longer needs arotection, the consumer who does need pfotection can then supply his wants at a fair price in the foreign market without paying an increased duty, if he can not get equally fair terms at home Moreover, the experience of all commercial nations has shown that moderate specific duties afford the only saf e • guard against frauds in the revenue, as well from smuggling as from undervaluation in the invoices. The blind adherence to ad valorem duties in our existing tariff has only served to throw the importing trade into the hands of foreigners, and to drive out reputable American houses fi om this business.

The reduction of extra-pro-tective duties to a reasonable standard of specific dutie, is, therefore the ouly practicable means of avoiding an unhealthy iexpan sion of business when it is active. Extra-pro-ductive duties merely result in overproduction, in the general derangement of industry, and in consequent suffering to the workingmen, by the loss of employment & the reduction of wages. They must be made to realize that the only fund’ out of which their wages can be paid is produced by the money wnich is received for the product of industry. Out of this fund must first be paid the cost of the raw maierial, and next the remuneration for the capital employed in the work of production. What remains is the amount avai laable for the payment of wages. Hence the cheaper we can get the raw materials and capital the more we can pay for the labor engaged in manufacturies. High rates of interest and high-priced raw materials mean, therefore, lower wages for labor; while cheap raw materials and cheap capital means higher wages for labor. The working men thus have an interest, direct and immediate, in removing the duty from raw materials, as well in the iron business as in every other branch of industry carried on in this country. By raw materials I mean fuel, ail food uroducts, all materials to which no process of manufacture has been applied, all metallic ores, and all waste products which are fit only to be manufactured.

So far as any relief can be provided by legislation for the existing state of affairs the remedy must be found, first ’n freeing raw materials from all duties, and, secondly, in imposing rates of duty on manufactured products * not more than sufficient to make good the difference in the amount paid for labor hf the production of any given arti(de in this country as compared with the amount paid for the

NUMBER 49.

same labor in other countries with which we compete. For this purpose the incidental protection afforded by revenue duties will, as a rule, be found sufficient . when any protection is needed. I am aware that this last proposition involves the protective idea to some extent, but to no greater extent than is the logical outgrowth of our past legislation. If we had never had protection we should not be required to pay any attention to the question of rates of labor, which are the result, not of protection, but of other conditions entire ly independent of legislation But the protective system hai undoubtedly built up some branches ot industry which otherwise might not, in consequence of the high rate of wages, have existed. Inasmuch as this is their misfortune and not their fault, no sensible legislature would strike these industries down by the sudden abrogation of the protective system. We should, nevertheless, endeavor gradually to reduce its evils to a minimum until, in the progress of time, it shall have given way, under natural laws, to a better and sounder condition of affairs. But in tins assurance of inevitable progress, there fa to be found no justification for the further maintenance of duties, which only tend to reduce the wages of labor, without conferring benefit on any interest whatever: duties which only impair our ability to sell commodities in the open markets of the world, and hinder the natural and healthy gro’th of business. All such unnecessary and hurtful obstruc lions should be removed without delay, and it will be a mockery of duty if congress should fail to open the way to “freer trade” and wider maikets for our products through any fear -of consequence or politicians who have not the, courage of their convictions, or have no other convictions than the desire for office. The mere politician follows ’public opinion; the true statesman instructs it His constant aim should be to make cle a r to those who depend upoh their daily labor fir thiirdulv bread the real basis on which their welfare rests, and then to trust to their intelligence and votes for support. Success on any other condition would be dishonor. Any party*wh;eh expects to get power by playing the game of “hide and seek” in politics does not deserve, and will not gain, the confidence of the country. The only living issue, then, between the two great political parties which divide the country, as I understand it, is this —whether the revenue system shall be reformed, and upon what basis of principle it shall be settled. The republican party believes in the doctrine of protection for the sake of protection. It insists that protective duties are constitutional and are necessary in order to insure to the workingmen a fair remuneration for their labor. It would, therefore, impose duties as uearly prohibitory a« possible on articles produced in this country, and as a policy make free those articles which are not or can not be produced here

The democratic party insists that the constitution merely provides for the imposition of duties for revenue and not for protection, e so far as du tiee so imposed neecs utily as ford incidental protect ion that protective duties can n< and do not favorably affect tl general rate of wages: that 1 gislation is powerless’to pi manentiy increase the remu eration for labor,, although may seriously impair it; th protection can divert laborana ■capital from more profitable into less profitable channels of

(Continued on Bth page.)