New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1882-11-21
THE TARIFF QUESTION.

THE IHHIEF W LO NV
Not long ago a man who has been somewhat
conspicuous in agitation against the protective
tariff listened to speech IN the House on
that side The speech was full OF the old ar
guments, though forcibly presented. Meeting
the speaker soon after, he said: Your
"speech sounded in my ears like the buzz OF
Gan old fashioned spinnlng-wheel. Half a
"centtlry ago such things were useful. Now the
rebuilding of all industry since the war has
proceeded seventeen years on protective
"basis. You cannot change for a long time
"to come without great disaster The cOun-
try knows it. Marvellous growth and pros
"perity seem to most persons the fruits OF
protection. In part they are. for the protec-
" tive system does good in some respects, as
"you and | cannot deny. Each system helps
lin one way while it hurts i'll another, OF ne
"cessity. The country made sacrifices for ten
"years in order to get certain industries
"well established; now that they are
established, we begin to get the fruit.
al did not believe in planting that par
"ticular tree, but | don't believe in pull
cling it up, now that it is bearing. The
"people have decided. They are going to
"have the protective system, and will not
Common sense to s rive for the most efiic-
"ient protective tariff We can get. What Is
"the use of trying everlastingiy to tear 1t to
"pieces by alterations? We have started for
:" the voyage. | would rather have taken an
"other ship, and never did think this one the
best that ever 6oated. But | do not believe
Gin tying to knock hole in her bottom un-
" til we reach dry land"
This man, of course, was at once denounced
as an apOstate. But it would puzzle the
shrewdest trader in the land to answer
his observations. They offer ground upon
which men who were once foes are now meet
ing every day as allies. The old discussion,
whether this or that theory was abstractly
preferable, has ceased to interest any
body except Democratic politicians. 1t is
no longer necessary to ask, for any present
practical purpose, whether it would have been
better had we adopted one system or the
other in 1861, or when the rebuilding began
after the war. All the industry, all the COM
merce, all the finances of the country have
now been adjusted to protective basis. The
result does not distress anybody, except GER
tain politicians. The country is not going to
ruin. The people are not clamOring for an In
dustrial revolution. On the contrary, they
want stability, preservation of all essential
features of the system under which we are
prospering, reform of abuses and adjustment
to new conditions, but not a scuttling of the
ship.
1t would be well for the country if this, the
actual state of the case, were universally re-
coenized Then there could be free and hearty
cooperation of intelligent men to make the
tariff more effective and useful. In some par
ticulars, it is obsolete; the Clutch stand
ard |" sugar duty is an example. In others,
it is liable to abuse and has been
abused. In others, it is lacking in clear
ness and precision and gives rise to endless
litigation. Ia others, it is burdensome without
benefit, and might be modified with most help
full results to industry. AS matters stand,
great many good men are sincerely afraid to
enter upon the work of revision or improve
ment, lest it should end in weakening or tear
ing down the whole structure which we have
been twenty years in building. But distinct
understanding that the country does not pro-
pose to destroy or impair the SYSTEM but to
make it more effective and useful, would re-
move these difficulties.
Democratic politicians stand in the way, and
nobody else. Because that party exists and
threatens, improvement of the tariff is embar-
rassed Since its recent success, Democracy
assumes a more threatening attitude than ever.
Incapable of seeing that O new world has come
into being since 1860, this party wants to turn
back the hands of the clock. The creation of
new industries by the thousand it blindly ig-
nores. Repeated and most emphatic decisions of
the people against reversal of the National
policy--decisions so emphatic that half the
Democratic party, only two years ago. was
trying desperately to save its candidate by