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Tariffs were a key political and economic issue throughout the nineteenth century, with industrial interests generally in favor and farmers opposed. High import tariffs, paid by overseas manufacturers who wanted access to U.S. markets, gave U.S. manufacturers an advantage while providing revenue for the federal Treasury. Critics of tariffs argued that consumers paid higher prices because tariffs established high base prices that increased profit for manufacturers but did not help workers. In this speech, delivered in Bay View, John Hinton refutes this criticism, arguing instead that tariffs actually protect American workers. Hinton cites as evidence the increasing number of European immigrants coming to work in American factories, fleeing the free trade, tariff-free countries of Europe.Citation
Hinton, John W. "Workingmen and the Tariff. An address to the Workingmen of Bay View, delivered in Puddler's Hall, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, by Mr. John W. Hinton, before the Bay View Literary Society." (Milwaukee, Wis.:Bay View National Bureau, 1880);