IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-S) A /^ .<% 1.0 ^'^ ■- ilM I.I ill 1.8 1.25 1.4 1.6 -m 6" — ► .^ V 6^ o' 33 elure. Id 3 32X 1 % 2 1 3 1 2 3 4 8 6 f^' FLBAaB KBHP FOB BBFBMWOa Mapoh 1st, 1896. Facts fop the People, No. 8. Tariff Reform, FREEf Trade, Reduced UxAm/i' OOTTa7B3ITTS. PAOI. Resolution No. 1, Lib«nl Pl»tfonn .... 2- Failure of the N. P 2 ProoiiMi and Perf ormanoe 3 Debt Expenditure, Deficits 3 Taxes 4 Tupper's Promises 4 Traae with Britain 4 Reduce the Duties on Britinh Doods. . . 6 Reciprocity and Tall Chimneys 6 The Exodus 6 The Census 6, 7 Sample " Manufacturers " 8 Bow the Fanner is Taxed 8 Articles Free or Lightly Taxed 9 r.\oi. Cotton and Cotton Oooda 10 The Rice Question 10 Protection on Iron 11, 19 Unfair to Manufacturers 18 Increased Duty on Goods 12 Under Liberal Tariff, under Tory Tariff 13 Specific Duties 18 The Issue Defined 14 Mr. Laurior on Pr<>teotion 14 Tariff for Revenue 14 Oradunlly Abolish Protection 16 Conservatives SiMuderinK England 15 Scheduling Canadian Oattlo 15 Boast of (lovemment >Supporters 16 V.*'' Copw of this Pamphlet can be had from ALEXAJfDER SMITHt Sec- retary Ontario Liberal Association, 3 A Victoria St., Toronto, Ont. i MMMsnauHillNlilii*" - itum intiiMni i - 2- 2/5-/ TAEZFF BSFORIC-FBESE TBADS-aSDUCflD TAZATZOlfT. ^' That the customs tariff of the Dominion should be based, not as it is now, npon the protective principle, but upon the requirements of the public service ; " That the existing tariff, founded upon an unsound principle, and used as it has been used by the Government, as a corrupting agency wherewith to keep themselves in office, has developed monopolies, trusts and combinations ; " It has decreased the value of farm and other landed property ; " It has oppressed the masses to the enrichment of a few ; " It has checked immigration ; " It has caused great loss of population ; " It has impeded commerce ; " It has discriminated against Qreat Britain. " In these and in many other ways :t has occasioned great public and pri- vate injury, all of which evils must continue to grow in intensity as long as the present tariff system remains in force. "That the highest interests of Canada demand a removal of this obstacle to our country's progress by the adoption of a sound fiscal policy, which, while not doing injustice to any class, will promote domestic and foreign trade, and hasten the return of prosperity to our people ; " That to that end the tarin should be reduced to the needs of honest, econ- omical and efficient government ; " That it should be so adjusted as to make free, or to bear as lightly as possible upon the necessaries of life, and should be so arranged as to promote freer traJe with the whole world, more particularly with Qreat Britain and the United States. " We believe that the results of the protective system have greviously dis- appointed thouHands of persons who honestly supported it, and that the country, in the light of experience, is now prepared to declare for a sound fiscal policy. " The is%ue between the two political parties on this question is now clearly defined. " The Qovemment themaelve admit the failure of their fiscal policy, and now profess their willingness to make some changes ; but they say that such changes must be based only on the principle of protection. " We denounce the principle of protection as radically unsound, and unjust to the masses of the people, and we declare our couviction that any tariff changes based on that principle must fail to afford any substantial relief from the burdens under which tne country labors. " This issue we unhesitatingly accept, and upon it we await with the fullest confidence the verdict of the electors of Canada." — Resolution No. 1 in the Lib- eral Platform. Failure of tlie National Polioy. When the trade policy of this country was changed from a tariff for revenue to a protective tariff, the change was based upon a resolution moved by the leader of the Conservative party, Sir John A. Macdonald, in the House of Commons, as follows : " That this House is of opinion that the welfare of Canada requires the adop- tion of a national policy, which, by judicious re-adjustment of the tariff will benefit and prosper the agricultural, the mining, the manufacturing and other in- terests of the Dominion ; that such a policy will retain in Canada thousands of our fellow countrymen, now obliged to expatriate themselves in search of the employment now denied them at home, will restore prosperity to our struggling >5'5^5' industries now so Hadly depressed ; will puvent Canada from being a sacritice market ; will encourage and develop an active inter-provinciai trade, and moving (as it ought to do) in the direction of reciprocity of tariffs with our neighbors, so far as the varied interests of Canada may demand, will greatly tend to pro- cure for this country eventually a reciprocity of trade." See Hansard, 1878, vol. I., p. 854.) Promises and Performanoe. The authors of the National Policy, ejs anyone may nee from their speeches during the election of 1878 and in the budget speeches or the Finance Ministers in subsequent years, made those promises, amongst others : To abolish business depression. To stop the exodus. To turn the " balance of trade " in our favor. To tax British goods in the bulk less than foreign. To give the farmer a home market. To develope our mineral wealth. To obtain reciprocity with the United States. To reduce the debt to 8100,000,000 bv 1890. To place a million people in the North- west by 1891. The last feat was to bo accomplished only in part by the National Policy. " We have vast territories to till up in the North-west and British Columbia, that glorious land which Lord Dutferin lately visited and spoke so approvingly of. It is our duty to till up these tesritories, to develop their wonderful re- sources, and we can best assist in doing so by the adoption of a policy which will tend to improve the condition of the manufacture and in the nature of things materially benetit all classes of the community." — Speech by Mr. Thomas White. Insteail of the N. P. bjnetiting the people who have gone into the territories and western provinces the loudest protests against it have come from them. The settlers, irrespective of party, have declared that it has been a burden without any compensating advantage whatsoever. Instead of immigration having been increased, resolutions of public meetings of farmers and townsfolk, agricultural organizations and boards of trade bear testimony that by making the settlers' lot harder the settlement of the country has been retarded. It is notorious that instead of a million persons in the North-west there are only 250,000. The reduction of the debt to Si (H) ,000,000 was one of the promises in the budget speech of 1882. It was to be brought about by the immense receipts from North-west lands. Debt and Expenditure. Instead of reduction the net debt has ri en from S140,3G3,06!» in 1878 to ^263,074,927, and the ordinary expenditure from 323,50;^, 1 58, which the Conser- vatives said was exces-sive, to S38, 132,000 in lb95. Deficits. It is the fashion to sneer at the Liberal administration of the iiuances as an " era of deficits," but Liberals have no cause to fear comparisons as to deficits. The fact is that the Conservative administration, which replaced Mr. Mackenzie's, had a larger deficit in one year than the Reform administration had during the whole five years of its existence. The Ijiberal Government had a surplus both in 1874 and 1875 of $888,000 and 8935,000 respectively. There were deficits in 187G, 1877 and 1878, amounting in all to 84,489,000 The Conservative deficits since Mr. Mackenzie'^ time have been as follows : 1879 $1,937,999 1880 1.543,227 1885 2,240.058 1886 5,834^71 1888 $ 810.031 189-? 1,210,3:^2 1895 4,153,875 These deficits show that though taxation is high, euflBcient revenue is not raised to meet the annual expenditure. Tazes. The taxes from both customs and excise collected during 1890-94 amounted to SI 47,247 ,423, and during the five years of Liberal rule, 1874-78, they amounted to $94,rJ9,083. This shows an increase under five years of Conservative rule of $53,048,34.0 For five years of Libeml nile (see Inland Revenue and Trade and Navigation returns.) Custom taxes five years, 1890-94 $108,408,000 Custom taxes Liberal five years 67.960,000 Increase niider N. P. for period of five years alone $4O,448»00O Tupper's Promises. The development of the mines was promised in Sir John Macdonald's resolu" tions of 1877 and 1878 and in the budget of 1879, but more particularly in the budget of 1887. In that year, when imposing heavy iron duties, Sir Charles Tupper looked with confidence to the erection of blast furnaces at Cobourg, Wel- ler's Bay and Kingston, and also to the establishment " at an early date of indus- tries for the manufacture of iron in the North-west." Moreover, " by the adoption of this policv you will give permanent employment to an army of men numbering at least '20,000, increasing our population from 80^000 to 100,000 souls, and afford- ing the means of supporting them in comfort and prosperity." Furthermore, "this estimate of au increased population of 100,000 souls does not take into account the manufacture of castings and forgings, cutlery and edged tools, hard- ware, machinery and engines or steel rails. Were we to manufacture these articlas now imported — and there is no reason why we should not steadily progress to that point — the population I have mentioned of 100,000 souls would be no less than trebled." In the year in which Sir Charles made the changes in the duties which were to bring about his prophecies, the production of pig iron in Canada was 40,000 tons. Last year, according to the iron men's own statement, the production was 60,000 tons. To achieve this result, the term for which the bounties were granted has been extended until 1899. Instead of an army of 20,000 men, there are, according to the iron men's statement, only one-twentieth of that number. There has been no mineral development to speak of, and the iron duties liave confess- edly failed. The adverse balance of trade was cited by Sir Leonard Tilley in his budget speech of 1879 as one ot the prime causes of hard times, and lie proposed to turn it the other way. But since 1879 the so-called balance of trade has been against us to the tune of over $200,000,000, as necessarily must happen to a borrowing country situated as this is. Trade with Britain. As to the taxation of British goods, Sir Leonard in 1879 declared: "It may be said we shall receive from the imports from foreign countries a larger share of the $20,000,000 we reqxiire than we shall icceive from the mother countrj'. I believe such will be the effect. But I think that in making such a statement to the House, belonging as we do to, an«l forming a part of that great country —a country that reeoives our natural products without any taxation, everything we have to send her — apart from our national feelings, I think this House will not object, if in the propositions before ine the duties touch more heavily the imports trom foreign countries then from our fatherland " The fact is the reverse of what was promised. British goods in the bulk are taxed more severely tlian American. The duty levied upon the whole of the country's imports of British goods amounted in the fiscal, year ending 30th June, 1893, to twenty-two per cent., while the duty levied U[)on the whole of the im- ports of Vmerican goods amounted to thirteen and one-quarter per cent., a dis- crimination against England on the whole volume of trade of more than eight per cent. A large amount of the importation from the United States was of goods that are imported free of duty for the benefit of manufacturers. Writing these off, nine and a half millions of dollars was levied on thirty-two millions of dollars of imports from Britain, equivalent to thirty per cent. ; and seven and three-fifths millions was levied in duty upon the twenty-eight and one-half millions of dollars imported from the United States, equivalent to twenty-seven per cent. So there was three per cent, of a straight discrimination against our trade with Great Britain. One million dollars was taken in duty on the import from Great Britain beyond that on the same quantity from the United States. REOVCE THE UITIES ON BRITIHH fiOO»!4. In April. 1892, the following wao moved by Hon. L. H. Davies, Liberal M.P., and voted for by the Liberals and opposed by the Conservatives : — " Inasmuch as Great Britain admits the products of Canada into her ports free of duty, this House is of the opinion that the present scale of duties exacted on goods mainly imported from Great Britain should be reduced." .ECIPROCITY AND TALL i'HIMNEYH. That the N. P. would tend to secure reciprocity with the United States through reciprocity of tariffs wah .sot forth in Sir John Macdonald's resolution of 1878 and elsewhere. We have not got reciprocity. The false position into which the Government has put this country in connection with the sham negotiations which were entered into for the purpose of extricating themselves from the con- sequences of their misrepresentations prior to and during the general elections of 1891 are dealt with in another place in this pamphlet. It is sufficient to say that subsequent events have shown not only that in this promise the authors of the N. P. have failed, but also that they were opposed to accepting reciprocity when the opportunity presented itself. The exodus was to be stopped and tall chimneys were promised, and an all- absorbing lucrative home market for th(; farmer. " Our workmen," Sir John Macdonald declared in one of his pic-nic speeches, " can be fully employed if we encourage our manufactures ; they need not go over to the States to add strength and wealth to a foreign country and to deprive us of that strength and wealth." In his resolution of 1878 he said : " Such a policy will retain in Canada thous- ands of our fellow-countrymen now obliged to expatriate themselves in search of the employment denied them at home." The removal of depression, the inaug- uration of an era of prosperity, was another standard promise. Lord Lome, a free trader, was made to say in the speech from the tlnone in 1879 that the N. P. would " aid in removing the commercial and financial depression which unhap- pily ccmtinues to exist." In 1882 the return of the Conservative party was asked in order to assure foreign investors, who were waiting to place their millions, that they might safely do so. In his budget speech that year Sir Leonard Tilley told the manufacturers to " clap on all sail," and looked for a boom period of in- definite duration. u None of these pronii.se.s liave been realized. Instead of a home market ab- sorbing their surplus products at high prictis the farmers export more than ever and prices were never so low. THE EXODl'H. (Sev the ri'iiMUS RctiirnM.) The census destroy.s any pretence that the exodus has been stopped. So far from fulfilling this promise the faet is the exodus during the ten years ending 1891 w»v.s more than double what it whs l)etween 1871 and 1881, and it was three times as much as the Cxodus wiiich took place in Mr. Mackenzie's time. The total annual exodus during the Mackenzie regime, according to the United States statistics, was probably not more than 82,000 all told from 1874 to 1878 ; cer- tainly it did not exceed 42,000 taking into account the entire foreign-born immi- gration which camo into Canada 0,000 of them who belonged to our native-born population. But the total loss w.i« 98,600 per annum during the ten years of th'; National Policy, as compared with an extreme estimate af 42,000 a year in Mr. Mackenzie's time. In place of their natural increase New Brunswick only gained sixty-three souls in the decade ending 1891 ; Prince Edward Island 190, and Nova Scotia 9,900, while the total increase for the Maritime Provinces, witli Ontario and Que- bec, wa> about eight per cent, (including a considerable number of emigrauts). This is scarcely more than half the increase which took place in those of the Southern States which suffered most severely from the civil war in the decade fiom 1800 to 1870. These gained fourteen per c«;ut. in those ten years. It is consid- erably less than the luc.ease in England and Wales in the ten years from 1881 to 1891, in spite of the fact that there was a large emigration from those countries. The rural population is decreasing. Tlie practical etf'ect of the protective policy is to attract industries and population from villages and towns to largo centres. The whole of the increase, such as it is, has been in the towns, and at least two- thirds of it in the two cities of Toronto and Montreal and their suburbs. Innni- grution has cost two millions and been a failure. Our returns allege tliat we brought in 880,000 emigrants from 1881 to 18^1 who declared their intention of settling in Canada. Our censu.s shows that of these scarcely 1 50,000 remained. The United States census returns ft)r 1890 show that there were then about 980,000 per.sons born in Canada then resident in the United States, and about 1,500,000 of chiMren born of (-'anatlian parents. It is to be noted that of these 980,000, a very largo proportion, were men in the prime of life. Furthermore, facts have been recently laid before the House of (Commons which prove that there are grounds for believing that gross frauds were committed by our census envnuerat- ors, esj)ecially in Nova Scotia, and many persons who had left Canada several year.s ago were returned as residents. The Zodustrial Census. What is called the industrial census, or that branch of the census professing to give the industrial returns to the countrj', meaning the manufacturing concerns, >. i;i^>l-iir>»*'«^f ■f^#.^i.^i;tia**«tSfiia^^ was procured by the offer tha^ each census enumerator would receive 15 cents for every industrial establishment he returned, whether it had an existence in fact or only in his imagination ; consequently one of the biggest industries of that year wa.s the hunt for industries by the 4,300 enumerators. TheJr reports, com- pared with 1881, were as follows: 1H81, Proviiict'i. EstithliHh- nients. Em pluyeea. OnUrio 3.058 gueboc 15,848 Nova Sootin 5,459 New Brunswick 3,117 Other provincea | 2,441 4!),<.>23 118,308 85,673 20,390 19,922 10,ti42 254,935 1891. Establiah- inentM. 32,028 23,112 10,873 5,419 4,836 Em- pi I >yee8. 165,326 116,830 34,2<>6 26,609 24,835 r6,768 ! 367,865 If each enumerator only discovered 10 '' industrial establishments," of whose existence the ordinary inhabitants of the town were unaware, the result would have been an addition of 43,000 establishments throughout the Dominion. The addition, therefore, of 25,000 establishments is very moderate indeed. There were 9,395 establishments with an average number of employees of li ; 3,962 esUiblishments with 5^ ; 6,384 with iU ; 3,337 with 3 ; 1,653 with 3 ; 4,321 with 2 ; 2,468 with 2A ; 1,480 with 2^ ; 1,734 with 2 ; and any number of establishments with 1. The way the returns were stuffed, first by the enumerator for a sordid purpose, and next by the census office for a political purpose, intended to magnify the N.P., can be imagined when the Minister of Finance was compelled, amid the laughter of the House, to read long lists of establishments where the number of employees was given as one. So keenly did Mr. Foster feel the exposure of his industrial census methods that he finally refused to read these li>ts, and handed them unread to the official reporter. Every cobbler who mended shoes, every milliner, every dressmaker who made frocks for her neighbors, every old woman who had a spinning wheel, every person who had a cider press, every cobbling tailor who mended garments and occasionally made one, every jobbing carpenter, every photographer, everyone who kept watches and jewellery were all returned as " manufacturing establishments." A number of these lists can be seen in the Hansard of 1893. In the town of St. Mary's there were 20 "establishments," with one employee to each. There was a pump factory where the owner employed himself and the total number employed wa-s one. There was a carriage factory with the same number. There was a weaving "establishment" which consisted of one old womeui. (See page 2,460, Commons Hansard, 1893.) In Milverton village, out of 23 "establishments" returned, 11 employed no hands at all besides the owner. There was a cider factory with one hand, a carriage-building establishment with one hand, a boot and shoe establishment with one hand, a tannery with one hand, and so on. In Mornington township, Ont., out of 35 "indu.strial establishments" there were 15 employing nobody besides the owner, and 12 employing 1 hand. In the cities the exaggeration was in proportion. In the town of Sorel 56 " establishments " were returned as employing nobody but the owner. No fewer than 20 of these " industrial establishments " were dressmakers and milliners and 8 13 were bUekamiths, giving empioi/meni altoffeiher to 17 hands. In the town of Stimihroy, Ont, 23 of the "industriAl estabUahment* " were dreannaken and BliUinen, and in Mount Forest, 19. Sampli " XaanfftotnrtM.*' Here is a sample list of the way in which the 76,000 industrial estoblish- menta of the census are made up : Number. Employees. Dentiiits 154 iOS Dyeing and scouring 72 S93 Photographers 327 706 Patent medicines 116 807 P Dressmaking and millmery 7,066 17,197 Seamstresses 10,088 Carpentering 4,618 10,187 Watchmaking and jewellery .... 615 1,619 Plumbing and gasfittiog 144 1,268 Butchers 7,252 Blacksmiths 9,423 17,986 Compositors and pressmen 6,066 Piunters and glaziers 10,017 None of these look to a protective tariff and nearly all of them have no claim whatever to be termed manufacturing establishments. A plumber manufactures nothing ; there is a special column for the maker of plumbers' supplies. The 7,000 botchers who sell meat lure not manufacturers. The farmer who fattens the animal the butcher cuta up is the real manufacturer The simple fact is that the census returns are a fraud. They have been stufied in the most atrocious fashion, partly for the purpose of deceiving the people as to the results of the policy of protection and partly becautte the enum- erators rtere paid a small fee for each " Industrial Establishment " they were able to discover. What has the National Policy ever done for village carpenters, village black- smiths, village shoemakers or village dressmakers, except to make their tools and raw materials deanr and to impoverish their customers, and yet nearly on^-half of the (allied) new 25,000 factories are simply the increase in these several oallinos. For instance, the census reports an increase of blacksmiths. 1,437 ; carpen- ters, 2,124 ; shoemakers. 958 ; dressmakers, 4,920 ; bakers, 600, and carpet he- tories and knitting factories and hosiery factories all employing on the average about one hand each. Sov the Famer is Taand* The object of a protective tariff in its initial sta^ is to give a yanta^ ground, and in giving it I frankly admit that in the initial stages the price will be raised to a certain degree I say that in the initial years of the National Policy with a protective principle in it that it will have the effSsot of enhancing the cost of goods, and that at the first the COBt of the goods will be very closely up to the measure of the protection which was given. If it does not nave that effect why should it ever be adopted at all. and what is the good of it 9--Hon. Oeorge Foster, vn budget epeeoh, Marek 97th, 1894, Hansard, page HIO. This admission, from the highest authority in the country, that the manufao- turer takes advantage of the duty almost to the full extent by adding it on to the price of his goodA, should be borne in mind. k £ Under the revised tariff of 1894 the following articles, necessaries of the farmer, are taxed as follows ; Threshing machines 30 p. cent. Lubricating oi) 6c. a gal. Axle grease 25 p. cent. Drain tiles 20 " Leather belting 20 " Harness 30 '* Cut nails (75c. per 100 lbs.) ..70 " Scythes, etc 35 " Shovels and spades 35 " Pumps and windmills .... 30 " Wire fencing (|c. lb.) 30 " Pails and tubs 20 " Waggons 25 " Buggies 35 " Binder-twine '.12^ " Eorse blankets 32| " Fertilizers 10 " Builders' hardware 32^ " Iron 45 " Chopping axes 35 p- cent. Coal oil 6c. a gal. . Window glass 20 p. cent- Hats and caps 80 " Mitts 35 " Fireams 20 " Umbrellas and parasols. . . .35 " Woollens 30 " Cottons 32i " Furniture 30 " Carpets 30 " FJour 75c. brl. Ready-made clothing 35 p. cent. Rice 60 to 70 " Jugs.crocks, churn.s,(2c.a gal.)45 " Stoves 30 " Sewing machines 30 " Woollen socks 35 " Children's clothing 32^ ' Tools 30 and 25 " What does the free list contain for the farmer ? It contains thoroughbred •^tock and fowls, tea and coffee, timber, com for ensilage and some kinds of lumber partly manufactured. There is nothing else in the three hundred arii- cles on the free list which can be construed as of any benefit at all to th^^ farmer. Articles Free or Lightly Tazed- Lest it should be said that all the articles on the free list are not for the express benefit of the manufacturers the following list of other articles is given : Moss and seaweed Free, Musk " Oil or water color paintings, copies old ma3toi3 " Phosphorus " Precious stones in the rough . . " Quicksilver " Quills " Rags " Roots " Sand « Sausage skins " Mother of pearl shells " Silver in sheet " Skins of birds " Tails, undressed " Tobacco, unmanufactured .... " Turtles " Horse hair " Sawdust " Ar.enic Free Dragon's blood " Curling stones " Ice " Hair • " Ivory tusks " Leeches ' Skeletons " Collections of coin " Crude bones " Collections of postage stamps. " Unset diamonds " Palms, orchids, cacti " Imported labor " Yankee protection theories.. " American gerrymanders .... " Watch movements 1 p. e. F-anch pomades 15 " Precious stones 10 " Manufacturesof gold and silvor.20 " Grass " It is not convenient to publish the tariff here in detail, but if the reader has a copy of one of the number of almanacs publishing the tarifi he can more fully inform himsell' of the details of the tariff enactments. 10 Cotton and Cotton Ooods- Mr. Edgar stated in the House of Commons and the correctness of his state- ments has never been challenged, that the I'aw cotton fell in cost between 1890 and 1893, one cent six mills a pound. This on the enormous quantity imported of about forty millions of pounds, amounted alone to a profit of S660,000. The wages of the operatives were not raised, and the prices charged to the consumer instead oi being lowered were raised from ten to twenty-five per cent., during those three years. But the dividends and the reserve funds set apart by the companies were raised. Mr. Edgar further stated that thirteen million dollars worth of cotton is manufactured by the Canadian Cotton Companies, and that the duty paid by the importers last year on all cotton goods brought into the country was a trifle over twenty-eight per cent. Supposing there was no other profit on that $13,000,000 than the twenty-eight per cent, paid by the actual importers, who paid that in a-ldition to the freight and profits paid to the Engligh manufacturer of cotton goods, that would make a sum of $3,640,000 paid by the people to the combine, under the protection given by the tarifif. In other words, on the $'1<,500,000 worth imported a tax of $1,200,000 is paid, which goes into the treasury, and on the $13,000,000 worth of cottons manufa