Lexington weekly intelligencer. (Lexington, Mo.) 1871-1887, 1882-09-16
WHAT IS fREE TRADE.
DY OTtAIIAM NOHUNN
IErom the.Farmerss ReYieW.l

What is free trader sThe question is
easy to answer 1.-THE mind 9 3 9 dis
charged Of the vague notfcns which al
hundred years OF false economic policy
have been irresistibly teaching. Free
trade is simply natural trade, unres-
tricfed trade, trade in which the parties
follow their Judgment in buying
and selling, and are under no dictatlon
from o n ress, or parliament, or empe-
r0r, as to whether they shall buy this or
that, or shall sell here or there. Free
trade is commercial liberty. We hear
much eloquence OF the blessings vi
commerce. Each quarter of the globe
every section betwixt the parallels OF lat
itude and longitude is-endowed with its
own peculiar facilities for ministering to
,hecomrort OF man. Iowa gives its grain,
Florida its orange. Pennsylvania it's
iron, Brazil its coffee. China its tea.
And it is commerce that brings these
gifts to the hand OF every man. 1t is
the glory OF civilization that the riches
of every cline are open to the use OF all.
Now, is all this a mistake? Is COM
merce q prodigious blnnder The
greatest apostle OF protection" in this
country wished the Atlantic were ian
ocean OF fire." hat no ships might 60 or
come. So, he said, would Tho A american
people be made independent Ga this
plan, obviously. the ideal man ls the
avage-he Stays his own meat, with an
arrow himself has fashioned from the
stone and wood; he makes bis own
clothing he builds his house; he
is altogether self. centred, self employed.
self paid. Il civilization q mistaken
Ii it Is motif 1t IL wise that the peculiar
adap,ability of each mau to do some
particular thing be made use of-that
this man be encouraged to make bread,
that man shoes, that man coats. and that
by Excl, ange each man enjoys the fruits
of the lsbors OF all-lt this is wise, then
it is a wise principle all Inc way
through. obviously, the ideal condi-
lions would be: Every man doing that
for which he is best equipped. every
spot OF earth producing that which it 10
capable OF producing in greatest album.
dance with least labor, and finally the
interchange OF commodities made as
easy and inexpensive as possible. The
total product would then reach its high
est, and each mau would obtain the
fullest possible reward for his labor.
These propositions ire. indeed. SO
automatic that we have known a
%proteetiOnlst to assail them by square,
direct argument. The protectiOnist
view is invariably adyaa,e ed in a serles
of special pleas, vague in form, without
lugical.connection, andin the msin PIT
assumption. Thus, y cardinal ''princi-
pie" OF the philosophy Is this:-Taat "a
country il most prosperous whsn 1T
produces for itself all It .consames.
This principle" Is invariably assn1aed
as Automatic. In protection ist speeches
ii serves as q sort OF universal major
premise. Yet, there 10 not u gram OF
truthsin it. A country Is most pros
porous when it has most at command to
consume. when Its people are we'll
clothed, we'll housed we'll ted. well
supplied with the good things OF earth /;
aud 1t does not make q particle III
difference, to that country whether 1t
supplies its wants by producing the
commodities directly, OF by producing
things which it a produce with less
labor and then exchanging. Neyerthe.
less. the protect,unists take this 'sprin.
ciple" tor their corner stone and pro.
coed to bulld. How. they ask, shall we
induce the people of this country IL
make their own six? As things stand,
they can get silk easiest by making
leather and trading Tor the silk OF France
Clearly. our first step is to preyepI
the people from buying French silk
How? Why, simply BY u tax. We pu
= duty of SIXTY per cent. on French sill
. aud thus work the object in two ways
FIRST, it donbiss the cost OF silk so tina
some OF our countryHsea cannot buy it a
!, all. Second, the increased selling prjc
induces some to give up tanning lealhe
| and engage in silk weaving. All thi
r done, the prolectionist calls upon hi
c%ounlrymen to admire the result. An
his casptry men look And what the.
soc is that they have less Ut both lea,he
and silk than they bad before. Silk
Y double its former price, snd shoes ar
= dearer, since The leather men mast pa
with the rest to support the silk tsctt
i rY.
y But, The protectionist pleads. we hav
created a new demand for labor. An
We perceive that we have simply draw
labor from leather to put it into silk.
"oo Again. ptSNSS'Ao"AoI u'6>
his cause: We have diversified industr.
But we know that nature Oversize
industry in every Cline and We kno
also that in a country OF ucn an inf
lite variety OF as ours.
lalk of artiicially diversiIying industr
is pure blncombe.
Aud when all else fails the prote
Zionist attempts SARCASM. aud remarl
that this country seems 10 have stagge
cd along pretty we'll Under protectloi
lie And then any school ms'am can r-pl,
Is with equal sarcasm. that irse tral
II between forty states is not without 1
g advantages. Suppose the protecti'
II system had been iaithiully applied
N this country. There are no argumen
tor the protection OF the United Stat
against England or France which Ca
IN not be applied with double force ior d
protection OF Pennsylvania again
lie illinois, or Indiana against New Yor
~ Suppose that each stale had created
SC tariff wall to prevent the horrid iLv
sion of the goods OF other Statesp 7