Northern tribune. [volume] (Cheboygan, Mich.) 1875-1885, 1884-10-23
Comparative Protection.
ro the editor of the Inter Ocean.

CHICAGO, Oct. 3D. In considering.
briefly, the subject of protection to home
industry in its influence on the growth
of our National wealth l am not un-
mindful that it has enlisted the atten-
lion of the prOfoundsst thinkers, and has
employed the best talent OF this age. Its
effects upon society and upon the sub
s.autial development of states can be
readily illustrated by a comparison with
experience of other nations who have
adOpted it. In all affairs OF life we built
on foundations already laid. In business
we follow principles that have grown into
laws. In the field Of invention we add
to or improve something already ascer-
tanned; in mathematics we proceed from
a known to an unknown quantity and
arrive at conclusions by demonstration.
Therefore, the economic principles Which
in the completeness OF their trial have
pointed out the road to happiness and 10
Opulence, the people adopting them are
tests safe TO be followed and initiated.
If we desire to know what will develop
our intrinsic resources to their fullest
extent. so bOundless and so varied. we
need only to turn over the pages OF his
tory for examples.
During the period beginning about B.
&. 900, and continuing, with few In
tervals, to the accessiOns of William Ill.,,
Prince Of Orange, to the English throne,
the develOpement Of the valuable and
INFxIIAUsTIBLE RESOURCES OF IRELAND,
80 generously bestowed by the hand of
nature steadily advanced under the
application Of q wholesome restrictive
and protective policy ordained by Its
own rulers; and under bene6cent stat
utes her people continued Industrious
and prosperous in the highest degree.
Her rich and bountiful deposits of coal
and ore afforded opportunities for the
employment of capital and the promo
tiOa of labor. Her cOmmOdi0us harbOrs
received growing commerce, and her
deep and rapid streams furnished water
power for countless mills. A fertile soil,
yielding abundant harvests. and salu
briOus climate encouraged people en-
thusiastic in their toll and thrifty In hug
banding Its products. Multitudes of fac
tories and industries grew up and
thrived in spite Of the unfriendly atti-
tude Of the English Government. The
enterprise and solid advancement Of the
Green Isle during this period Of pros
perity attracted the attention of the
mercantile world, and the fruits of her
patient and cheerful toll were in great
demand in trade centers throughout
Europe. Here people were painstaking
c0ntented, and happy. The hum of the
busy loom, the whirllng wheels Of count
less mills, the sharp ring of tho anvil,
the genial fires Of blazing FORCES,
and brave hearts and strong
hands filled her fertile valleys,
and on every sturdy hillside thousand
fOcks and herds were reared and tended
by patient shepherds. But she was
doomed. The gloom of darkness and
midnight settled over her broad fields.
The prOverbial meanness of England
would tolerate no rival. She laid her
mailed hand upOn peaceable prosperous
and cOntented nation, blighted its
growth paralyzed its industries, absorbed
its trades and drove its mourning sons
to the four quarters Of the earth. In the
forcible and touching language Of one
of her writer's Her people scattered
over the habitable globe, her beautiful
valleys turned into trenches to sover the
bones of her
FREE TRADE FAMINE VICTIMS,
her hsrbOrs made the rendezvous for the
shipment Of human beings, while Ire
land, that can look back over 1900 years
OF civilization, is now clothed in rags,
with head dropped and detected, and
holding out her hands as q mendicant
in abject despair at the melting away of
three millions Of her people," = And
this, in short, is the sad story of the rise
OF Ireland under industrial protection,
and her fall under the whitening and
blighting curse of free trade. Which
path will you tread?
Frederick the Great of Prussia, hav-
ing heroically sustained seven years
war against combined Europe, and hav-
ing at last conquered peace found his
kingdom drained of its wealth, its iudus-
tries crushed and it's oxchequer depleted.
The business of its capital had almost
ceased, and its thoroughfares were the
prey of weeds and poverty. The spirit
Of his people was blunted with idleness
and Indulgence, whose spectre was famine
whose hope was death. Agriculture fur
nished scarcely substance to the tOiler,
and the broad and fertile fields OF Siesia,
that had once produced such bountiful
harvests, had become barren wastes.
TIE patient husbandmen who has tOiled
along the banks of the beautiful Rhine.
were buried on battle fields. Misery DESC
latiOn and famine had fastened their ter
rible clutches on the throat Of the ma
ton. But the genius Of the cOnqueror
rose above the gloom and displayed the
grandest qualities Of craftsmanship.
Out of the feeble resources Of the heroic
kingdom he organized prosperity. His
first step was to offer unequaled induce
maAts to the arti6cers, tradesmen and
LABORERS OF OTHER LANDS
to take up their abode In Prussia, by
prOmulgating stringent and acceptable
DEGREES to enable them to reap the pro-
ducts of their industry. Foreign capital
encouraged by wise restritiye lawe,bullt
factories and embarked in trade. Ont of
his private funds he contracted and i'm
nj hi<pb offordi m m