San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1888-02-22
PROJECTION IS WHAT

Ina recent number OF the Bankers
Monthly, Issued by Rand & McNally, Is
very exhaustive article, treating Of
protection, not as a mere question OF
prices but as one Of humanity, olyiliZa-
tlon and national power, The author,
Henry Carey Baird, treats his subject
historically and enters into a full ex-
animation OF the conditions underlying
national movements and makes his de-
ductiOns n ost nationally and philOso-
phically. Speaking Of the late message
10 the president, aud contrasting IL with
The principles laid down by an eminent
Edinburg revIe VI T some thirty years ago
as righIiulIy governing those who adj
author sRys:
"The fact that the president treats the
whole subject OF the tariff as one merely
OF prices, and principally OF an advance
In prices paid by the consumer, shows
that he Is one OF those economists who
have come into the world ready-made,'
and who therefore give their Views, to
the end that legislation may be had,
changed, without taking upon them
selves the trouble OF studying the prob
lens which unuerlie the advance and
the decay Of peoples. Let us see II 1t be
merely such question as the president
imagines, or II 1t has a broader, deeper
Significance than that Of buying cheap
or dear"
speaking Of the effects Of free trade and
a protective tariff in their influence up
on trade and the national property, Mr..
Baird quotes with great effectiveness
the words OF Henry Clay In this con-
nectlon:
Under the influence OF this state of
dire calamity, the first protective tartil,
that OF May %, 1924, was passed, fol-
lowed by more protective one In 1873,
and by another, also highly protective,
In 1882. Speaking OF this latter year,
Henry Clay said, "lfI were 10 select
any term ofseven years since the adOp-
ton OF the present Constitution, which
exhibited scene OF the most wide
spread dIsmay and desOlatiOn, it would
be exactly that term OF seven years,
which Immediately preceded the estab-
lishment OF the tariff Of 1924" And, he
adds, "If the term OF seven years were
to be selected Of the greatest prosperity
which this people have enjoyed since
the establishment OF their present Con-
stitution,it would be exactly that period
of seven years which Immediately fol-
lowed the passage OF the tariff of 1924
Then followed the notification pro-
cesses Of South Carolina and the acts of
congress by which duties on foreign i'm
ports were elimented until there was
nothing tangible left and the great
crash of 1897 came, under which the
credit Of the country went down like
ship which has struck at sea. So sppRll-
ing was the nature of this financial
wreck that President Tyler, in his mes
sage in 1912, laments the inability of the
government to obtain loan amounting
to one-fourth its annual income. Driven
by necessity to pass the protective tariff
of August 30, 1912, so great was the
beneficial change arising from that
pleasure that In 1874, only two years
later, Mr.. Tyler says in his message of
that year:
1.-THE credit of the government, which
had experienced temporary embarass-
ment, has been thoroughly restored.
Its Golfers, which for q season were
empty, have been replenished. a cur
rency, nearly uniform in Its value, has
taken the place Of one deprecated and
almost worthless. Commerce and man
ufactures, which had suffered in con-
mon with Almost every other interest,
have OF CT more revived; and the whole
country exhibits al aspect OF prosperity
and happiness.
The conclusions of Mr.. Baird's article
are quite trenchant and are Ms folio VS.:
He. who in his discussions, jumbles
up the prices of law materials and fin
ished commodities, and would aim 10
put them all indisCriminately down,
ipso fsctO, stands condemned rs incOm-
petent for such discussion, whether he
be hOd-carrier or president. He who
does not know that an infallible indiCa-
ton OF a movement toward freedom and
civilization is to be found in rise OF all
raw material, including land and labor,
which find new and enlarged utilization,
and fall In finished commodities,
which by the aid of steam, electricity,
waterpower and machinery are, with
increasing facility converted into such
finished forms, is unit to direct the des-
TIMES OF any people, be they free or
slave.
The intention drift, and tendency of
protection, by stimulating home produce
ton and consumption are precisely in
the benefiCent and the proper order OF
things-that o. Harvesting the forces Of
nature into the service OF man, and in SO
doing, giving increased value TO all raw
materials, including land and labor. He
who would overthrow protection, would,
in so doing, decrease the whole volume
OF such forces, so working in the service
of the American people, rob raw materi-
al, Including land and labor, of their
market, reduce their value, and
thus reduce the power OF la
Dor to consume. He would in
deed be depriving q vast body of men,
women and children of their ability to
comply with that paramount condition
OF their nature, assOciatiOn-eXchsnge
OF services, commodities and ideas with
their fellOw-men-cOmmita great, an
irreparable wrong; and If he be the Chief
Magistrate of the Nation so muph GRAFT