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IRSHAT. APRIL 27. 1882.
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fjJSS <(- UROFUSS/OSA L.
MEDICAL CARD.
M. J. Nicholson,
moved to Twilight, Miller cotin-
jr, a . Office in J. S. Cliiton’s
feU.9,’82.
MEDICAL CARD.
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moved his office io the drug store,
occupied by Dr. Harrell. Resi-
West street, south of Shotwell.
Is at night will reach him.
CHARLES C. BUSH,
orney at Law
COLQUITT, GA.
attention piven to all business cn-
o me.
BY BEN. E. RUSSELL.
BAINBRIDGE, GA, THURSDAY, APRIL 27, 1882.
YOL. 11.—NO. 28.
Tariff and Tax Commission*
DENTISTRY.
Curry, D. D. S.,
found daily at his office on South
rcet. up stairs, in E. Johnson’s
where he is ready to attend to the
the public at reasonable rates.
dec-5-78
LI„ M. O’JIEAI.
McGILL & O’NEAL,
rneys at Law.
BA1NBKIPGE, GA.
sflicc will be found over the post of-
11.90®, BYRON B. BOWER.
BOWER & DOKALSON.
eysand Counsellers at Law.
in the court house. Will practice
ur and adjoining counties, and
re by special contract. a-25 7
TOR M. L. BATTLE,
- Dentist.
over Iliads Store, West side
>use. Has line dental engine, and
e everything to make bis office
is. Terms cash. Office hours 9
4 p. in. jan.!3tf
JEFF D. TALBERT,
orney at Law,
Bainbridge, Georgia,
practice in all the courts, and busi-
trusted to bis care will be promptly
d to. Office over store of M. E.
& Son. feb.23,’82.
DR. L. H. PEACOCK,
tfully tenders his professional serv-
tlie people of Bainbridge and vicini-
over store of .T. T>. Harrell & Bro
nee on West end of Broughton
here he can be found at night.
6, 1881—
H. F. SHARON,
orney at Law.
Office in Conrt House,
practice in all the courts of the
Circuit and Supreme Conrt of
In the Circuit and Supreme
of Florida, and elsewhere by special
t.
bridge, Ga.. April 23,1881—ly.
31ACON r
ipeeial instruction in bookkeeping,
•hip, business arithmetic, corres-
e, bill heading, telegraphy and
business routine.
KAY, - - PRNICIPAL.
erras, information’ as to boarding
ply to the principal. P. O. box
icon, Georgia.
F.
/AKER ASD JEWELER.
L. M. Criffin's old stand, corner
juth Broad and Troup streets,
dge, - Ga.
ng and repairing, watches,
ewing-machines and all kinds of
done with neatness and dispatch.
r-Vil work warranted.
idge, G*., August 4,1874.—
SPEECH
OF
BON. n. G. TURNER,
OF GEORGIA.
In the House of I’.epresentatives,
Thursday April l3tA 1882.
The House, as in Committee of the Whole
House on tbe state of the Union, having un
der consideration tbe bill (H. R. No. 2315) to
provide for the appointment ot a commission
to investigate the question of the tariff and
internal-revenue laws—
M it. Turner, of Georgia. Mr. Chair
man, I ask that the bill be read.
The Clerk read as follows :
lie it enacted by the Senate and House
of Representatives of the United States
of America in Congress assembled, That
a commission is hereby created to be
called the tariff commission, to consist
of nine members.
Sec 2. That the President of the
United States shall, by and with the
advice and consent of the Senate, ap
point nine commissioners from civil life,
one of whom, the first named, shall be
the president of the commission. The
commissioners shall receive, as a com
pensation for their services, each at the
rate of $10 per day when engaged in
active duty, and actual traveling and
other necessary expenses. The com
mission shall have power to employ a
stenographer aud a messenger; and
the foregoing compensation and expenses
to be audited and paid by the Sec
retary of the Treasury oat of any
moneys in the Treasury not otherwise
appropriated.
Sec 3. That it shall be the duty of
said commissioners to take consideral
tion and to thoroughly investigate al-
the various questions relating to the
agricultural, commercial, mercantile,
manufacturing, mining and industrial
interests of the United States, so far as
the same may be necessary to the estab
lishment of a judicious tariff, or a re
vision of the existing tariff and the ex
isting system of internal-revenue laws,
upon a scale of justice to all interests ;
and for the purpose of fully examining
the matters which may come before it,
said commission in the prosecution of
Us inquiries is empowered to visit such
different portions and sections of the
country as it may deem advisable.
Sec 4. That the commission shall
report to Congress the results of their
investigation, and the testimony taken
in the course of the same form‘time to
time, and make their finnl report not
later than the first Monday in Janua
ry, 1883.
Mr Turner, of Georgia. The bill,
Mr. Chairman, is a plain concession of
the necessity for a revision of the tariff;
and yet it is not a lit'le remarkable that
all those who support the bill devote
so much zeal to the defense of the tariff.
A. Bystom confessedly bad has had
most elaborate apologies from those who
propose to amend it. Those of us, sir,
who are opposed to the bill denounce
its enormities, arraign its incongruities,
and demand their immediate correction
at the hands of Congress.
Under the present necessities of the
Government absolute free trade is im
practicable. If we did not owe two
thousand million of dollars ; if we had
no pension-roll, I should be found
among those who fight under the flag
of an unrestricted commerce. Direct
taxation is also undesirable, because
under the constitution direct taxation
is lequired to be apportioned among the
States according to population, at)d the
poor would have to pay as much as the
rich. Such a system would be as op
pressive as the tariff. 1 shall favor no
revolutionary methods in the present
exigencies which surrounded the coun
try, nor shall I advooate any radical
innovations.
yVhat is the tariff? It is aside from
my purpose to enter into any detailed
examination ot elaborate discussion of
the details of present tariff It is suf
ficient for my present purpose to say
that it is a system of taxation under
which duties a?h laid upon several
thousand articles of imported goods, in
cluding the commonest necessaries of
life. It is a tax levied upon all the
articles which enter into general con
sumption, and at an average rate 43i
per cent. Last year there were import
ed into this country of dutiable commo
dities over $463,000,000. Upon that
amount of imported goods this tariff im
posed in round numbers a tax of one
hundred and ninety-eight millions.
The percentage is easily ascertained
It requires no argument, no iilustraMon
to show that this immense taxation falls
at last upon those who consume the
imported goods. This is tbe direct
effect of the tariff. But there are other
consequences of the tariff which are
still more momentous. The cost of
imported goods being augmented by
this direct effect of the tariff, the
American manufacturer can increase the
price of bis goods without paying the
tax.
This is the indirect effect of the
tariff and is commonly called protec
tion. The present tariff, which was
framed during a state of war, is relative
ly higher now in a time of profound
peace than it was at the time when war
was flagrant in tbe country. The lapse
of time, the mutations of trade, and
other causes have reduced the price of
dutiable commodities in all the countries
of the world, and yet the tariff rates
remained the same. A tax which may
be reasonable at the time it is imposed
became onerous and oppressive when
the value of the property upon which
it js levied has been greatly dimin-
nished.
New, let us with these preliminary
statements pause to calculate tbe ag
gregate burdens borne by the various
industries of this country utfier the in
cidental operation of the tariff. Asum-
ing that there is an annual consumption
of four thousand millions of domestic
or American commodities, a very high
authority estimated that one-fourth of
that sum, or $1,000,000,000, represents
the added or increased value due to the
American tariff.
Another authority, equally respecta
ble, assuming that five times as much
of American goods is consumed as of
imported goods, reaches the saaic result,
the two hundred millions of revenue
derived from the tariff multiplied by
that figure producing exactly the same
result. Without intending in any wise
to cast discredit, upon the accuracy of
these estimates, but in order to be en
tirely fair, let us throw off two-thirds
ot the sum and make our calculations
npon that basis. It results that the
protected classes make for themselves
by the operation of the tariff nearly 50
per cent, more than the Government
itself does. Indeed, well may it be said,
as was frankly stated by the gen
tleman from Ohio [Mr. McKinley]
the other day, that the tariff
system has beoome a tariff
for protection with incidental revenue.
The doctrine has been avowed upon
this floor for the first time within my
knowledge.
For one hundred years the tariff
discussion has gone on in this country.
Ten times the tariff question has been
under crucial tests and under exhaust
ive discussion both by the ifouse and
Seuate. The question has been fought
upon a thousand fields, in Congress, in
the eourts,on the hustings, every where,
by men great and small, by Webster,
Clay, Calhoun, and Benton ; and yet
never before, as far as 1 am aware, has
any man dared to declare that under our
Constitution a tariff can be laid for
protection only, and under which rev
enue to the Government shall arise by
mere accident. A tax not for revenue
is as absurd as it is unconstitutional.
Mr. Chairman, the doctrine that
Congress can enact a tariff only for
revenue, keeping in view its influence
upon our own industries, has been too
long settled to admit of reargument.
With me. at least, it is res adjudicata.
In order to exclude cheap European
goods from onr markets and command
high prices for American products we
pay annually to our protected classes
over $30(^,000,000 and to the Govern
ment less than $200,000,000. By the
operation of the tariff you give annual
ly to the beneficiaries of the tariff six
times as much as you paid last year to
the widows and orphans and maimed
victims of the war. It is a civil list un
precedented in the annals of mankind.
You give to the heroes who fought for
the Union and escaped its casualties
your thanks and nothing more. To
the grim veterans of the tariff you give
more than all, Government, Federal,
State, county, and municipal through
out this country costs the people. This
aggregate bounty is greater than the
vast and elaborate fabric of onr liberties
itself cost us last year. If this sum
had been collected by the Government
it would have extinguished our public
debt long ago -
Now, let us add to this calculation
the incidential revenue of $200,000,000
which the Government receives from
the tariff, and we have the grand total
of taxation upon the people, which no
empire on earth, however rich or exten
sive or despotic, ever dared to inflict
upon its subjects either in peace or in
war. Our surplus cotton brought us
from Europe last year $220,000,000.
Our surplus wheat, corn, and flour
brought us $23,0,000,000, more. And
yet the whole of this vast surplus,
amounting to S450.000,000, would not
pay the annual cost of the tariff to the
American people. It costs us annually
twice as much as all the property-of
every kind in the State which I have
tbe honor in part to represent. Our
surplus revenue alone, if maintained
at the rate of last year, would, accord
ing to the estimate of the Picsident in
his annual message, pay our entire debt
in ten years. If we could add to that
the principal cost of the tariff we could
pay that debt in less than three years.
I think, -sir, it is time to calculate
tbe value of the tariff. Gentlemen
say that the country has prospered not
withstanding the tariff. I deny the
statement so far as my constituents are
concered. The protected classes have
undoubtedly proposed. But admitting
for the sake of the argument that the
other classes have prospered also, would
it not be fair to enqire how much more
they would have prospered if these
enormous burdens had been alleviated ?
We are told that the tariff protects
American labor. The pretension is an
ingenious effort to enlist the victims of
the tarilf in its support. It has been
exposed and exploded many times hith-
herlo in this bebate. But even if it
were true that the tariff fosters American
labor, it could not be claimed that its
beneficence extends beyond the protect
ed classes. You may make employ
ment and wages for tailors, hatters, and
shoemakers, but in order to do it you
make all other laborers and other peo
ple pay more for their clothes, hats,
and shoes. In order to help one poor
man you tax a hundred more, and the
profits go into the packets of the manu
facturer-
The tariff duties, Mr. Chairman, are
so high that imports are aetually pro
hibited. By lowering the rates we can
increase the imports, and thus increase
the income of the tariff to the Govern
ment. These propositions are self-
evident. The statement of them is a
sufficient demonstration of their truth.
Such is the eternal fitness of things
that by lessening the burdens of the
people we can augment the public
revenues.
On account of the present prohibitory
duties we have had to devise the odi
ous system of internal taxation in order
to supplement our customs. If we will
but reduce the scale of tariff taxation
we can secure ample rsvenue from that
source alone and abolish the excise
system. I commend this view to my
colleague, [Mr. Speer,] who I believe
supports this bill.
Historical piecedents have been cited to
justify this system of unju3t burdens. The
gentlemen from Pennsylvania, [Mr. Kel
ley,] in a recent issue of the International
Review, gives us an inventory of nations
ruined by free trade; and as if more au
thority were needed, if 1 am not mistaken
the gentleman from Iowa, [Mr Kasson]
who reported this bill, adds tbe weight of
hissanc'ion this list of “modern instances.”
Turkey, Ireland and India are the coun
tries said to have been desolated by free
trade. From my limited study of history
I had be -n led to believe that a succession
of calamitous wars had devastated these
countries. J’he armies of Eogland, for two
or three centuries under Cromwell and
othere, have marched up and down Ireland,
destroying the'energies and resources and
freedom of a proud and gallant people,
leaving in their stead confiscation, poverty,
and desDair. The loss of her ancient fab
ric of liberty probably had some influence
on the condition ol Ireland. And it is
not to be forgotten that this same Ameri
can tariffinflicts upon the linens and other
products of that poor, miserable, desolated
country a duty of 35 and 40 per cent.
Let not the tariff charge its own sins upon
free trade.
I had thought that the brave Sobtes-
ki, Prince Eugene of Savoy, and the
Hungarian chiefs'had rescued Europe
from the domination of the Turks and
hurled them back, demoralized and
improverished, toward the east whence
they came. Isolated, surrounded by
hostile foes who would not assimilate
with them or trade with them, tyranny,
taxation, and other Asiatic practices
completed the decadence of Turkish
power in Europe. You might as well
say that free trade destroyed Tyre and
Sidon. How the history of the world
would have been changed if Babylon
the great, Nineveh, and Carthage, and
Rome could have had the geniu3 to
invent a high protective and prohib
itory fariff. If I had selected in the
whole range of history a single country
which afforded the most conspicuous
evidence and the most obvious example
of -a country ruined by the want of free
trade, I should have gone at once to
India. That country for over a cent
ury was governed entirely by a trading
company known as the East India Com
pany ; a monopoly as remorseless and as
withering as the American tariff. That
country was despoiled by restrictions,
by Warren Hastings, by Lord Clive, by
war, famine, pestilence, tyranny, and
taxation. Against this indictment of
free trade I con prove an alibi.
Gentlemen would have England
enact against her own home industries
tariffs in Ireland and in India, restric
tions in some parts of the same empire
agaiust the other parts The same
gentlemen who complain of this feature
of British statesmanship would hardly
consent that each of the states which
compose the American Union should
protect its industries by a tariff of its
own.
I beg leave also to cite a little piece
of history. It i9 none the less impres
sive because it relates to New Englagd.
The stamp tax had been repealed upon
if this were true, the history of the matter
would show that it is a grace by omission
and not by commission. And I believe
the gentleman hiself has a bill pending in
this Hoose by which he propoeses to “re
vise” away even this little estray of in
advertent exemption from taxation.
But the statement of the gentleman is
not plausible enough to mislead or deceive.
When the farmer takes his cotton to mar
ket, inclosed in bagging autl bound in iron
ties, he sells the bale in gross at so much
per pound for conveuieuce. Now let us
resolve the matter into rts elements.
Let us suppose the farmer were to it
eniize the transaction and sell the net cot
ton and the bagging and ties on a bill of
particulars. The cotton would bring a
higher price and the bagging and ties would
bring less than they cost or go to the
rubbish heap. That would be the result
if the cotton was specifically tared in every
transaction. <
I hope the gentleman will reconsider his
purpose to inflict upon our people an aggra
vation of this sacrafice. Why should we
postpone to the next session or the next
Gonrress tbe revision of the tariff? The
gentleman from Pennsylvania. [Mr. Kel
ley,] in tbe same article to which reference
has already been made, says, evidently
speaking of the protected industries:
Are not our resources snperioror in ex
tent, diversity, aud value to those of any
other nation? Are not that aggregation
of enterprising emigrants and their de-
scendents, known as the American people
as ingenious, industrious and thrifty as the
people of any other country? I answer,yes.
And I agree with him at least so far as
the protected classes are concerned.
The beneficiaries of the tariff, then, are
no longer weak. They, are the most pros
perous of all our people. They have all
the advantages which marvelous inven
tion have created. They have enslaved
steam and educated it into a trained ar
tisan ; and coal and iron are the swarthy
the advice of Dr. Franklin, who | bondsmen of accumulated capital. They
represented the province of Pen-' have the experience of the last half centu-
nsylvania as a sort of ambassador to the
mother country. He had also given
hts opinion to Parliament that the col
onies would cheerfully submit to the
payment; of customs duties on imports ;
and the first tariff for America was then
enacted, imposing a tax on tea, glass,
paper, and a few other articles. The
people of Boston replied by compelling
the first collector of customs in this
country to seek safety on a British man*
of-war; and when the first cargoes of
tea taxed by that tariff arrived in Bos-*
ton Harbor the people of Boston—mark
it, sir—disguised as savages, went on
board, overpowered the crews, and
pitched the tea into the bay. That
was the first kuklux operation ever
recorded in American history. [Laugh
ter.] To resist that tariff tbe thirteen
colonies went to war and resorted to
revolution. Would it be amiss for me to
claim in the Faoe of those who denounce
free trade and canonize the tariff that
the spirit of free trade is akin to the
love of freedom and that it struck the
very fi.rst blow for American indepen
dence ?
I have been trying by a somewhat
diligent study of this subject, to ascer
tain how my constituents are benefited
by a tariff ; for selfish considerations,
I observe, are not entirely ignored in
discussions of the tariff. The millions
of men, white and black, who work not
six months but twelve months of the
year, who toil through the blazing heats
of the southern summer and in winter
still wipe the sweat from their face3.
the men who make the material for the
clothes of all mankind, material good
enopgh for the prince and cheap enough
for the peasant, how are they blessed
by the tariff?
Let me speak plainly. They barely
make a living, while they pay bounties of
20, 30, and 40 per cent, to prosperous man
ufacturers on every thing which necessity
and decency compel them to bny. The
very implements of tteir tireless industry,
ay, sir, even cotton goods, the fibers of
which their own hard hands have made,
can be bought far cheaper in any other
country on earth than in their own.
It is well that tkis system of taxation
is masked and disguised aud. like other
pick-pockets, accomplishes ita ends by
stealthy indirection. It was Btntus, sir,
who said : “By Heaven! I would coin
my heart for Jold and 1 would drop my
blood for drachmas before I would-
wriog from the hard hands of peasants
their vile tra3h by any indirection.
The gentleman from Ohio [Mr. McKin
ley] was kind enough the other day to al
lege one instance in which the producers
of cotton are generously treated under
this system of taxation. If I did not
misapprehend him he stated that cotton-
growers can purchase their ties at 2 or 3
cents per pound, and sell them with their
cotton at 11 or 12 cents per pound. Even
ry, which, so far as the mechanical arts
are concerned, i3 worth more to them, in
comparably moro than all the experience
of all other ages of the world. On the
other baud tbo people nfe overtaxed, a3 I
have shown, and the public revenues are
redundant.
Thre is more information on the subject
.of the tariff within our grasp than ever be
fore. There is still in the other branch of
Congren3 the father ot the system whose
name it bears; and here in this Hall is the
honorable gentleman from Pennsylvania,
[Mr. Kelley,] who has himself stated that
he has just been rewarded with the ambi
tion of his life, the distinction of presiding
over the deliberations of the committee
charged with the consideration of this sub
ject. There are other gentlemen here,
whom it would be invidious perhaps to
mention in such company, who have not
Studied this subject in vain. We bavo the
the most elaborate census the country has
ever had. Pressurers can be seen ; the di
rection and force of currents can be noted
at a glance. We cau, as with a map of our
commerce out-spread before us, trace
through our wide domains and throughout
the world all the phenomena of our trade
for last year yesterday, and to-day, and
confidently calculate the probabilities of
the future.
This bill is a proclamation of the failure
of repre3entatiue government after a cen
tury of experience. The purpose, pluinly,
stated, is to give to the lobby the imita
tion of a great reform. Yy propose to
transfer our duty to the representatives of
the tariff. You might as well intimst tbe
reformation ot Utah to the cotmcil of
Latter Day Saints, or Mongolian immigra
tion to the six Chinese companies.
Protection is the sovereign power of
taxation conferred on private individuals ;
and this bill proposes to arm it with the
still farther power of legislation. “Such
greatness doth hedge a king!” Congress
has been supposed to consist of Senate,
House, and lobby; but if we look to the
sources of polititial power hereafter we
describe the constituent bodies as the peo
ple and the tariff.
The gentleman from Ohio [Mr. McKin
ley] ba3 candidly said that he would vote
to confide this review of the tariff to tho.se
who would be-“favorable to the American
system.” And we must needs import, du
ty free, from our enemies in England this
tribunal of experts as a supplement to our
statesmanship. In the land of its birth its
membere once ha 1 the power to vote iu
committies of Parliament. Let ns reha
bilitate and enlarge this decaying institu
tion. Let us construct an annex to the
Capitol (I believe that word, too, is a for
eign imoortation) and give the tariff a par
liament of its own.
I am in some doubt where to locale this
new tribunal under our constitutional sys
tem. I am not sure whether it is to be an
upper chamber to Congress or whether it
is to be the tail end of the Cabinet. If
this is to be the result of sending our
statesmen abroad, let ns hereafter pay a
little more attention than we have don%
to the consular and diplomatic bills. This
is a scheme not merely to glide over the
fall elections, but it is intended to perpet
uate the tariff without incurring direct re 11
sponsibility for its outrageous and mon
strous burdens. It is injected into the
body of our polities. Tbe member chosen
to report and defend the bill has been
most fitly selected. Our statesmen one®
preferred direct and manly methpda; mod
ern ‘‘politicians'-’ seek their ends through
a “circumlocution office.”
We are not only asked to vacate ouf
functions, but we are asked to confer on
the Executive the selection of these new
law givers of the tariff. If we should re-'
luctantly conclude that better material®
for a Ways aud Means Committee can be
fonnd among tho people than the Speaker
has been able to find on the roll of those
whom the people have selected for this
service, shall wo complete our humiliation
by a surrender of our traditional and con-'
stitutional power over the revenue to the
appointees of the President and the Sen
ate ? If we are not ourselves adequate to
the task to which the people have appoint
ed us, we ought at least to* reserve th®
poor privilege of choosing our own coun j
selors.
But we are told by the gentleman from
Iowa [Mr. Kasson] that Congress consist®
of “politicians,” and therefore cannot be
trusted to reconstrnct the tariff. How
much better shall we escape th“ influence
of politicians by this bill ? Is the White
House quarantined against the politicians?
I arraign no individual; I ipdict no man ;
but 1 affirm that the very worst form of
servility to party infects the executive
department' ol this Goverpment. From
the bench of the highest court on earth
down to a village post-office, appointment®
are made with unwavering subservience tor
party. The inauguration of a President i»
merely the curouation of a faction. In
vested with tho external trappings of power,
he is merely the executor of the will of those
who made and can unmake . him. And
wheffit comes to a question like this, un
happily political considerations are reinforc
ed, if reinforcement were needed, by other
influences. ^ •
Those who arc interested in. the perpet
uation of the tariff have grown very-
strong under its Operation*, while those
who seek its modification have been im
poverished by it- Sir, in all countries and
in all ages of the world the poor have very
little influence with power ; put aggrega
tions of immense wealth in individuals,
companies, associations monopolie, banks,
[tools, and syndicates,' when they unite
their confederated power, what interest
of tbe poor and weak can they not domi
nate ? Here in Congress we can, in tho
face of the people, try conclusions at
every stage cf a public question. We watch
for the better reason. We are accustomed
to look more at tho sources of political
power. Here the minority have somet
rights, and in the last resort can defeat
iniquity by the ‘ potency of silence,
[Laughter.], Here both sides of a great
issue can be heard, and better than in
any place under the Government, Con
gress can if it will; the President cannot
if he would.
In his eloquent peroration the gentle"
man from Iowa, [Mr. Kasson,] discount
ing somewhat the music of the spheres,
delighted nil who heard him with hi®
tribute to the sweet strains of machinery 1
auu lqbor. Imitating one of the pret
tiest legends of antiquity his speqph wa®
no apotheosis of the tariff and his bill pro-
vidcs the immortal nine who were to sing
its praises, the “expert” muses of tbe tar
iff. [Laughter.] And they are to be call"
ed a “commission.” If the American
people have not forgotten too much that
word is enough. [Laughter. When it
goes down to the grave of its ancestor®
and is buried under the family name, let
its epitaph be—verbum ‘sap. [Laughter*]
Tbe wonderful multiplication of inven
tions has been so rapid in this country,
that we may well pause and contemplate
the future of labor and capital in this
country. The tide of immigration which
now reaches our eastern shores, and swell
ed by the young men of New England
who fail to find profitable employment
under the shadow of the tariff, spread®
over the rich plains of the West, and
from the wilderness rise great and pros*
flerous States, like sudden apparitions.
But when the area cf cultivable land is
covered with our expanding population
aud cheap homes for imigrants are no
longer attainable, then our dependent
chisse3 will multiply and our laborer®
will have to compete with the machine®
with which an undue development of
mechanical genius has superseded Ameri
can labor. Then we will require free ac»
cess to all the world for the sals of our
surplus products. It would be a wise
statesmanship which shall anticipate that
era not far distant and begin at once the
preparation for a free commercial inter
course with all the world. [Applanse.]
Few steamboat disasters have been at
tended with so great a loss of life as th®
burning of the steamer “Golden City,"
at Memphis, on last Wednesday night.
The fire broke out just as thp boat waa
making land, and all would have been
saved had the rope not burned in two
before passengers could get to shore. Tbe
corrected list of the missing shows twen
ty-three deaths. The fire waa purely ac
cidental and so far do blame has attach
ed to any one, except tbe person whose
duty it was to see that the lanterns on
the boat were keft in proper trios.
The fire was caused by the dropping
out of the bottom of an engineer's lan»
tern, which set fire to a heap of dry
jute. The high water and swift cur
rent prevented aid from being effectual
in the saving of life.
