The Labor enquirer., 1883-02-24
Favors Free Trade.

Henry George delivered lecture
before the Brooklyn Revenue Reform
club last evening on hesubject, of "Reve-
nue. Reform in which he reviewed the
condition of the country. j
II hope" said Mr.. George, ''to see a
pronounced protectionist on one side and
an out-and out free trader on the other,
so that the issue.may be squarely met.
This tariff question was but the first tep
in an approaching social struggle. The
tariff question could not be discussed
without opening up all other economic
questions, and the American people
would become educated as they had
never been before in the science Of
political economy. We are going to have
deeper questions" he said, than
whether this boss or tn at boss shall rule.
The question of a privileged class on one
side and the demands of the many on
the other. is upon us, and it behooves
every man to see where he stands before
he allows his passion to arise and his
prejudice to come in There are no more
important questions than those con-
nected with the daily lives of men.
There is no desporism so bitter as the
despotism of poverty, no tyrant so op-
pressive as the tyrant Of want. If you
would check intemperance you must
elevate the masses of men where there
is the deepest poverty; there the gin
palaces are most numerous"
Continuing, Mr.George said: II am a
free-trader. There are not many free
traders. Let us be logical; if we want
to make square fight let us 60 in for
absolute free trade. would cut off the
tail of the tariff just behind the ears. 1
look upon custom house officer as a
| legalized pirate. would say to all who
want to export, export all that you
please. l would say to all who want to
inundate this country with cheap goods,
come on and inundate, and the cheaper
the better. Cheap goods are just what
we want. If trade is to be free, produc-
ton should be free, and to carry out the
principle of free trade we must break up
the monopoly of land. If there is any
protection that wants to have fling at
} British. free trade I am with him. don't
| call the principles of the Golden club
free trade, I care very little for that sort
of free trade. The protectionists of
England gave up the struggle too soon.
think if they had held out little longer
Great Britain would have been republic
and that blasphemy, the ownership of
all the land by very few, would have
been an impossibility.
"1f I had my way, would have abso-
lutte free trade at 10 o'clock tomorrow
morning l would let these manufacture
ers take their chances. So far from
hurting them, l believe it would benefit
them. Why, it is this Internal tariff of
ours that keeps US from taking control of
the markets of the world Here we are
100000 of people on new continent,
endowed as no other people in the world
are endowed, and begging for protection.
Are we not nice infants? There is some
thing utterly degrading to the national
character in this whole thing. spent a
year on the other side of the water, and
l never felt such an intense democrat as
l felt while there. never realized
what thorough and bitter hate of the
aristocracy and the monarchy animated
Thomas Jefferson as l did over there,
and yet was not proud of being an
American. Look at the corruption in
our politics. No American dare 60 over
there and scoff at their aristocracy or
monarchy; if he does he will be silenced
at once by reference to the American
Bosses" y,
Ao.;t