Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1883-03-02
Prof. Sumner on Mr.. Evarts.
Chicago Tribune


The following letter of Prof Sum-
ner has been sent to us by Mr..
Abraham L. Earle, of the American
Free Trade League, to whom it was
sent by the writer:
New HAVEN Feb. 12.-Dear Mr..
Earle: I have been reading Mr..
Evarts' speech. The first reflec
suggested by it is: What would Dc
Mr.. Evarts' comment on me if ]
should go into court and argue an
important case with only popular
and newspaper knowledge of law ?
Little as know of law, 1 doubt if
I should make such an exhibition
of myself as Mr.. Evarts made in his
attempt to discuss matter Of po-
htical economy. He assumed all
that he had to prove, affirmed what
was of no importance, and had
back in his mind theories of po,iti-
cal economy which are puerile and
absured in the extreme. Mr.. Evarts
ought to know that, although this
sort of argument passed for power
full in the days of Henry Clay and
Horace Greedy, we have got a great
way beyond it now, and man who
comes into tariff debate to day has
got to come with great deal bigger
outfit and have an ability to sound
the tom-tom about British anxiety
and wall of peaceful duties. "
Mr.. Evarts has obviously never given
himself the trouble to clear up his
own ideas about what free-trade
would be. He conceives of it as if
one nation would absorb all the
trade of the world. What would
that mean? If that nation really
TRADED with others it must give
its products for theirs. They would
not make this exchange unless it
WAS advantageous to them. Such a
state of things, then, must be advan-
tageous to them. If that nation
gave its products to them and got
nothing back from them it would
be their tributary and slaves. If it
took from them and gave them
nothing in return it must first con-
quer them in war, which it could do
as well without as with "a wall OF
peaceful duties" Mr. Evarts said
that the time for US to have free
trade would be when we could sell
to other nations everything and
they could sell us nothing. From
this it appears that his idea is to
get us into the second position.
The doctrine that you must buy
to sell and sell to buy is the hardest
easy doctrine in the world. Mr..
Evarts could not do any better than
the most vulgar protectionist. He
goes off to talk about England and
Englishmen when his subject was
America and Americans. "Do not
let us do it," says he, because Eng
lishmen want to have us do it"
when the question is: Is it for the
advantage of Americans to do it? If
we do it we shall do it because we
think it is for our advantage,
not because Englishmen or other
men want to have us do it." If
you go down the main street of any
town the shop windows full of goods
are displayed with the most tempt
ing art. Behind the window are
men who want to sell you some
thing-just like the wicked English
men. [ have never heard that any
man wanted an armor of iron or
taxes to protect" him against the
man who wants to sell him some
thing. On the contrary, we regard
it as an advantage to have a chance
and choice of good things offered
ia. which wo can talso If wo want it,
and does us no harm if we let it
alone. The anxiety of foreigners
to sell us goods is an advantage of
Just the same kind. Yours respect
fully. w. &. SUMNER.