New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1886-07-26
LECTURES on PROTECTION.

LECTURES on PROTECTION. |
HOME INDUSTRIES AND AMERICAN LABOR.
10 HOME lNpusrnnN Pear Lss.u,ss
delivered IN Harvard University Janusry: lseS; y
vess,W rsessSlss~iA sva pp lea Appleton q Co.
III this, lecture< Professor Thompson has stated
tho arguments far protection so clearly and
comua -tiy that It is not strange taat they have
p-odnced deer impression. ss recently published
st,tisttcs Of the opinions OF studeate indicate ne
doss no: b.tray want of confidence in his cause oy
yioIcnoo Of language nor docs he appear 70 DO srV
ing for the cheap applause Of the untainkine ny
means Of rhetorical clap trap or Dishonesty IN staV
ing the position Of others his only desire 10 20 s'a'o
simply and candidly an argument whc h ne fesmmus'
copviace tie judgment Of those who MASTER w.
The work IL admirably done in the MAN, though !"
q few points op-u to cri' icism 49,,
It Is strongly reasoned that nation OF srsatwea
and highly developed industry. without wars can
crush tho industry of another and that the r'en'
defend against this tyranny Of capital u as clear
and absolute as the right ia resist the tyranny OF
crown. Especially in this country, whose IN
developed capacities are almost countless and I'M
limited is this right Of priceless vsiue' anu rs
therefore mistake in tho Professor to restio. or
condition IL by any weakening phrases n0 ',s"s
of sefefence belongs not only to the weak against
the strong, to the undeveioped against tho hisny
Developed Industry. but to every numsh 'n'e.oS'
that is exposed to harm. against every agency tnas
shows the will and the power TO harm IL Ii canada
can ujure an Industry Of this country. and begins
70 try the right of selfdefcnce is as absolute as II
Great Britain or Germany had made the attack.
So II is mistake to say that protection aims only
10 eouaize tho conditions of production. and not to
prohibit The statement is not quito true In fact,
for tncre are duties which were intended to pro-
hibt and it is not sOund theory, for the right OF
selfdefence justifcs prohibition quite az completely
ms il justfes any measure OF protection, great or
small the only question Is which is the best defence
for the nation ~ o whole. There Is nothing gained
by assuming that theriqht to exclude is less clear
than the right to restrict importations.
The Professor puts strongly the historical fact that
protection has ever been due to the effort OF agri'
culture to secure for is benefit diversified in-
cus,ry aud home market, by defending and build
ing up manufactures and mining Tie first tariffs
IN this country were due TO the votes controlled by
Southern agriculturists. Aftcrward agriculture
OF PENNSYLVANIA aud ;her States found prosperity
through development of manufactures The facts
in re- ard II the relation between the development
of diversified Industries and the value of farm land
nre we'll used but the objection that American
farmers still depend to some extent on foreign
markets might be better met In the nature OF
thllILS q country must UoSlrc 10 nave VI
some things, for exchange with products of other
countries 1t is natural that its industry should be
so adjusted as to furnish that surplus for export
from the branches which can be most quickly de-
ycloped and with the least outlay of capital.
Nopart of the Professors argument Is more effective
than his description Of England suppression OF in-
dustres in India and Ireland. and the attempts TO
crush industries in this country. Irish history 10
especially fruitful in instruction. From the day
when Napier Tandy hung upon his cannon the
motto Free Trade or this. illustrating the Irish
purpose to overthrow tyranny which had been
employed 70 crush their industries, the growth of
manufactures In Ireland was beyond comparison
rapid and healthful and the contrast when Ireland
wa, again brought under British control by the
treaty of Union in 1900, and Irish manufactures
were again destroyed by British legislation and
British capital affords one of the most instructive
lessons of history The Professor suggests, though
he does not clearly say that much of the opposition
10 MIR GlaCstone's plan at this day is due to the
greedy eagerness of British manufacturers to pre-
vent the development of rival industries across
the channel. The history OF our own Constitution,
and of the first protective tariff which was reported
nv Mr. Madison himself, Is effectively presented in
the second lecture, with the leading features OF our
indusria progress under different tariffs 70 this day.
Or page ST. the average of national weaithis stated
as $514 per capita IN 1880, whereas 1t should
read in $780, and the statement for 1880 is too low
for Just comparison with the figures given for the
previous year.
Discussing wages IN the next lecture, Professor
Thompson gives many facts of interest such as the
following:
In 1893 the Schuylkill and Susquehanna Canal
Company advertised for workmep, offering 30 a
mouth for tho winter months. aud 30 for summer
with beard S Of nsss ers
brought ont the fact that soldiers got but S3 "a
month. A Vermont member. discussing the pro-
were hired for Els year, or 81 month with
board and clothing. Mr. Wad.worth: of Pennsyi-
vania, said, " In the States north OF Pennsylvania
tho wages Of the common lab0rer are not, uDOn the
whole. Superior to those Of the common soldier"
In 1907 Rhode Island farmer hired a. good
farm hand at $3 month; and 30 month was
busy months Of the farmers year. strong boy
could be had at that time in Connections at 5! a
month, through those months AND he earned t i ny
the earnings Of three such months.
ssss pr painful pcaurs
OF the working classes at that time. Every avenue
to employment was choked with applicants. Men
90 to 10 cents day. and to encounter the malaria
which laid them low in nuInbers The highest
wages paid to women was 20 cents day. ana even
the women who made clothes Tor the arsenal were
pad by the Government at no higher rates. When
the ladies of the city begged for an improvement
OF tins rate the Secretary besltated lest 1t should
throuy bout the city! Poor people died of cold
and want every winter IN the city, and the fact
seems to have made en- Impression only on be-
noyoGnty disposed persons like Mr.. Carey.
Details like these suffice to show the marvellous
progress of this country in tho condition of labor.
and the important social and political influence of
the maintenance Of good wages is intelligently
eonsiteIed Mr. Atkinson's law tina. profits fall