The New York herald., 1874-07-18
The Free Trade Question.

| party wlu Try 10 make Tree trace It's caPltaI
issue in the Presidential election of 1876. and
thereby establish ''a new departure" The
party has not asserted this doctrine in any
national platform since the beginning of the
civil war. The platform of 1864 passed the
question in utter silence; the platform OF 1868
favored incidental protection to domestic
manufacturers" the platform of 1872 lodged
the question by remitting it to the Congress
sional districts. The ante war democratic
platforms touched the subject only in vague,
non-committal way. If, therefore, the party
should in 1876 put forth bold, unequivocal
declaration in favor of free trade, it will take
decided step in advance. But nobody can
yet be quite sure that the same considerations
OF expediency which have led to so much
trimming on this subject heretofore may not
also blunt the edge of the tree trade issue in
the next democratic national convention.
While no question has been so much dis
cussed as free trade for the last few years in o
theoretical point of view there is none Of
equal importance of which the practical bear
ings are so little understood. Conceding the
soundness of the free trade theory we wish to
call the attention Of its champions to the
practical side of the problem and point out
some of the difficulties which it is incumbent
on them to solve to the satisfaction of the
American people. No intelligent free trade
reasoner will contend that this country has
greater facilities for dealing successfully with
the question than Great Britain. Our states
men are not so able; our resources are not so
great; our people are not so universally con-
vinced Of the advantages of free trade, and
therefore not so ready to support the govern
ment in removing shackles from commerce
Ii our free traders have discovered better
method of establishing free trade than that
adopted by Great Britain they ought to state
it for the information of the country. De-
clamatory zeal and irrelevant statistics cannot
be accepted in the place of clearly defined
scheme on a subject so eminenty practical.
What is the British method? 1t is simply
transfer of the greater part Of the taxes from
commerce to internal sources Less than one
third of the British taxes are raised by customs
duties, and yet the annual imports Of Great
Britain are more than double ours. Double
the amount Of imports would be capable of
yielding double the revenue; so that if our
rates of duties were only equal to those of
Great Britain-that is if with only half her
commerce we made as near an approach to
free trade as she does-we should raise only
about fifty million dollars year by the tariff
and throw the whole residue of the public
burdens upon internal taxation. If there is
any other method than the British for render
ing trade free it has not been discovered, or
at least not published, by the American free
traders But if they propose to pursue the
British method nothing can be predicted with
more certainty than the rejection Of their
views by the American people. If foreign
commerce were to be taxed only in the same
proportion that it is taxed by Great Britain
we should be obliged to raise from two hun
dred to two hundred and fifty millions year
from internal sources. With the present tenn
per and sentiments of our people they would
never submit to such change.
We will illustrate the British practice by
reference to q single striking topic There is
no other internal tax which is so odious or SC
inequitable as an income tax. We submitted
to it for while as a war tax, but public
clamor compelled the government to first
reduce and then relinquish it after the close
of the war In like manner the British
people endured it as war tax under Pitt, but
, it was abolished Immediately after the ter
mination OF the great Napoleonic struggle.
And yet this hateful tax was revived by SiI
Robert Peel in 1912, and has been continued
ever since. For what reason2 On the ground
that it was necessary part of the means OF
establishing free trade. We could quote hun
dreds of pages from free trade speeches in
Parliament defending the income tax on this
ground. Sir Robert Peel himself said:
lone of my reasons, as 1 originally stated,
for proposing the income tax, is, that might
be able to effect the reductions contemplated
by the tariff Golden, the great apostle
of free trade, said in Parliament in 1850: -
1.-The right honorable member for Tamworth
(Sir Robert PeeD in 1912 began q new sys-
ten-thAt of reducing the taxes on in
dustry and relieving trade and com.
| merce by substituting for duties more
: direct system Of taxation in the
imposition of tax on income 1t was moi
enacted in the most desirable shape, but bat
as it is, hope we shall never part with it,
although should like to see some modifca
ton of it, Again, in 1853, Golden said:
"a compensation is afforded by the mode in
which the surplus gained by the income ta1
is disposed of. mean by the extension Of
commerce and the freeing Of industry from
the fetters that bound it, There is no end
TO the iteration of this idea in Gladstone
financial statements as Chancellor of the Ex
chequer We will quote a single specimen
from his speech opening the budget of 1885,
"Sr r. Peel, in 1872 called forth from re
. pose this giant, who had once shielded us il