The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1888-08-23

cUples three columns of The Sentinel in
an effort to prove protection essential to
the welfare of free state. The elevated
tone of the article, its freedom from the
bold assertion and vituperation not I'M
common in political literature and the
eloquent effort of the writer to impress
on American citizens the fact, that how
ever corrupt politics may appear to be, it
is the imperative duty of every man to
take an interest In public questions and
learn the lesson that political activity is
capable of good too frequently ignored
all these contribute to make the article
statesmanhke in character and worthy
the earnest consideration of the judicious
reader. Yet we can not readily reconcile
ourselves to the idea that the material
condition of any country can be due to
the presence or absence OF so-called pro-
lection, however important that factor
may be. That the panic of 1873 was due
to the low tariff prior to 1862 is judy
ment possible only when we forget the
fact that an over-issue of paper money
during the war and pernicious banking
system prior to that time furnished de-
preciated currency which led to wild
schemes of speculation that would have
brought the inevitable collapse even had
the balance of trade been in our favor be-
fore and during the war. II the high
m L.
freighted with SO much hope for the
country, why after eleven years of its
existence did the bolt fall and paralyze
the nation? Verify the cause of this era
of commercial inactivity seems to be too
far-fetched. 1t would be more reasonable
to assume that the tariff itself promised
confidence in its potency brought on the
crash and emphasized the theory that
protection does not protect~
Ireland's political discomfort and her
comparative poverty are not due to free
trade. A strong Irish national feeling, a
love for Ireland rather than a spirit of
Di1llSIl lJdbIloI1SiIls anu IdCt
hatred nursed by years of penal laws lie
at the root of Ireland's discomfort
This spirit must become extinct before
harmony can prevail. The political ora
tor of America to-day finds it easy to
argue the Irishman into belief in high
tariff. The discipline of centuries has
1inal him in oy-nr of VT 1pcr Ito
metrically opposed to the English system,
and calm elaboration is for him out of
the question. Again Ireland's poverty
is not of an extreme type. Pauperism is
rarer than in either England or Scotland
IN proportion to the population. She
has not the vitality to enable her to COM
dustries because her capitalists reside
and invest in England. As well argue
many of the states of our union lack the
vitality to compete because their real
estate holders prefer to engage in manu-
featuring enterprises in the rAore-congen-
ial eastern states.
True, it Is, that for some years the bal
ance of trade has been against the Scan
dinavian kingdom, but the discrepancy
IS not relatively greater than has some
times existed Ill our own country favored
as it is by the high breakwater of the
american system" And may not these
discrepancies be due to other economic
disturbances, and may not the develop
ment of new Industries give new i'm
petus to the industrial prosperity of those
countries? The iron and steel industries
of those countries are not in their pres
ent status because of the absence of
tariff laws. On good authority we find
that Sweden's finest steel is eagerly
sought for in the British market and
Norway's iron remains undeveloped be-
cause of the absence of the timber need
ed to work it.
The comparative backwardness of the
Mediterranean countries can not alone, if
at all, be attributed to the fact that the
hand of protection was not extended
An over crowded population, an indolent
improvident people kept in ignorance by
class legislation, every spark of liberty
quenched by the combined force of church
and state, and system of internal taxa
ton that presses the life-blood out of the
people IN order to sustain corrupt army
of aristocrats and sinecures,- these
factors exist and merit consideration in
solving the problem.
Emigration to this country has from
time immemorial been properly consid-
cred to be due to the bounteous offerings
of our inexhaustible virgin soil, the
equality of all men before the law, the
freedom from social oppression and the
opportunity to win and hold parcel of
land exempt from the ravages of stony
hearted landlords or worse middle men.
These are privileges their native lands
could not give with a Chinese wall of
protection frowning on every boundary
line. These are privileges higher than
the artificial wages of protection, dearer
often than life itself. This is the view
history takes Of emigration. It is the
view dominant in America at all times
except when a forthcoming election
threatening to hurl rulers from power
makes the other view appear plausible.
1t is often the artifice resorted to by the
campaign speaker who knows the ease
with which the average ear is tickled and
hopes the fallacy lurking in his argument
will escape detection. The republican
party of to-day begins to read the signs
of the times and they are in sorry pre-
dicament between their own acknowl-
edgement that revenue should be reduc-
ed and their futile effort to force the is
sue of absolute free trade on the demo-
crazy. The voice of the nation demands
raliaf from an burden The