New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1888-10-05
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THE LOGIC OF PROTECTION.
FREE TRADE MEANS A UNIVERSAL AND
PITIIESS STRUGGLE FOR EXISTENCE.
BY EMIL sCHALK.
III.

PITI.ESS STRUGGLE FOR EXISTENCE.
1t must have occurred TO every thinking man
that the question of free trade and protection will
not be settled by clap-trap phrases, like buying
in the cheapest and selling in the dearest market;
nor will it be advanced by the cheap coat argu-
ment, because cheapness is only a relative quality,
and as such is not essential The essential point
is the possibility of living, Of earning living;
that includes the coat, be that coat dear cheap
The problem recalls the phenomena OF evolution
in the organic kdngdoms-the struggle for exist
ence and the survival Of the ittest,' as Herbert
Spencer calls il, or of natural selection as
Darwin has styled it, Nothing says Darwin,
is easier than TO admit in words the truth OF
the universal struggle for life, or more difficult
than constantly to bear this conclusion in mind
And it is Just this conclusion which he who wishes
to decide between free trade and protection needs
to keep constantly in mind; for these are the OPP
posites in the struggle for life 1t is to be or
not to be- to the vanquished it is extinction, 70
the successful, progress and advance in civiliza-
ton.
In the artificial state in which man is placed by
civilization, his success depends upon bis ability.
or rather fitness, to earn his living. The general
influence of the laws which man enacts, OF the
kind Of artificial state he creates for himself, may
be easily traced through history. The iron laws
of Sparta made that petty kingdom for centuries
the arbiter of Greece just as the strict military
laws of Prussia raised her from a kingdom OF
moderate size to the first power in Europe. Tho
Roman law Of debt, making the debtor in default
the slave Of his creditor. changed in few CEN
turies the social aspect of Rome and Italy, and the
enactments of the Koran have prevented progress
for centuries among Eastern nations. Judging
have had in the past on the destines Of nations,
we may well conclude that the enactment Of eco
nomic laws which affect the possibility of living
and of obtaining the necessaries Of life by all the
members Of nation, is of paramount importance
to the destiny of that nation, to its progress in
civilization and to the life and happiness Of its
members.
In this artificial state of man the struggle for
life goes on between members of the same nation
when under protection. Under free trade, the
contrary, the struggle is enlarged; competition
with individuals of other nations is added. IL
the competition within q nation is intense, the
added competition from without must crowd down
many individuals. This happens constantly in
free-trade countries. Whatever be the manu-
featuring superiority of country, there will al
ways be found some other country which excels it
in some special line. Free-trade England is learn
ing that lesson. Indian and American wheat,
American -four, South American beef Australian
wool, Belgian rails and arms German sugar and
chemicals French woollens and Silks and Swiss
watches make heavy inroads upon English prod
ucts of these kinds and deprive many an English
man of the chance of earning his living
In our present state of civilization the question
involved in the struggle for existence is not one
Of mere food supply There is supply of food
and fuel and clothing in all civilized countries
beyond the immediate wants Of their inhabitants.
Yet there are constantly cases of death from
starvation from cold or from want. The hungry
and shvering wretch who stands in front of the
bakers shop with its display of bread for hundreds
of people, derives but little consolation from the
sight of so much food il he has not money enough
10 buy single roll The question is how to give
each man chance to earn living and there
is the difficulty Population increases from day
to day Steam engines, water wheels, windmllls
are built replacing manual labor in many occl-
nations There is no end of inventions in labor
saving machinery. Everything tends to increase
production without the necessity of employing
more labor or without materially increasing con-
SUMPTION except rs new wants spring up. Thus
it happens that while surplus supply in the nat
ural state means opuence for all, in the civilized
state it may mean starvation to many. when il
means SURPLUS labor For that in turn means low
wages or no wages at all, and consequently suffer-
ing and misery among those who are obliged to
work for a living
EMIL SCHALK