Morning journal and courier., 1885-10-22

While those two victims of English rapacity remain it will be useless to urge British free trade theories upon Humanitarian grounds Our notion of the 'tbrothernood of man" ln- cludes Irishmen and Indians, and when Eng lishmen want to argue the tariff question upon 8 basis of fraternity it will be better to begin the discussion with Cork or Calcutta. "But," says the free trader, "don't you know that commerce, to which you. oheff an obstrustioh, is the greatest or the agencies of civilization! Don't yod know that it promotes amity and good will among the nationa Are you not aware that religion follows in the wake of commerce, and that l the trader prepares the way for the mission arys "Yes, but still there is no intrinsic morality in commerce. Trading of itself IS | just as likely to be immoral as it is to be | moral. A mere bargain does not promote
 amity or advance Christian civilization. 1t | must be strictly fair bargain to accomplish
 anything in that direction. If one | trader overreaches the other l the transaction produces anything
 but good will. When religion pushes on ln the wake of commerce it finds good many texts tor sermons on rascality. The mlsslon- ary who follows the trader usually has a harder task on hand because the trader got there first. England has covered India with 1 commerce and with missionaries, but no In dian will get correct notion ot the Chris l tian religion if he shall associate 1t with the I | or with the destruction of his native indus l tries by British free trade The trades ] of commerce have flowed freely l over Ireland; but no free trader 1 would like to illustrate the amelioratlng et- l fects of commerce upon the hurr1an mind by representing the feelings with which the Irish
 regard the English:
 When we are asked to regard free trade as
 an agency for the propagation of the gospel | of peace and love let us remember that Eng
 land has been engaged in fifty wars during
 the present century, number greater than
 is recorded of any other nation in Europe.
 One of the most obvious and positive re- suits of unrestricted trade is
 sharp competition;. and it is notori- ous that fierce competition brings l out almost every evil passion in the nature I of man. It tends directly to adulteration and to other forms of fraud. If, on the one hand, we look to England's great commer- cial conquests as demonstration of what l enterprise may do when strongly stimulated, on the other we may look at the muslins she sends to China, loaded with fifty per cent. of clay and magnesia as a proof of what may
 be brought about by an intense desire to un- dersel ones neighbors.
 l struggle to Sell and a struggle between l unfriendly competitors to ascertain which
 shall sell. With respect to our country, it is contest in which our European rivals are ] using every energy to try to undereeH us
 and it is clearly evident, in such case,
 that the highest possible triumph they could have would be in the complete destruction of their American competitors. That result | would fill every foreign manufacturer with exultation; but we may doubt if it would kindle in American hearts flame of love
 for the foreigner.
 Mr. Clark, in conclusion, enforced the
 thought that protection is 8 safeguard
 against these rivals, and in reply to the
 claim that the system hurt in taxing non.
 manufacturers, held that American competi
 tion lowered the price of foreign goods fol
 Americans. He then, summing up.
 argued strongly that the country
 as a whole is greatly benefited by
 protection as amply shown by the results, by
 the development of our not usual resources.
 by it's giving profitable employment to di l vers talent, and providing for the farmer
 home market for all but 10 per cent of the cereal products and the whole of his wool
 and for all of h1s productions Protection has made America's workingmen the happiest ir
 the world, the most relf-rcspecting and the most prosperous, and has made this land the | most attractive on earth for millions in tht old world. The Protectionist also believes
 that maintenance of the superior social eondi tion of the laboring protection is vitally nee | essary to the continuance of our free popu lar government. He is convinced that these results cannot be assured to unless tht system of tariff protection be continued and as he regards the desire for them ai justifable upon moral grounds, so he ae
 counts as morally defensible the protectiv,
 policy which makes them possible.