The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1882-03-15
PROFESSOR SUMNER ON FREE TRADE.

fk OFESSOR SUMNER ON FREE TRADE.
A Lecture Before the Revenue Reform
Club of Brooklyn.
New York Tribune, March 81
Professor William G.. Sumner of Yale Col
| iege, lectured last night on Protection and
Free Trade" before the Revenue Reform
Club of Brooklyn. The audience was large.
| and frequently manifested its approval OF
the lecturers arguments by hearty applause.
| Professor Sumner in appearance and man
ner is totally unlike the traditional College
Professor. He spoke without notes. easily
and fiuently.
Our adversaries, said he, assert that the
| theory Of free trade is built on assumptions.
But everything must have some assumption
to start with. You must begin by saving:
Given such and such conditions, what will
follow" That is what the political econ
omist has TO do. And he is met by the diff
ficulty that he can not create an experiment;
! ne can not put men on an island to try his
| theory, nor he always get
cases from history; for the bad le
gislat'on OF the past has dis
| Outraged social laws. But will state a case
| rhe Pilgrim Fathers were men of grit on
land of granite. They tried to live under
the conditions given them, built ships and
| titled the soil. Then a protectionist came
| along and said: They not under the
right conditions to succeed; there is a way
by which they may get more Let us lay "a
tax on them, to make them rich" Laugh
ter. That is his theory of wealth. But it
is poor theory. III Government puts one
cent in my pocket it must either make it or
take il from some other mans pocket. 1t
does not make il, for that is not what Gov
eminent is for; so 1t simply takes from some
body else. Ii taxation causes some indus
| tries to flourish, others must decline. 1t is
in apaOTnauop with Caianaa Won
make something out OF nothing The
alchemists tried IL and failed. Labor ard
economy are the only foundation of wealth.
If A gets rich through the tariff. it must be
because b gets poor, and protection has made
great many Bs. Laughter.l Mr.. Kelly
has told you that the tariff has built up Pat
eTson. Yes, there are crowds of As there,
but where are the poor Bs?
There are only three ways by which my
property may leave me. A man may buy il
of me; or | may give it to him; or he may
steal it from me. You must put the tariff
under one Of these three heads; and truth
demands that it shall be put under the
third. Applause 1t is fair that we should
ask the prOlectiOnists to give us such guar
antees that they know what they aiming at.
; On their theory We are to submit to a pres
ent loss in order 10 reap future gain
What Is the gain? 1t is all clear enough
: that we will be out of pocket now, that the
tax will be collected, and then the whole
thing runs into the ground, and we have
only the vague hope that some how or other
we will come out all right. 1t is like
I throwing money up in the air and ex-
: pecJing to get rich by the operation.
Laughter. So We ask, "What is the
| economic force in protection?' Then we
ask, "What has protection done for us?'
They say, ''Fhe United States has prosperad
under a protective tariff and therefore of =
| r,rOtap4:ua Tariff Won r,aiohf
that the United States prospered under
slavery, and therefore because of slavery
z Ii is shallow fallacy. Again we assert
that the DrOtectionists have not acted with
good faith. The tariff was imposed in the
excitement OF the Civil War, and we were
told that it was only temporary that it was
just to foster our infant industries Twenty
: years have passed, and those infants haven
grown Yet Ilaughterl, and never will under
protection. Remember this tariff was laid
on us when we were already burdened
| enough. All posi- BILE excuse for protection
has pas ed. and yet two recent tariff Con
ventionS have been shameless enough t.
demand more tariff still. and to ask
: that certain people shall lsvy a tax
on us to enrich themselves. So that
which was at first only a temporary priv.
| lege is now loudly asserted to be a vested
right. More than that, the public money is
squandered SO that there NAV be an excuse
for levying tax. We have been exhorted
4 To go into ali sorts of lingo business-to buy
Cuba, to settle everybody's boundaries, and
; 10 go crusading all over creation attending
| to other folks affairs, instead of s;aylDe
home and getting rich. Now, l maintaiu
tina; If there is to be tax at all we ought Il
tax men so as to keep them out of the coun
try, and raise the wages. Take the minis
ters New York has been importing mum
Der. If they had been kept out by high
protective tariff some smart American.
would have got the job. [Great laughter.
You see the point. So OF the professors
l There ought to be a petition sent to Con
gress to put tax on every imported minis
; ter and professor, and then our languiSh
ing crowd at home would get a chance
Laughter
Lastly We ask the protectionists for some
fruits, and they point us to a lot of big
l chimneys. But l want to see what thess
chimneys are for. Perhaps they are only a
toy. like the obelisk in Central Park, which
cost 100000 to bring over. l don't care
what the obelisk cost because it doesn't
come out of my pocket; but am interested
IN these chimneys because / am taxed tC
pay for them, and don't propose to go into
I the chimney business, unless it pays. In
conclusion, | say that protection can not
+, stand against the spirit of the age. 1t will
be swept down and will collapse of its OWL
weight, Nations are being knit closer
together; the old prejudices are sGbsIding
, and free trade among free men will yet pre-
vail the world. [Applause.]