New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1855-07-04

British Free. trade difficulties, can be regarded
in no other light than that of a confession Of ut
| ter weakness. A strong cause admits of perfect
cbndor weak one requires for its support
such Qualifications az issue periodically FROM our
neiRhbors of The Journal and The Post. We beg
! our contemporary Of The Era to Withdraw him
self from all such associations, as they may do
| him much harm, and can DO him no good what
| sOever.
What is the true history of the past hslf-cen
tury7 This is an important question, aud with
& view that il may be decided, we beg to ask our
contemporary the following questions to which
we shall hope to receive answers very different
| ION those contained ia the article to which we
low reply, and VI icb yet remains to be examined.
l. Die not the war of 1912 afford ample pro-
lection to the farmer in his efforts TO bring the
artisan to his side, and was there not in cOnse-
qbence good demand for labor and its pro-
ducisl Did not the country come out from the
war in a highly prosperous condition, and did
| not the prosperity continue during the years
| lsl6, II and 'l3, while protection was yet con-
| tinuedl Were not commerce and the revenue
great-aDd was there not large reduction of
| the national debt
IL. Did not all this change after the death of
protection in 1887 Did not commerce decline
and the revenue diminish TO great au extent
as to render neces sary the contraction of loans
for meeting the Insignificant expenditures of
the Government Were not our streets
filed with men, women aud children anxious
to sell their labor, and finding none to purchase
it Were hot sberIfs' sales so great as to
cause large proportion Of the property of the
country to pass under the hammer, and were
not the rich thus made richer while the poor
were being ruined
H. Did not all this change again after the
passage of the protective tariff of 1921 Did /
not commerce revive and specie flow in, with
steady improvement in credit aud in the value of
property Did not the revenue increase, and
was not the Government enabled again to COM !
mence paying n the public debit
". Were not all these effects exhibited on
still larger scale under the really protective
tanff of 1927 Did not commerce grow with
rspdity that was Incredible and WAS not the /
revenue 20 greatly increased as to enable the
Government finally to discharge the public debt
down even TO the three per cents, and was not
the balance Of trade 80 greatly in our favor
with the world, notwithstanding the heavy
drain upon the exports of the country to meet
this debt, as to cause the influx of specie to an
extent greater thar had ever before been KIN ,wn'
Was it not one of the effects of protection that
coffee ard tea were forced into the list of duty
free articles, because Of the necessity for d.
miniahiDg the revenue 2 Was not the nation at
the outgoing of protection in 1885, in situation
of strength that was wonderful when compared
With the weakness that had been so obvious I'M
der the British systt III that bad existed in 1922
v Did not British Free trade inherit in 1895
patrmopy of the most wonderful value, aud
did she not in The short space of seven years so
utterly waste it that by 1912 the country was
filled with men crying Give me work Only
"give me work and make your own terms My
"w ife and family have nothing to eat" and was
not white Slavery thus rtestablshed in the land 2
Was not tLis period marked by the breaking of
banks and the bankruptcy of individuals and by
sberiis' sales to an extent exceeding that of
the British Free trade period of 1927 Were
MT States driven to reputation aud was not the
National Treasury driven to the contraction of
loans, and in default of its ability to borrow
money, was itnot forced into the use of an ire
detmable paper money to the great disgrace of
the country And finally, was not all this nat
ural consequence Of the adoption of British
Free trade
VI Did not protection take the country at
a time when the domestic trade had become
almost extinct, when public and private credit |
had disappeared, and when the ability to pay for |
foreign merchandise had fallen to point far |
below that which had existed seven years be- |
fore7 Did it not act with wonderful rapidity |
in the restoration of credit Were not mills |
ana furnaces reopened, and were not new ones
built and did not the demand for labor in
crease so rapidly as to cause the consumption /
of clothing almost to double itself in the short
period of five yearsl DID not the means of the
country at large increase so rapidly as to cause
the consumption of iron almost to quadruple
itself in the same period of timer Did not
specie flow in, and were not the banks and Gov
eminent able to resume payment, and did not
reputation disappear from all except the British
Free. trade States Had the country ever been
so prosperous as it was in iS47 and had there
ever been even an approach to such prosperity
except st the close of the former period of pro-
lection ending in 1857
VII. Have not eight years elapsed, and have
they rot been marked By the creation Of vast
foreign oebt, while the power to pay for cloth and
iron Las been in STEADY course Of diminutioni