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^:^^. - ...-— ~»-3|— J-aJ -^^

TlfE

COMEDYOFTRADE;

OR.

EVERY MAIS' FOR HIMSELF;

AS RECENTLY PERFORM E0 AT

OTTAWA,

BY A DIsnXdUlSIIKI) (.OMl'AN'V OF AMATKUR I,KaiSI,ATOR.S.

J!3ij a Spivitual J^Ubium.

M O X 1' R I', A \.:
DAWSON PROTHERS, PUBLISHERS.

18 70.

mm I .

■ii, %,f*t«»", -■•.»■ ,^ ■•.?;i^ ;■"•■••-

THE

COMEDYOFTRADE;

OR,

EVERY MAN FOR HIMSELF

AS RECENTLY PERFORMED AT

OTTAWA,

BY A DISTINGUISHED COMPANY OF AMATEUR LEGISLATORS.

fifi a Sjjidtujil 4llcbium.

MONTREAL:
DAWSON BROTHERS, PUBLISHERS.

1 8 7 G .

warn

HF /I 33

The Editor of the following pages thinks it proper to
say. that a different account of these proceedings has already
appeared -but as that account conveys a very poor idea of
the performance - the s;.m7 having been altogether sacri-
ficed for the letler-he deems it due to the public, and to
the performers themselves, that a better version should be
published.

An -Ideal" Reporter has, therefore, been employed to
reconstruct the piece -with a true poetic insight, if not
with literal accuracy _ from his "inner consciousness."

The Editor has also added several entirely new parts,
which seemed necessary to the perfection, or dramatic unity
of the whole.

Montreal, 4th March, 1876.

T II E

GREAT TARIFF DEBATE

IN THE

DOMINION TRADE CONGRESS,

OTTAWA, ^1876.

-♦-♦«

The members of this high deliberative body, representing
the business intellect of the Dominion, and whose functions
are somewhat analogous to those of the " Grand Jury," assem-
bled in their usual place of meeting, shortly before the opening
of Parliament.

The various greot trade questions of the day were to be
discussed and settled, to facilitate and abridge the labours of
the Legislature.

The President, Mr. Beauxtemps, took his seat, and said :
Bring on the Tariff !

Mr. Blue rose and begged to move the following resolu*
tion : —

That the depressed state of the manufacturing interests of this Dominion, calls
imperatively for such legislaiiou as will enrich those now engaged in manufactur-
ing, encourage further investment of the kind, and afford employment to our
operatives.

That this depression is mainly due to unfair competition from the United
States, whoso manufacturers persist in selling here their productions at less than
cost.

That, therefore, our Government should adopt a thoroughly national policy,
by excluding, aa far aa possible, the manufactures of the United States: and that
the products of the soil, the forest, and the mine, be specially considered in this
connexion.

Mr. Blue spoke as follows in support of his motion :

Mr. President and Gentlemen : — You will observe that thi.s
resolution goes squarely for a " national " policy, which is
summed up in the sin^'le word " Protection." Yes, gentlemen,
We do not shirk the conclusion, that those who approve of our

resolution are protectionists, that is, they believe in protectmj^
themselves from the mean encroachments of foreign competi-
tors, and in having their own country and countrymen to
themselves. Protectionists are a much-abused class. The
malignant spite of the little philosophers who style themselves
political economists, or free-traders, has done its worst to tra-
duce us, but we survive it all, and exist to-day, in every
country, a compact and invulnerable phalanx ! It is said of us,
tor instance, that we want to protect everything under the sun,
when just the reverse is true, for the true protectionist de-
mands protection only on what he makes himself, and does not
care to see the principle too extended. But protectionists, like
others, must give and take — taking as much as possible and
giving as little as possible— 4io they unite for the common weal.
Individually they cannot make headway against the gross
ignorance of society or of parliamentary bodies. A brutal out-
cry would be raised were one intlividual, or one branch of
industry, to demand the exclusion from the country of ibreign
goods competing with theirs, because they were sold too cheap ;
but when a great number of widely ditferent interests, spread
over the whole country, unite m asking for the same thmg, and
do it in the name of their destitute work-people, the ell'ect is
very different. The demand savours less of monopoly, and it
can easily be made to appear that the welfare of the whole
Dominion is identiiied with that of her manufacturers. (Cheers.)

It will be seen that our resolution Hows naturally from
these principles. The one is the complement of the other.

Few will dispute our first proposition, viz : that our manu-
factures are utterly depressed. If we cannot point to many
failures, dividends are few and inlinitesimal ; and it is no
answer to our complaints to say that other lines of business arc
in a similar condition. This may, and does allbrd, a moral
satisfaction ; but pecuniary satisfaction is what we want.
Besides, let other lines look alter themselves.

The evil admitted, it will just as little be disputed that we
owe it to the "slaughtering" of United States goods in our
markets. This "slaughtering" — (I love that word; it iinely
fills the mouth, but I detest the thing) — I say, this " slaughter-
ing " is not to be mistaken for sacrificing. It is something quite
ditt'erent, for our rivals in the Slates, by haviji^ the privilege of
selling some of their productions here below cost, can allbrd to
keep their factories and mills at work, and get better price for
what they sell at home. It may puzzle some to corapreh nd
how manufacturers can find it advantageous to do this, un ess
compelled by a temporary glut or crisis, as men sometimes tide
over a difficulty by borrowing money at ruinous rates of

1«|

rotectino-
competi-
ymeii to
ss. The
emselves
st to tra-
in every
aid of us,
' the sun,
onist de-
does not
lists, like
iibie and
ion weal,
he gross
'utal out-
a'anch oi"
f Ibreign
)0 cheap ;
s. spread
mig, and
ellect is
Y, and it
e whole
(Cheers.)
ly Irom
her.

Hr manu-
to many
it is no
iness are
a moral
e want.

that we
5 in our
t hnely
lughter-
g quite
ilege of
lord to
•ice for
reh nd
un ess
les tide
ates of

interest; but to these I would simply say: if you lack under-
standing, I am not bound to supply you with it. The philo-
sophy of the thing should be obvious to the meanest intel-
lect, always excepting the free-trade intellect, which is imper-
A'ious to reason — of this description.

Hut we need not stop to discuss the why and the where-
fore, lor there is the f net . It stares us in the face. Our un-
happy country is Hooded with these cheap productions, which
our imnorters persist in bringing, and our shopkeepers in dis-
seminating, without the least regard for the true interests of
our people. They would seem indeed to be in league with the
American manafacturer to etfect the ruin of our native indus-
iries, and to tempt our lower classes from their allegiance, by
deJjauching them with a pedlar-like display of cheap and nasty
wares. (Cheers.) And ou^ sapient legislators connive at this
state of things by keeping the taritf low enough to make it pos-
sible. It is time for these to wake up, and by prompt action,
avert the impending ruin.

Let them at once prohibit the importation of these goods,
by adopting the policy of our resolution. It should be the only
policy witii any government, worthy of the name ; and I would
gladly see it applied to England as well as to the United tStates
— not reciprocal duties, of course, in her case, but high prohi-
biiory duties. (Hear ! hear !)

1 am a thorough Briton, and I yield to no man in devoted
loyalty to the British Crown — when it costs nothing — but loyalty
to that crown is one thing, and loyalty to our own pockets
another! (Hear! Hear!) If it be asked why we cannot now
compete with English cottons and woollens, since we are nearer
the raw material, we can get the same machinery and the same
skilled workmen ; we have abundant water ))ower to save fuel,
and the natural protection allorded by distance, with its con-
comitants of freight, insurance, &c., and the prolits of the
importer here, to say nothing of the considcable tariff protection
we already posset^s, I answer at once: i\\\^^ I don't know I
(Hear! Hear!) without it be that manufa i,urers in new
countries naturally expect to grow rich faster than ih^xv confreres
in old ones. We can scarcely be expected to content ourselves
with the slow process of accretion by which the great houses
of etl'ete monarchies have attai; ed their present dimensions.
We should do the same thing in half a generation ! We have,
moreover, to pay higher wages, and our market is too limited.
Now I do not object to high wages, for, paradoxical as it may
seem, high wages means cheap labour. When a man is paid well
he works well, so that, in truth, the more you pay a man the
cheaper he becomes to you. Hi dull times, therefore, when

labour is abundant, (they generally go together) instead of
reducing wages, as is usually done, we should raise them. And
herein, perhaps, might be found an antidote for our troubles,
all in our own hands, and 1 make you a present of the idea.
But in the meantime, we may as well keep it to ourselves, and
resort to it only, if we cannot induce Government to shut out
irapeTtinent competition. If we succeed in this we may still
make good profits, in spite of loio wages, Our manufactures
will flourish, and that will attract immigrants, and these in
turn will need our cottons and woollens, and so we ^o on in a
ceaseless round of ever increasing prosperity. (Cheers.)

Another effect of our national policy will be to extend our
markets ; for our neighbors, when they find that Canada is no
longer to be their slaughter-house, will promptly cry peccavi,
and allow us to slaughter there. Why should all the slaughter-
ing, with its rich train of advantages, be on one side only ? Let
us hasten the time when our turn may come to send our cottons
and our woollens— our stoves and our saddlery hardware, to the
United States, and offer to sell them at almost any price.

And I tell you, gentlem3n, we shall soon reach this condi-
tion of prosperity if our statesmen will but scatter to the winds
the vagari'^s of free-traders, and inaugurate the grand national
policy prefigured in our resolution. (Enthusiastic cheers.)

Mr. Aaron rose to second the resolution, and said :

I differ, Mr. President, from my friend Mr. Blue in some
respects, but we have the same end in view, the promotion of
our own interests, or in other words, of the interests of our
native land.

In theory, I am a free-trader, but in practice I am a protec-
tionist, for I could not for a moment allow my principles to
interfere with my business interests. The difference, howe 'or,
is only one of time, and the time has n&t yet come for free-trude
in this country, nor will it do so until cur manuracturers hav^e
all grown vich.

When we shall have been protected long euoujh, we may
indulge in the luxury of free-trade This was the course of
events in England. After some centuries of a most restrictive
commercial policy, her manufactures had attained such gigantic
strength, tliat they could defy competition; and th3n,"but not
till then, did her wise rulers go in for freedom of trade. She
had become the richest nation in the world, and had surplus
millions to invest.

Our astute neighbour!? are fast following in England's foot-
steps, but as they started later, they have not yet r ..ached the

instead of
hem. And
r troubles,
f the idea,
selves, and
> shut out
3 may still
tiufactures
d these in
fjo on in a
ers.)

sxtend our
tiada is no
;ry peccavi,
slaughter-
mly? Let
lur cottons
vare, to the
rice.

this condi-
the winds
d national
leers.)

id:

e in some

amotion of

ts of our

a protec-

nciples to

howe 'Qr,

ee-trude

rcrs hav^e

wo may
course of
cstrictive

gigantic
1, but not
do. She
J surplus

nd's foot-
,ched the

free-trade epoch. Soon, however, by their deep policy of
" slaughtering" in unprotected markets, the United State..- will
reach the maximum of wealth, when they, too, may safely
reduce to practice the theories of economists. If we adopt the
same policy, we may expect the same result, and so on with
every nation in the world.

It may suit oui* adversaries to say that the removal of trade
restrictions in England was a very gradual process, the effect
of the growth of enlightenment rather than the growth of
wealth, and of many a hard-fought battle in Parliament and iii
the press between those calumniously cJled monopolists, and
the leaders of liberal opinion ; but I neod not answer assertions
so palpably absurd as these. Look for a moment at France.
Cobdon and Bright inoculated the Emperor with their radical
notions, and persuaded him to try " free-trade" for seven years.
What was the consequence? And let it be o, solemn warning.
IJelbre the seven years had lied, that silly Emperor way driven
into exile, and I will add, at the risk of committing an anach-
ronism, Cobdon was call'^l away to where free-traders cease
from troubling, a'.id manufacturers are at rest ! (G-roans for
Cobden.) But, hapnily for France, Mr. Thiers arose, swept
away the wretched delusion, and returned to the old policy of
I)rotection, with the result we behold to-day — a rehabilitated
country, contentment and smiling ]>rosperity everywhere, and
some hundreds of millions of that terrible war debt paid oifin
two or three years. (Cheers.) Such has been the eflect of a
A'ery few years of protection in France, gentlemen, and a sim-
ilar result might be expected here.

It is a common allegation with free-traders that protection
makes higher prices. But this is not correct, for the elfect of
that policy is s.mply to prevent pricet^ ^-oing loioer than they
should be. This is susceptible of instant demonstration. Will
anyone, for example, dare to maintain that his tweed pants cost
more because of our 20 per cent, tariif, unless ho be one of
those besotted creatures, who still wear the Scotch or English
article? And should we now succeed in our cUbrt to get
more protection, will that make the least diHerenco to the con-
sumer ? Certainly not. He and the wool grower will leap
all the advantage, in fact, it is mainly in their interest wa
speak. (Great applause.)

Mr. Druos was suifering from a severe cold in the head,
l)ut would venture to make a few remarks through his nose in
favour of the resolution. He said ;

Mr. Chnirman and Gentlemen — I have Just jott3d down,
Without a moment's rellection, a few propositions which, witl\

your permission, I will read. They are in the ibrm of a i
syilo<?ism. |

First. "We must encourage immigration ; but (second) I
immigrants won't come, or won't stay, unless they find work; |
we must, therefore, (third) encourage our manufactures. |

Now, I flatter myself, the most specious advocate of free- I
trade cannot successfully dispute these propositions, and they I
have this admirable quality : they will work any way you like |
to put them. You may turn them upside down without in the i
least distvirbing their logical security. The result always I
comes out the same. If we want immigrants, we must sustain I
our manufactures; if manufactures, we must attract immi- J
grants. In this last magic w'ord, gentlemen, will be found a
panacea for the evils that are upon us ; for with a large popu-
lation, there will come a large internal demand for our manu-
factures, and the more numerous we are, the easier it will be
to pay our taxes; provided those do not increase in greater
proportion, which is, I must admit, the rule in older countries,
but should not be so in this. (Hear, hear.)

Moreover, without a largo population, we can never attain
the rank of a great nation, that is to say, we cannot have a
very numerous class of wealthy men. Now, the individuals
composing small states, may be happy and virtuous, and all
that sort of thing, but these are not elements of greatness ;
and to form a i,'-/t'«/ state should be the ambition of every patriot
statesman. The virtue, &;c., may follow. For what is great-
ness but wealth, and does not wealth create happiness ? Halt-
crazy philosopliers may pretend to deny this, but the man of
the world knows better, and shows by his actions that he con-
siders wealth and happiness convertible terms. Legislation
should therefore aim at the pro(luctio:i of wealth, and it matters
nothing to our " greatness " that the wealth should accumulate
in the hands of the few rather than with the many.

If, in all civilized communities, we observe a tendency for
the rich to grow richer, and the ])oor poorer, we must ascribe
it to some wise dispensation of I'rovidonce, which we should
not blasphemously try to thwart. As the sacred writer
hath it:

" Order is Iloavou's firNt law, ami tills confessed,
Home are, and must be, great-ir than the rest."

But the dillerence is not so great as it appears ; for if the lower
classes have not the en/oi/tnenls, they escape the avps of wealth,
and they have oth'^r compensations in knowing that they have
contributed their mile towards the magniiicence of the rich,

IS g-reat-
? ■

he man of
at ho coii-
legislatiou
it matters
cumulate

deiicy lor
;t ascribe
e should

;d writer

:he lower
1" wealth,
hey have
the rich,

form of a

t (second)
ind work ;
ires.

ite offree-
5, and they
ly you like
lout in the
It always
1st sustain
•act immi-
ae found a
irge popu-
our manu-
' it will he
in greater
countries, |

ivcr attain
Lot have a
iidividuals
^s, and all

reatness ;

y patriot

and in thd glorious feeling that they belong to a great nation.
(Loud cheers.)

Let our government, gentlemen, adopt the policy we
urge upon them, and the effect will soon be apparent in
our national growth ; and before many generations have
passed away, we shall have accumulated so much money, and
such a teeming population — millionaires on the one hand,
paupers on the other — that we may alford to follow the example
of England, and export our pnor as well as our manufactures !
(Prolonged applause.)

Mr, Assurance next addressed the meeting as follows : —

Mr. President and Gentlemen, — "We are all, of course,
agreed that our common country should be made as prosperous
as possible, but we ditler a little as to the manner, and as to
what constitutes " prosperity." Now the gentlemen who have
spoken, and those for wiiom they speak, appear to me to iden-
tify themselves entirely too much with their country. They
evidently think that it' the// are prosperous, the whole country
must or should be so; that, therefore, the simplest way to
dilfuse universal well-being is to get rich themselves; and
linally that the shortest way to get rich themselves is to coax
or bully Grovernment into granting f hem certain monopolies.

The last part of the proposition 1 shall not dispute It is
undoubteJiy a short way to get rich, to dip freely into the
public purse. But I stoutly deny that our manufactures and
our country are synonymous terms. — that the former are in
such a desperate state as to call "imperatively," or in any
other way, for Grovernment help, or that such help would be
proper and salutary under any circumstances.

For proof, I appeal to the fact that new manufacturing
enterprises are started here every day, and very olten, too, by
capitalists from the United States ! And which of us has not
been pestered to take stock in them, by their projectors, who
could assure us. and plainly demonstrate by iigures, that
prolits would be large and certain ! I wonder if any of these
gentlemen are here to-day, asking for more protection. (No !)

Finally, the depression, such as it is, is caused by the uni-
versal struggle to get rich fast, and is not a matter for legisla-
tion at all. (Ominous silence.)

We have already far too many " busines? men," and their
numbers are being constantly swelled by aspirants from the
ranks below. It is impossible that all can do well, in a 1 'gi-
timate way, so speculation, on crtdit, becomes rampant, 'fhe
bulk of transactions " on change " are simply gambling, and

add as much to the general wealth and vvoU-being as so many

bets on a race-course.

zation is the inevitable result of this Plutus wor-

Dem

oral

ship; and "Over-reach thy neighbour^' might be adopted i'or
their motto by the business men oi' our day. In short, gentle-
men, manufacturers, like others, are now feeling the ellects of a
state of things they have largely helped to produce ; and 1 say,
it is good for them ! (Hisses and groans.)

Mr. Diffident now addressed the B.>ard, saying : — I am a
good deal oppressed with modesty, Mr. President, but I will
venture to say that I believe manufacturers to be better oil'
than any other similar class. On every side you witness their
"riotous living," and admire their palatial homos; and now
they modestly ask that every poor man In the land should be
forced to i^ay something to swell their money bags !

The immigration and protection see-saw of Mr. Drugs
reminds one of the Irishman, who, by adding now whiskey and
now water to his toddy, managed to get a very big drink indeed,
before he got i». precisely to his taste. tSo, we must have immi-
grants for our manui'actures, and then manufactures for our
immigrants. In the meantime, our friend slakes his thirst, and,
after a while, retires complacently with a considerable swell-
ing about the region of the pucket. The immigrants we need,
are those who will cultivate our wild lands ; of other kinds, we
have more than enough already. And it is certainly a peculiar
way to promote immigration, to increase the cost of living to
the poor !

Gentlemen, talk of the prosperity of the United States !
Why, it is notorious that their manufacturing interests are in a
worse condition than our own. Mills and workshops closed in
every direction and few of the others paying dividends. Over-
protection has bred over-production there, as it will every-
where ; and it needs no great hardihood to predict that tlie
semi-barbarous commercial policy of the United States will
soon be replaced by one more in consonance with the spirit of
the age and of common sense. (Hear.)

Mr. BonsoN : I rise, Mr. President and gentlemen, to sub-
mit a few facts and iigures bearing on this question, vvliich, I
venture to think, will astonish Mr. IJlue and gentlemen who
have made so much capital out of that bug-bear — the "slaugh-
tering" of United States goods in this country. I say, my
Iigures will astonish these gentlemen; for I shinild bo reluctant
to think that they already know how little 'bundation there is,
in fact, for the outcry they have raised.

so many

at us wor-
3ptod lor
rt, gentle-
liocts ol' a
iud 1 say,

: — I ara a
ut I will
better off
Less their
and now
ihould be

^r. Drafts
iskey and
k indeed,
ive inimi-
is lor our
lirst, and,
)le swell-
we need,
dnds, we
peculiar
ivini>- to

1 >States !

are in a

closed in

s. Over-

1 every-

ihat the

tes will
spirit of

I, io suh-
vl.ich, I
I'll who
slaugh-
siiy, my
eluctant
Ihere is.

I will now quote from the Customs' Blue Book for 1874,
where we find that while the total importations of woollens in
that year amounted to over $11,000,000, only $180,000 worth
came from the United States ! Surely here is a case of " much
cry and little wool ! "

Again, to take the boot auc^ shoe interest, we find that im-
portations from the States in 1874 amounted to only $14(J,0<J0.
Surely this is not the shoe that pinches ! But I need not read
the whole Blue Book to you. I refer you to it for more inform-
ation of this spicy kind.

Over-importation there certainly has been, but it is rather
from Europe than the United States. And there has also been
over-production. Our manufacturing capacities already, in
certain lines, exceed the demand. To merchants and manu-
facturers, I would say : " Import less, make less, and spend
less ; and you will all be better olfncxt year." (Dead silence.)

Mr. Savant, continuing the debate, said : — I have great
pleasure in supporting t lie resolution, although it scarcely gives
suiiicient prominence to the great iron interest I am here to
repre.sent, — an interest, gentlemen, hitherto too much neglected
by our rulers. Yet, if we could only get a sfart, we might
lead the world in that industry ; for we have the richest iron
deposits in the world, and we have coal and charcoal too.

How did our great mother, England, reach her proud
position of mistress of the world in iron manufactures ?

Not, as quibblers might allege, because she was so pre-
eminently favored by nature with vast deposits of coal and
iron, almost in the same spot, and thus saving immensely in
transportation, — but simply because her able legislators pro-
hibited for a couple of centuries or so, the importation of
foreign iron. 1 need not quote all their wise regulations in
this regard, l)ut at one time, about a hundred years ago, they
forbade, under dreadful penalties, the exportation of steam
engines and all machinery used in iron manufacturing. This
was rather hard perhaps on the makers of such machinery,
but in this way did England ))uild up her iron trade, and so
should we build ours. (Loud cheers.)

We may not, indeed, hope to rival that country in so short
a lime as two centuries — for we have vastly dili'erent competi-
tors,— but in three or four, we may fairly hope to surpass her ;
a retlection which must caus(3 great satisfaction to the present
generation.

In IS'lf), the price of iron in England was only cClO, while
on the Continent it ranged from 15 to 25 guineas; but she

still thought it prudent to keep out the foreign article by high
duties. Soon after, however, her statesmen thought these
might safely be reduced. The enthusiasts, callod political
economists, pretended, indeed, that the whole system, was
absurd, when it was not mischievous, — a wretched concession
to the clamour of monopolista, — but practical men knew better,
and to practical men only do I address myself. (Hear ! Hear !)
To return to our own country, I will show you one of the
effects of living under a pusillanimous government. We have
iron ore in abundance, as I have said ; well, our neighbours
corae here, buy our ore, ship it to the States, pay heavy
freight, — for the freight is, of course, enormous, in proportion
to value on such material,— pay their own import diity of $4 a
ton, smelt the ore, send it back to us as iron, pay return freight
and our import duty of 20 per cent., and take our *' hard
cash" out of the country ! Now, is not this a startling state of
things?

Voice: Very ! and says mighty little for the enterprise of
our capitalists !

Mr. Savant : Want of enterprise is not the cause, but
want of proper legislation. When our Government shakes off its
supineness ; shuts out improper competition and guarantees
large returns to investors, we may do this business for our-
selves and keep our " hard cash " at home ! (Cheers.)

It may be said, if we have cash to pay we get full value
for it ; but such cavillers clearly understand nothing of thj
•' balance of trade." Why, our imports last year were 33 per
cent, more than our exports !

Voice : Because importers went mad ; they will soon get
tired of that !

Mr. Savant : Mad or not, the fact remains, and it becomes
the imperative duty of Government to intervene.

Voice : Let them erect more lunatic asylums !

Mr. Savant continuiiig : Mr. Bobson has made the won-
derful discovery that we can already manufacture as much as
we can consume. Well, Gentlemen, docs not England manu-
facture more than she consumes V Does not the United States,
as we see by her " slaughtering " V And so, indeed, should
every country — putting away the surplus for a rainy day, if
she cannot find a market for it. (Loud cheers )

B by high
;ht these
political
item was
Jiicession
w better,
■! Hear!)

ne of the
We have
ighboars
Y heavy
oportion
y of $4 a
11 freight
r " hard
? state of

r prise of

use, but
ces off its
arantees
for our-

lU value
of thj
33 per

10011 get

e comes

e wou-
luch a,s
manu-
i3tates,
should
day, if

As uobodv wants to protect grain, I would like to see
"products of the soil" dropped from our resolution.

Mr. Blue : signified his willingness to meet Mr. Savant
in this matter.

A gentleman whom we had not before noticed at ti^e
Board, begged to correct Mr. Sav.a.nt when he said : nobody
wants to protect grain. Nobody at that Board, perhaps,
because by far the greatest interest of the country was not
represented there ; but farmers certainly wanted such protec-
tion. Canada is now a slaughter-m&rket for a great deal of
American wheat, which our millers are not slow to buy and
grind, to the manifest injury of their own country. Mr. Savant
had ably shown that we should copy the old policy of England
with regard to iron ; he thought we should also follow her
example in respect to grain, and absolutely prohibit impor-
tation.

The Chairman said : he would like to know the name of
the person who could gravely utter sentiments so extraor-
dinary, and from what local Board he was accredited; but the
gentleman had already disappeared. It was inferred that he
was a mere interloper. We afterwards learned that the unfor-
tunate man's name was "Grranger," and that he was a little
demented.

Mr. W. W. OaiiE said ; It is scarcely recessary, perhaps,
to answer the intruder who has just addressed the Board ; but
it is sufficient to say that we are not here to consider the
interests of agriculturists, but those of business men. Now,
I am a thorough protectionist, for I am a manulacturer. I
manufacture Hour, and it is therefore only ju.sl that flour should
be protected; but when it comes to protecting wheat — my raw
malerial, — that is just going a little too far. If I lind it to my
advantage to buy wheat in the tStates, why should I be pre-
vented, I should like to know! (Hear ! Hoar !)

Mr. Howl said ; The question before us, Mr. Chairman,
is not so much a fiscal as a social or natioiial one, and our first
consideration should be to cement more closely together the
elements of our confederation.

To effect this, we have but to make use of our Intercol-
onial Railway, — an elephant with which we should not, other-
wise, know what to do.

To bring about so desirable a consummation, we should

all be willing to sacrifice something— to pay something — and I
am sure we are.

Which of us, lor instance, would not sell his goods cheaper
to a compatriot than to a citizen of the United States, or pay
a little more for what he wished to buy? I think, therefore,
if our Legislature forced Ontario to buy her coal in Nova
Scotia, by imposing a duty of two or three dollars a ton on the
Pennsylvanian article, and obliged Nova Scotia to buy her pro-
duce, &c., in Ontario, it would be a great advantage to both,
and neither would have reason to complain. Ontario would,
no doubt, pay a million or two a year more for her coal than
she now pays, but Nova Scotia would have to pay out as much
extra for her produce, &c., and thus balance the account.
There are practical dillicalties in the way, of course, but deter-
mination on the part of Crovernment, and patience on the part
of the people, would certainly overcome them.

For instance, Ontario might want more coal than Nova
Scotia wants of produce ; or, again, as all classes in the latter
are not interested in coal, so are thero many classes in Ontario
not interested in manufactures or produce, and these differ-
ences might produce discord — for a time, — but after a while we
would learn to run smoothly in the groove prescribed for us,
and support our burthens without feeling them. (Cheers.)

" Canada for Canadians " is my motto ! The more we live
within ourselves, and the less we have to do with the outside
world in the w^ay of trade, the better for us all, and the sooner
we will return to a state of primitive innocence and beatitude —
when the millennium would be no object ! (Great enthusiasm.)

Mr. D. Bell said : —

1 shall vote, Mr. President, against the resolution. The
arguments of gentlemen in favor of it are no arguments at all,
and dc» not support their own conclusions. They seemed to
believe that our government, by simple fin/, could cause all our
troubles to vanish, and place us at once on a footing with
nations ten times as populous, twenty times as rich, and a hun-
dred times better off m the matter of climate.

Our troubles arc due to the circumstance that we want to
go too fast, and the sooner our manufacturers " moderate their
transports," the better.

They are all the time hankering after the markets of the
United States, as if that would help them much. If they cannot
compete with United States goods here, with all the protection
they already possess, how can they do so there ?

ing — and I

»ds cheaper
tes, or pay
, therefore,
al in Nova
toil on the
uy her pro-
ge to both,
ario would,
r coal than
lit as much
e account.
, but deter-
3n the part

than Nova
L the latter
in Ontario
lese dilter-
a v^'hile we
ibed for us,
pheers.)

)re we live
;he outside
the sooner
)eatitude —
ithusiasin.)

on. The
uts at all,
'omed to
se all our
ig with
nd a hun-

e want to
srate their

3ts of the
ey cannot
)roteGtiou

I think the simplest way lor government to meet the
clamour, would be to grant bounties at once, or to pension oif
every manufacturer !

Mr. Samuel Slick.— Thouj^h not a regularly accredited
member, was allowed a hearing in behalf of Nova Scotian coal
owners, and spoke as follows :

3Ir. President and Gentlemen — I need not tell you that our
coal mining interests are in a horrible condition, nor that I
think it the duty of government, or in other words, the Domi-
nion as a whole, to contribute to their relief.

It is surely a shocking state )f tb sgs that we cannot turn
to profitable account, the wealth of coal with which nature has
so bountifully supplied us. Is it because there is too much
coal in the world ? or that the nation'-, who want it most find it
in plenty in their own soil 1 Whatever the reason, we certainly
cannot hud a market for ours, so long as Pennsylvania is per-
mitted to sell hers in Ontario, for the misfortune of the article
is, its bulk. The cost o. transportation is so great that people at
a distance won't buy our coal, and as we can't burn it all our-
selves, even if we did nothing else, we shall be obliged to shut
up, unless government do something for us — " dam quick" as
the negro said. (Hear, hear.)

Now, the reverent observer of nature (in Nova Scotia)
detects the finger of Providence in the circumstance, that Onta-
rio and Quel)ec have not been blessed with coal, and when
confederation was consummated, He must have designed that
these provinces shouUl get their supplies from us ; for political
boundaries and considerations must always take precedence of
mere geographical ones. liut I fear public sentiment is not
ripe (in Ontario at any rate) for legislation in conformity with
this design. There is too much ignorance and prejudice for
our rulers safely to prohibit all importations of foreign coil.

I would recommend, therefore, as an alternative, that a
bounty be granted to Nova Scotian coal proprietors on all the
coal they export. At present we are debarred from sending
our coal to the Eastern States by an import duty imposed by
the United States Oovernment, at the instigation of the bloated
coal monopolists of Pennsylvania. If our government will but
pay this duty for us, or perhaps a little more, in the form of a
bounty, the tax would fall very lightly on the whole people,
while it would infuse new life into our business. We could
then undersell Pennsylvania in their own markets, and leave a,
snug thing Jbr ourselves. (Cheers.)

Mr. Blue thought Mr. Slick's suggestion so reasonable as
to commend itself at once to the good sense ot" members, and
he would, thereiore, embody it in his resolution.

Mr Doodle — Though not a member of the Board, asked
to be allowed to say a few words in support of what had tallen
from Mr. kSlick. He resided, he said, in the United States, but
had a pecuniary interest in the welfare of our great Dominion,
for he, in conjunction with a lew speculative friends, had
bought one of the largest coal mines in >Jova Scotia, in antici-
pation that the Canadian Grovernment would do something to
check-mate Pennsylvania, and place Nova Scotia in a position to
supply the Eastern States with coal. He trusted this natural
and proper expectation wouldnotprove unfounded, as otherwise
their speculation must be utterly disastrous.

He need hardly add that he spoke as much in the inter-
est of the Dominion as in his own, for previous speakers had
clearly shown that one went with the other.

Mr. Talker — Familiarly known as the "Major," now
addressed the Board as ioUows : —

Mr. President — The " grand national policy " to which we
are invited to give our adhesion, seems to me to be a very small
potatoe indeed, and the resolution is entirely too hi-falutin. It
amounts simply to copying the absurd commercial policy of
the United States not because of its intrinsic merits, but avow-
edly as a discrimination against that country. It resembles a
contemptible mimicry more than anything else. Why not apply
the brilliant idea to other countries as well, on the principle
that what others do to us, whether particularly meant for us or
nor, we should do to them, whether particularly good for us or
not? This would spare us the mental anguish of working out
a tariff for ourselves.

Of course, gentlemen who favor this resolution, assume
that the United States will not retaliate our " retaliation," as it
is called, but how would they look if they discovered some tine
morning that that country had imposed prohibitory duties on
our barley, lumber, wool and cattle? Perhaps they might
argue, with their elastic logic, that it would be better for us if
these products were kept at home. They would certainly be
cheaper ; and the cheapness of barley and wool would encour-
age the manufacture of beer and woollen goods, — those who
wanted to build houses, would get cheaper lumber, while every
living soul in the Dominion, except babes at the breast, would
profit by the cheapness of beef !

The resolution as it stood originally, was so comprehensive,

sonable as
ibers, aad

ird, asked
tiad tallen
itates, but
Jominion,
jnds, had
in autici-
lethinj^ to
)osition to
is natural
otherwise

the inter-
akers had

|or, now

v^hich we

•^ery small

lutin. It

policy of

)ut avow-

embles a

not apply

principle

for us or

rking out

assume

on," as it

iome tine

uties on

^ might

tor us if
ainly be

encour-
ose who
ile every
t, would

hensive,

that it might at once have said : " everything under the earth,
on the earth, and above the earth, with the combinations
thereof," but some gentlemen have objected to the company of
" products of the soil," so these have been " lelt out in the cold;"
though with what consistency I fail to comprehend. Perhaps
the distinction they meant to draw was between things found
in a natural state, the direct gift of God, and the product of
mere human labour when expended only on the surface of the
earth ! The whole argument is too absurd. None of these
things should be "protected," but, certainly, " products of the
soil " could show a better claim for such protection than those
of the " forest and the mine."

Mr. Black, Junr. now rose, and expectation was on tip-
toe, members expecting a treat from the known eloquence and
versatility of this gentleman. He said : —

Mr. President and Gentlemen, — The necessity for protectino
our country, and our more simple countrymen, against the
invasion of cheap goods from the iStates, is quite apparent to
the initiated, and it arises from the circumstance that that
country has now returned to her normal condition of great
prosperity. During and for some time after the great war,
manufactured goods were cheaper here than there, and her
citizens consequently Hocked here for pleasure travel, or for
business, and made a nice thing by smuggling our goods back
with them into their own country. The coming and going of
these pilgrims, brought a double blessing, for they left money
for their expenses, and they left more for the smuggled goods.
Alas! this happy state of things has passed away, never, I fear,
to return. (Audible sighs from the majority) The tables are
turned. Things are cheaper there than with us, and out oi the
very abundance of their prosperity, tht^y can atf.)rd to sell their
manufactures here at less than cost, which we could never do !

(Voice : they will soon tire of that !)

I wish I could think so, but no doubt they find a profit in
this slaughtering, because of the enormous extent of their
business. l! such a state of things as this be allowed to endure,
our infant manufactures will soon be crushed to death, and
G-overnment will be clearly responsible for thi^ catastrophe.
They may not indeiMl, by increasing taxation, make our pro-
ducts cheaper, but they can easily make those of the United
States dearor, which amounts to the same thing, (llt^ar ! Kear !)

Gentlemen on the other side, indeed, pretend that this
will make our own goods dearer likewise, but nothing can be

movG absurd. Our manufacturers simply say : " Give us this
" country to ourselves, and we will deal fairly by you. You
" may be sure we will never charge more than we can gfet."
Can anything be more reasonable ? But even were it true that
larmers would have, under <his system, to pay dearer for
manufactured goods, they would lind ample compensation in
the increased value of their products. We observe, 1 admit,
a disposition among agriculturists of densely peopled countries,
to migrate to pastures new, where land is cheap; but this can-
not be owing to a desive to be better oil', for previous speakers
have demonstrated that the more populous a country is, the
better for every body in it.

It is very desirable, that o^r farmers and lower classes
generally, should apprehend that their interests are identilied
with those of the great class of i,'o beliveens this Board represents.
If they will but allow us to establish a rich middle class, by
catering for them in our own way, they must eventually profit
by the overflow. 1 would, therefore, deprecate any attempt on
the part of the farmer to get protection on his grain. There
is no necessity for it. It would be a bread tax too, and raise
the price of bread to the poor. I have already shewn that such
taxes have not the same etl'ect with manufactures. I need not
stop to explain the reason of this difference ; a little reflection
will make it clear; besides, the majority of this Board need no
convincing on this point. 1 am glad, therefore, that "products
of the soil " have been taken out of the resolution.

Manufactures, rather than agriculture, is what we need.
Now, as 1 have just said, ibrmer speakers conclusively estab-
lished that increase of population and increase of prosperity
•were identical terms. Well, gentlemen, I find by a close
scrutiny of the United States census statistics, that the greatest
increase of population there has taken place, not in exclusively
agricultural districts, but in busy manujaclurin^ centres ! (Loud
applause.)

I must now protest, sir, against the language of Mr.
Talker, when he urges this Board to hesitate before we adopt our
grand, national, protective and retaliatory policy, lest, forsooth !
our neighbours may retaliate too ! Such language is an insult
to this Board, and should rally us to a man around our
glorious ensign of " Protection to our capitalists ! " (Cheers.)
What ! shall we be asked to modify a policy founded on what
the United States has done, by any considerations of what she
may do in return ? I scorn the recommendation, although I
do not doubt that the United States ivill retaliate, for they have
always adopted a policy of coercion towards this country.
There can be no doubt of this, for a prominent citizen of theirs

Give us this
y you. You
we can g-et."
'e it true that
y dearer lor
ipeiisatiou in
rve, 1 admit,
led countries,

but this can-
ous speakers
»untry is, the

ower classes
are identilied
•d represents.
Idle class, by
iitually proiit
ly attempt on
rain. There
too, and raise
\vn that such
. I need not
tie reflection
)ard need no
it "products

lat we need.
sively estab-
)i' prosperity
by a close
the greatest
exclnsively
es ! (Loud

ag-e of Mr.
ve adopt our
st, ibrsooth !
is an insult
around our
(Cheers.)
ed on what
jH what she
although I
r they have
is country,
en of theirs

divulged the secret one day after dinner, at Detroit ! ! But
shall such a policy succeed ? They must learn that Britons
are never, never, never to bo bullied or cajoled ! (Tremendous
applaase, members repeating " never, never never," to the
tune of " Rule Britannia.")

One word more, gentlemen, in conclusion. Anticipating
a question a certain honorable gentleman is probably about to
ask, I will tell him that we are not here to discuss mere details,
but to lay down great fundamental principles for the guidance
and instruction of our statesmen ! (Great cheering.)

The Honorable Mr. Old followed, and said :

Mr. Chairman and Genflemen, — Believing, as I do, in Adam
Smith and his disciples, McCuUoch, Peel, Mill, Cobden, Bright,
Gladstone, and Young, 1 cannot vote for the resolution before
us.

Exactly one hundred years ago, the illustrious founder of
the science of Political Economy wrote as foUov/s about arbi-
trary restrictions on trade :

"The mean rapacity of merchants and manufacturers would thus erect into
political maxims, for the conduct of a great nation, the sneaking arts of underling
t.adesmen ; but they who teach these doctrines are by no means such fooltiasthey
believe them. In every country It is, an, I always must be, the interest of the great
body of the people to buy whatever thev want of those who sell it cheapest. The
proposition is so manifest, that it could never have been called in question, had
not the interested sophistry of merchants and manufacturers confounded the com-
mon sense of mankind. Their interest it is to secure the monopoly of the home,
mark'jt, and is therefore directly oi)po.;ed to that of the great body of the people."

The principles here laid down, gentlemen, are as immut-
able as truth itself, and it is strange that they should still need
enforcing ; but the spirit of selHsh monopoly which Adam
Smith thus denounced is still alive and aggressive, as we have
heard here to-day: For one, I shall make no concession to it.

The resolution, moreover, aims a deadly blow at our com-
merce with the United States — by far the most valuable we
possess, and which I have done so much to create. When I
went to Washington in eigbtecn hundred and fif

(Voice from factious member of the other side
come now, we have heard all that before ! ")

Oh!

The honorable gentleman sat down abruptly, in great
disgust.

Mr. Fluke. I am here, sir, to represent the flour mills of
Ontario, and I think it will not be denied that that interest is in

such a wretched slate as to demand the prompt attention of
Grovernment. It is all very tine for emigration agents, gover-
nors in vacation, the press, travellers, &c., &c , to laud and })utf
the " great prosperity " of the Dominion, but we, the manufac-
turers, certainly see things in a different light. The Hour-mill-
ing business, at any rate, is in a condition the very reverse of
pr sperous, and we owe it to the fact that American millers are
allowed to "slaughter" their flour in this country, w'lile we
have no such liberty in theirs: we can only slaughter here.
They send flour here, too, of i\ n uality we cannot easily produce
at all, and, of course, undersell us, simply because our misera-
ble Government won't keep it out ! Surely such a monstrous
state of things cannot long bo endured.

I do not dispute the fact, that we have far too many mills,
and that internal competition cuts down prices, but since the
mills are there, it is surely the duty of Government to see that
they can be protilably worked, by securing to us our home
market, if they cannot find one for us elsewhere. (Cheers. " Of
course it is !")

Mr. Starling said : The resolution, Mr. Chairman, is based
or false assumptions. Gentlemen who support it seem to
imagine that Government should have the management of
every business in ilie country. It would only be going a small
step further to assume tha*^^ Government should be held re-
sponsible for, and be made to father, the losses of every insol-
vent ! Now I believe that Government should interfere as
little as possible v-'ith the natur. ' course of trade ; and the only
justification for customs duties at all is, that a certain revenue
must be raised.

" Incidental protection " is a senseless shibboleth, for " protec-
tion" and revenue raising by import duties are utterly incom-
patible things. It is an easy matter indeed to make foreign
goods dearer, but if the consumption is not thereby diminished,
there is no " protection," and exactly in proportion as the pro-
tection thus afforded becomes efficient, does the revenue from
imports decline, until finally there is none.

There is much talk about the necessity for giving our bud-
ding manufactures "a start." I can as3ure you, gentlemen, it
will take a century or t vo before some of them can "go it
alone." I have, myself, been manutactnrins.'; a certain article
(I shall not name it, lor, of course I do not want the duties
removed from that article,) for twenty years, thanks to "inci-
dental protection." Well, during that time our Government
has derived no revenue whatever from that article, because
none has been imported; yet we could not continue that busi-

attention of
^ents, gover-
md and putf
he manufac-
le fiour-mill-
■y reverse of
n millers are
J'', w'uie we
.lighter here.
sily produce

our misera-
a monstrous

many mills,
ut since the
it to see that
is our home
Cheers, "Of

nan, is based

: it seem to

lagement of

^oing a small

be held re-

every insol-

interfere as

uid the only

a,in revenue

for " protec-
?rly incom-
ake foreign
diminished,
as the pro-
venue from

!!]!• our bud-
eutlemen, it

can "go it
tain article

the duties
ks to " inci-

overnraent
lie, because

that busi-

ness for a day^ if the duty were removed. The only industries
worth cultivating — I speak, of course, from a statesman s point
of view — are those that take root naturally, and require no
forcing under glass, so to speak.

I wonder some protectionist has not asked Goverment to
exclude foreign grapes, in order to encourage our native vine-
yards; or to bring in an act to ameliorate the climate at once.

In conclusion, if " protection " is going to do such wonder-
ful things for us, let us have the " courage of our convictions,"
and consistently apply it to all the world; and not a the
United States only, who do not discriminate against us.
(Silence.)

Mr. Straw (U. S.) said : I rise, Mr. Chairman, merely to
explain that this " slaughtering," so called, is simply the natural
effect of over production, and it must soon subside, for these
things regulate the.'.nselves. Precisely the same tiling is taking
place between different States of our Union.

We are sending wool from Michigan to Massachusetts,
which comes back to us in the shape of "slaughtered" goods,
while our woollen mills are standing idle; but Michigan does
not cry out for protection against Massachusetts.

Competition of this kind (or of any kind, for that matter,
and whether it comes from abroad or from our neighbour across
the street, makes no ditference), is no doubt very unpleasant
to every business man; but it is still more unpleasant to those
who are compelled to "slaughter" their accumulating stocks,
and must very soon prove suicidal to the butcher.

In short, gentlemen, "slaughtering" menns dull times and
bad business. There is a joke current in our Eastern States that
pretty well illustrates the state of things there. A man, being
told that ' ten mils make a cent,' replied, " that it was not so
where he came from, as no ton mills in that region made a
cent !

Mr. Wat {fils) said : Since " protection " is evidently the
order of the day, Mr. Chiiirinan, I would like to put in a claim
for a little industry down in JNew Brunswick.

I refer to ship-})uilding, in which we employ some fifty
millions of capital. There will doubtless be a dilhculty in the
application of your principles to this branch of " manufactur-
ing," for our American friends are not in the habit of "slaugh-
tering " their s/i«7;s in this country, so that to shut these out
would not help us much. I think, however, this desirabio end

may be secured by granting us a boudty of about SIO a ton, or
$15, 000 a ship.

Gentlemen who have so ably defended the principle of
protection to native industries will scarcely, I think, object to
so reasonable a proposition.

Ml'. Wat's remarks were, however, received with coldness.
It was thought that the interests he advocated had no more
claim for protection than "products of the scil."

Mr. Scantling now claimed the attention of the Board,
and spoke as foUows : Mr. Talker found it difficult to under-
stand why products ot the forest and mine were more deserv-
ing of pro'.ection than those of the soil. I will make the
thing plain, even to his comprehension.

In one word, it is capital that needs protection. Now it
requires a good d^^al of capital to carry on mining or lumber-
ing, whereas any pauper may go into the woods and turn
farmer.

When a man has nothing to lose, he has nothing to protect ;
but when the rich invest their accumulations in speculative
enterprises, (for the beneht of their work-people) it becomes
the duty of Government to see that they do not " come to
grief." It is well known that the lumber interest is in a veiy
melancholy state, and something must be done to resuscitate it.

Following the able argument of Mr. Slick, I may say that
ilenven has been very bountilul to us in the matter of timber ;
and, as throughout all nature, we trace benehcent design, — it
must have been intended that we should turji every stick of
this timber to account, as speedily as possible.

Many capitalists desiring humbly to act as instruments in
this design, have therefore engag-ed themselves in the exploit-
ation of this nati: -al wealth.

The result, however, has not, so fjr, been successful, for
the people of the United States, less penetrated with providen-
tial design, won't buy our lumber as fast as we can make it !

It now remains for our Government to do something, or
we must slop cutting timber, which is not to be thought of.
(Hear! Hear!)

I would recommend that a bounty be granted to exporters
of lumber, as our neighbors aro.
results, with their reiine<l sugars,

The effect of that bounty in the United States (for bovmty
it no doubt is, in part, tho' called a "drawback") has been
such that their reliners are now exporting sugars in
immense quantities, even to England and Scotland. It may bg

doing, with such excellent

i ' i -i*

) a ton, or

rinciple of
, object to

I coldness,
d no more

the Board,

to under-

)re deserv-

make the

. Now it

ir lumber-

and turn

^o protect;
ipeculative
it becomes
" come to
|3 in a vei y
uscitate it,

ly say that
■ timber ;
esig-n, — it
stick of

ments in
10 exploit-

5essful, for
irovideu-
uake it !
ethini^, or
lought of.

exporters
excellent

)r bounty
has been
is^ars in
It may bo

said that if the people of England are thus supplied with su:^:irs
for less than they can make them, it is at the expanse ol the
people of the United States. Very good; but these, again, are
well repaid by the impetus given to so important a branch of
industry. This has been proved over and over again to the
satisfaction of every unbiased protectionist.

If we can induce our Grovernment to apply these princi-
ples to our lumber trade, there is no limit to the business we
will speedily do with all the world. Make the bounty higii
enough, and we will send our timber to Maine and to Norway,
and undersell dealers there. We would send it even into the
heart of the great Desert ot Sahara ! We could then employ
hundreds of thousands of the lower classes in this trade, build
up& rich middle class, and generally add to the prosperity of
the whole nation, (Cheers.)

Before sitting down, I would remind gentleriien who
have quoted from the political economists, that one of the
Litest and greatest of that school — Mill — has admitted, that
protection in a young country, may, under certain coiniitions,
be defensible. (Hear ! hear !)

Mr, Candid : I will gladly vote for the resolution, but I
would like to see it changed in one particular.

The words " encourage Jurlher investment,'" are in evident
contradiction with the general sense and aim of the resolation,
and should therefore be lelt out or altered. It would be a
queer way to enrich manufacturers to bring a multitude of
competitors into the field. The benefits to accrue Irom our
resolution should be strictly limited to those at present en-
gaged in manufacturing, at any rate, until these had made
enough to retire. 1 would suggest, theretore, that the words
" discourage further investment," be substituted.

Mr. Blue thought Mr, Ganoid's idea a good one, and he
altered the resolution accordingly.

Mr Quibble said: I can quite appreciate, Sir, the view
Mr. Candid takes of the question beloie U8. llti, at any rate,
is consistent, and sees that home competition is just as oOjec-
tionable as foreign, to the man who wants to make money ; and
we may as well admit, enlre nous, that money-making is what
brings us all here to-day.

Of course, we are all Free-traders in principle, just as we
are all believers in republicanism, or in doing to others what
we would like others to do to us, <Scc., &;c. ; but, unlbrtunati'ly
we cannot, in the present state of socicity, reduce our principles

to practice. Every man who has a thing for sale, tries to
get the highest price for it, and would regard it as simple
idiotcy, to help his neighbour to undersell him. Now, I
happen not to be a manufacturer, and may therefore express
rayself more freely than I should probably do, if I had any-
thing to " protect."

The main diflS-culty with me, in this resolution, and in all
similar ones, is, that there is no logical or practical end to
them ; for the more you protect, the greater will grow the need
for protection. Internal competition becomes worse than the
foreign — stimulated as it is by an abnormal state of things, —
and so cuts down prices, until there is another cry for more
protection, and so on and on. In cases where foreign goods
are shut out altogether, things are no better — perhaps worse, —
but it will always be hard to bring manufacturers to admit
that there are too many factories, and that some must be shut
up to save the rest. Much has been made of the fact that
prices have not advanced here under protection. This is very
true, in a certain sense, and we see the reason, but it is, never-
theless, quite evident that paying prices are still too high, or
at least higher than those of foreign goods, with all expenses
added, or else why the demand, more importunate than ever,
to keep these out by higher duties? A manufacturer will rise
iii his place ;n Parliament and say it is " perfectly absurd" to
allege that protection makes higher prices, and in tLe same
breath ask for legislation to prevent the consumer from getting
foreign goods so cheap ! These reasoners confound, or pre-
tend to do so, the vltimale with the immediate or temporary
effect of high protective duties.

Allusion has been made to a certain passage in the writ-
ings of Mr. Mill, who was once betrayed into saying something
about protection that seems to be in contradiction with all his
other utterances on the subject. Now, whether it is true or not,
as some maintain, that Mr. Mill afterwards cancelled that pas-
sage, it is certainly straining it very much to apply it to our
circumstances, and such a use of it would, I think, have given
the author a tit ; for he is careful to quality it by adding that :
" Such protection should be confined to cases in which there is
" good assurance that the industry it fosters will, after a time,
" be able to dispense with it ; nor should the domestic pro-
'• ducers ever be allowed to expect that it will be continued to
" them beyond the time necessary for a fair trial."

Our protectionist friends must surely be very hard up for
authorities, when they appeal to this passage in support of
their clamour for more protection on every conceivable thing

"■llHWMiJ!

, tries to

as simple

Now, 1

e express

had any-

and irL all
al end to
V the need
3 than the
[ things, —
jT for more
ign goods
s worse, —
I to admit
ist be shut
i fact that
iis is very
; is, never-
»o high, or
1 expenses
than ever,
r will rise
bsurd" to
tLe same
m getting
d, or pre-
emporary

the writ-
omething
ith all his
ue or not,
that pas-
it to our
ive given
ing that :
there is
31 a time,
stic pro-
inued to

rd up for
pport of
)le thing

they may try to manufacture, and on the ground th^t the high
protective duties they have enjoyed for a generation or more
have not yet enabled them to compete with their foreign
rivals !

To accede to this demand, would be to do what Mr. Mill
expressly warns us against.

Mr. Pigtail was the next speaker ; he said : The tobacco
interest, Mr. President, is in a sinking condition, and natarally
looks to Ottawa for succour. The stoppage of onr factories
would amount to a national calamity, for it would leave the
consumer — to whom tobacco has become the prime necessary
of life, — entirely at the mercy of rapacious foreigners. You
will agree that it is of the utmost importance, that tobacco
should be cheap, for it exercises a most benign influence over
the passions of the lower classes. It would bo sad, indeed, in
these hard times, if the poor man — in addition to the misery of
knowing that his children were without bread, — should also
be deprived of his pipe. (Hear ! Hear !)

The satisfaction tobacco manufacturers derive from these
reflections is very great, but it does not altogether compensate
for lack of dividends ; and it therefore devolves upon Grovern-
ment to sustain us in our philanthropic efforts. The importa-
tion of manufactured tobacco, in any shape, should be prohib-
ited, and the Excise Duty reduced or removed. The loss to
revenue could be made up in some other way.

I would recommend also, that the growth of the native
Canadian tobacco be stopped. The use of this article, in its
unmanufactured state, exercises a demoralizing efl'ect on the
mind, and a most unsavory effect on the person of the con-
sumer, besides depriving the maniifacturer of his jtist profit.
(Hear ! Hear !)

Mr. Shuttle said : I have listened with great pleasure to
the remarks of Mr. Pigtail. They have the true ring about
them, and recall to mind the good old times when England
protected her manufactures right royally.

I would like to see his suggestion, about native tobacco,
applied to the homespun garments worn in the Province of
Quebec, which subject woollen manufacturers to a most unfair
competition.

These home-made things should be interdicted, and
farmers compelled to bring their wool to our factories. (Hear !
Hear !)

Mr. Savant, iu his excellent and learned speech, showed

us how England had, in former ages, built up the iron trade
of that country. He might have shown that nearly all her
great industries had been " built up " in the same way. Her
woollen trade, for instance, was one of the special objects of
her solicitude, and this was how she encouraged it. No minc-
ing matters with her !

By the 8th Elizabeth, chap. 3, — it was enacted that the
•' exporter of sheep, lambs or rams was, for the first offence, to
•' forfeit all his aoods, to suffer one year's imprisonment, and
•♦ then to have his left hand cut off." For the second offence,
be was to sutler death. By the 18th and 14th Charles II., the
exporter of wool was at once to suffer the extreme penalty.
The hscal leuislation of our mother country continued of this
character, unto the close of the 18th century, or until all her
great manulacturing industries were well established, and we,
as Mr, Savant had so conclusively shown, should follow her
example. Our penal clauses might, of course, be less severe,
but the exportation of wool should be prohibited at once, if we
are to " build up" our woollen manufactures after the English
style. (Loud cheers)

Mr I. R. Shuh followed, and sai<l : I will gladly vote for
the resolution, because the great rubber interest I represent
is run to earth, like everv other, by the " unfair " and iniqui-
tous competition of the United States.

Since that country has returned to what Mr. Black has
BO aptly termed " her normal condition of great prosperity,"
we have been literally over-run with her rubber shoes, tuid
althou'Jfh these are not, it is true, sold at lower nrices than our
own, they are made (by a most contemptible duplicity,) of a
much superior quality, so that it amounts to the same thin<»', —
for under cover of getting a hiijher price, they are in reality
"slaughtering," by giving a better article. It is to be hoped
that our Grovernment will understand the importance of
thwarting this crafty design by iir,,osing such duties as will
banish these odious foreign wares altogether; or, at least, make
them so costly as to place them beyond the reach of any but
the rich and i'ancilul. Certainly, if the present apathy of our
rulers continue much lonyer, there will soon be no demand for
our shoes, and we must close our factories— with what disas-
trous consequences to the whole country I need not point
out. (Hear ! Hear !)

Mr. Stout said : Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen, I cordially
appr< ve of the spirit of the resolution, and of the letter too, as
tar as it goes, but 1 quite agree with Mr. Blue that it would b^

ron trade
[y all her
^•ay. Her
objects of
No mine-
that the
offence, to
ment, and
d offence,
js II., the
» penalty.
:»d of this
itil all her
1, and we,
bllow her
ss severe,
nee, if we
le English

y vote for
represent
id iniqui-

LACK has
osperity,"
hoes, II lid

than our
•ity,) of a

thin<»-, — •
in reality
be hoped
rtance of
es as will
ast, make

any but
hy of our

mand for

at disas-
luot point

Icordially

|er too, as

,'ould be

wise to extend its operation to England as well. 1 mean, of
course, hi^li duties, for in her case reciprocal ones would be of
no avail. The industry 1 am more particularly interested in
suffers most from the competition of that country, and it has
been very clearly established by the able speeches we have
listened to to-day, that competition of any kind is to be depre-
cated and put down if possible.

I would, therefore, recommend that Government be in-
structed to impose heavy duties on English ales, — amounting
to prohibition, — and on all foreign wines and spirits too.
There can be but one opinion as to the advantages that would
flow to the whole Dominion, not only in a material, but also in
a moral or temperance point of view, from the adoption of this
policy; and if the exportation of barley were likewise forbidden,
it would give an additional stimulus to our business, and prove
a great blessing to the poor and thirsty, by reducing the price
of beer.

" Products of the soil," have been very properly eliminated
from the resolution, as deserving of no consideration, and we
must do our rulers the justice to say that they have not hitherto
bestowed much consideration upon them ; but a very absurd
and very pernicious exception to this rule has been made in
the case of hops, which are n^^vv highly protected.

I am sure you will all agree with me, that to protect my
raw material is, as Mr. Ogle so cogently observed, "going just
a little too far." Grovernraent should be instructed to correct
this anomaly. (Hear ! Hear !)

Mr. Blue thought the recommendations of Messrs. Pigtail,
Shuttle, Shuh and Stout, well worthy of attention, and he
would embody them in his resolution.

Mr. Fossil brought the debate to an appropriate close in
the following terse and eloquent speech :

Mr. President and Gentlemen, — I should be false to my sense
of honor and of duty, did I fail to record my indignant protest
against the arguments used here to-day by the opponents of
our resolution. These gentlemen have quoted from the
scribblings of that arch-humbug, Dr Adam Smith, in favor of
their theories, as if he could possibly have known anything
whatever of the Canadian tariff, or of any other tariff" indeed,
for he was never in business of any kind !

They call him the " founder of the science of political
economy." "Why, political economy— of a kind, too, vastly

superior to his — had been in existence a hundred years before
he was born ! as Mr. Savant and others have shown ; and, in
fact, we may date the decline of that glorious system by which
England "built up" her industries from the publication of
Smith's radical notions.

This pseudo-philosopher and his disciples professed to
take very comprehensive views of fiscal matters, embracing the
whole of the lower orders in their purview ; and wrote glibly
about the "greatest good of the greatest number," and similar
balderdash. But I should like to know, if our men of business
are not the best judges of their own affairs ?

Moreover, if we want authorities at all on these subjects,
we need not go so far away, or so far back. We have them
here at home. I, of course, allude to those eminent Canadian
litterateurs and very original thinkers — " Kuklux," the founder
of the new philosophy of " promotion," and Mr. J. M. Verdant,
the great exploder of Youngism in all its pestilent ramifications.
To the latter we owe much ; for while he has often proved, to
the simplest capacity, that the United States is a much better
country than this, for the man of business, hasyet kindly con-
sented to live here in order to set us right in commercial
legislation.

" Kuklux", in his last great work, the " Ideal Tariff, or
Sevelation applied to Customs," says (I quote from memory) :

" Promotion is the equivalent, or resultant, of several co-relative economic
forces, set into motion by sound science (which is not, be it ol)served, the same as
'science of sound') ; and acting and re-acting on one another in such a way as to
create a beautiful social harmony, in which Home Industry becomes idealized, and
the labourer is not to be confounded with the thing, labour — tliough we cannot
always with certainty determine their relative values, nor whether they really do ;
but it does not matter to the issue that they should, because "

Member : Would you please to jay that again ?

Mr. Fossil was about to comply, but members showed so
much impatience to get away, and there were so many cries of
" vote !" " vote !" that he was obliged to take his seat.

The vote was then taken, and the resolution, with all its
amendments and embodiments, was, of course, carried by a
large majority.

Members hurried out with a somewhat unseemly haste,
of which we only afterwards learned the cause. It appears
they entertained no doubt that Government, at the approaching
session, would adopt the policy of the resolution, and they were

ears before
n ; and. in
a by which
)lication of

rofessed to
bracing the
;^rote glibly
nd similar
of business

therefore anxious to communicate at once with their .-presen-
tativGs at home, and instruct them to import as many " Slaugh-
tered goods as possible before the tariff was raised °

As we go to press, we learn that aovernment has disap-

ouentt 1"'" ''''V?^ f "^ ^r' «^P««t-tion, and there is cons?,
quently, a general ieeling of indignation.

3 subjects,
^ave them
Canadian
le founder
^.Verdant,
aifications.
proved, to
ich better
:indly con-
ommercial

Tariff, or
lemory) :

ive economic
, the same as
h a way as to
idealized, and
h we cannot
ey really do ;

ihowed SO
iy cries of

th all its
fied by a

nly haste,
t appears
)roaching
hey were