Franklin Pierce 
Tariff and the Trusts 

Whilst the greatest effort has been made to ensure the quality of this text, due to the historical nature of this content, in some rare cases there may be minor issues with legibility. Ligent labor, we have been able to produce most of our highly protected products cheaper than any of our competitors. Prior to 1890 competition among domestic producers reduced the price of commodities considerably below the highest mark of the tariff bar rier but for the last seven years the trusts have sup pressed this competition, and in many cases are now extorting from consumers the prices which prevailed for similar products in the fifties before the discovery of our rich ore fields or the advent of labor-saving machinery and the wonderful development of scientific processes. Taxes for public purposes, when reason able and necessary, are an evil often grievous to be borne by the citizen, but a privilege of excessive taxa tion by private corporations corruptly acquired from government is simply an outrage.