, 1875-02-07

| involving loss to themselves. Ho tried to say
! something about compensation, and about other
crops being raihed on The land where the palm
tree now stood; but they would listen to poth-
iny, and ordered him forthwith to leave tia
| island, This order he WAS obliged to obey,
| hut not before lo had attempted to interest
tho general population IN bis scheme. His
success with the people, however, WIS not
greater than with the chiefs; be tried to put the
advantages Of sunlight, good tools, p1ows and
scythes. md cheap clothing in as striking light
as possible ha did his best to show the people
that they would have all these good things in ez-
change for their nnwtlo1esotne oil. But they
only ssw 10 his plan the destruction Of the most
important industry in the island, and they joined
heartily with their chiefs in driving him to hls
Hup.
He left the srirnats full OF indignation st their
folly and as far as he knows they are still Irving
in q pestlential atmosphere, tho darkness OF
which Is feebly illumined BY their tn-smellipg oil
lamps.
This atory is al illustration OF the fact that
when you hare once got protection it is impossi-
Bile to get rid OF it without injuring the people
who haye invested their capital and labor in the
protected industry. The case of the Srimats
was an extreme ono. Tho foreign competition
with which tho palm oil industry was threatened
would have swept tho palm -owners out OF the
market in ono day. The sun not only offered d
vastly superior article, but be WAS ready
to make free gilt Of it, to all comcrs.
What tradcsman could compete against such
odds? The existence OF protection interests
number Of people in it's maintenance, although
its maintenance often fatally impoverishea the
enti1o community. What protection really does
is to taLe away labor and capital from those en-
ploymouts who.e they would produce the greatest
return, 10 order to confine them to Industries
where they are comparatively unremunerat.ye.
The Srimats would have done the best thing pos
Bible with their capital and labor il they had cul
tivatcd the Spices for which their land was par
tcnlarly well suited, They threw away the nd
vantages which Nature had freely bestowed upon
tho1n, aud By ono OF the most extraordinary
cases OF protection in the world imprisoned
their capital and labor in an industry where it
was absolutely unproductive Of wealth to them
solves or anY one else. And this in modified
degree is what happens in every case where a
native industry is protected againbt foreign
competition. Home-g grown bcat-root sugar, IN
France, is protected against tho competition of
West Indian canc-sugar by heavy import duty.
would undersell tho French sugar. The effect
Of the duty is that all people who live IN FRANCO
pay more dearly for their sugar than they other
wiso would and that 3 certain amount OF
French capital and labor is driven into an in
dustry iu which 1t can only be made profit
ty produced by it. Nature gives moro help to
the production Of sugar in tho WcBt Indies than
in France. Just as the sun was ready to supply
the srimats gratuitously with light 80 the sui,
tho soil, aud tho climate In the West Indies per-
form gratui,onsy great part o. the Togs
might profit by II they would. But they say:
"No; wo won't be under such obligation to Ma
ture we will not take from her moro help than
abe can give us in our own country" And 30
they rcrt1so the creator and accept tho smallor
gift just as tho Srimats refused to take their
light as a free gift from the sun, although they
could not havo grown their palm-trces without
his aid.