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nent reduction of prices—but a comparison of the elements which constitute price here and, in England, will demonstrate, that such a result cannot take place in this country.
In the United States, the wages of labor are one hundred and fifty per cent. higher than in England. The profits of capital are one hundred per cent. higher—while the price of the raw material is higher in England only by the cost of the freight, which is certainly not above twenty five per cent. Combining these elements in their due proportion, and making every plausible allowance in favor of our own manufacturers, and the result will be, that the manufactured article here must cost more than eighty per cent. higher than the same article in England. The circumstances of the country, therefore, are not such as to permit us to calculate on a reduction of prices, as the result of the protecting system—but an enhancement of them by the erection of an artificial monopoly. It is therefore clearly our interest that such a monopoly should not be created, and that our market should afford a free and open competition to all the world. The effect would be a reduction of price on all we consume.
Having answered the argument in the abstract, the committee will wot swell their report by considering the various instances which have been quoted to shew that prices have not advanced since the commencement of the system. We know that they would instantly fall nearly fifty per cent. if the duties were removed, and that is sufficient for us to know. Many and conclusive reasons might be urged to show why prices have declined, singe the period referred to; the fall of the price of the raw materials; the increase of capital and competition; the effects of the return of peace; the immense reduction in the circulating medium by subtracting from circulation a vast amount of paper, both in this country and in Europe; the improvements in the mechanical arts; and the great improvements in the use of steam, and in the art of spinning and weaving.
We are told by those who pretend to understand our interests better than we do ourselves, that excess of production, and not the tariff, is the evil that afflicts us; and that our true remedy is a reduction of the quantity of cotton, rice, and tobacco which we raise, and not a repeal of the tariff. They assert that low prices are necessary consequences of excess of supply, and that the only proper correction is in diminishing the quantity. We should feel more disposed to respect the spirit in which the advice is offered, if those from whom it comes, accompanied it with the weight of their example. They also complained much of low prices, but instead of diminishing the
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