The Daily times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1886-1889, 1888-02-10
COMMERCE AND MASrfAcruEhs.

country that involves opposition TO The
narrow minded Idea Of protection, tnete
IS heard from certain quarters the doc
tfine that the United States is a manuiac-
tirlng country, and therefore lines of
legislation that tend IN develop COM
meYce are antagonistic 10 Ii true under
standing of our national interest. or
course this argues well with the theory
OF a home market controlled and held by
domestic manufacturers, for the less COM
MERGE we have the more ironclad would
be the monopolisls' grip on the market,
and the heavier the tribute they could lay
on the people in the form of high aril-
fcial prices for the necessary articles OF
life used By our whole population.
But no better text could be- cited with
which to confound the idea of opposi'
ton between manufactures and com
merce than Is found in the example OF En-
gland, which at the same time IS the
greatest manufacturing and the greatest
commercial nation Of the world
II IL true that England protected her
home products when her manufacture
were in their infancy but having long
since passed the period OF infancy, and
even that of adolescence, the American
manufacturing interests stand fully
grown like giants, hu, giants bloaied with
over feeding, instead of growing
bigger In contests where honor
and profit are 10 be earned. If this
false idea Of supporting our manuiac-
turers on The home market manipulated
in their interest were broken up, then The
proper relation between manufactures
and commerce would be established.
America would make articles for the
whole world with materials gotten from
the whole world, and commerce would
grow in proportion as the medium for
the exchange of foreign material for our
own manufactures, and vice versa.
Until we attain hat condition we will
still be the victims of the one'sided view
of double acting principle. The TIMES
does not propose to follow any one-horse
theories that have obtained a certain
popularity by habit not Ivy merit And
We shall endeayog TO explain in simple
terms oil such mistakes or rather frauds
as the one described above.
When set of men WHO have pOliti-
cal and newspaper organs educate mo
people to false ideas Of political ecouomy,
the way 10 answer This is 10 call atten-
ton TO the fundamental principles Now,
one of the familiar illustrations of this
fallacy of an opposition between manu-
featuring and commerce NAV be found In
this simple proposition The primitive
man made his hut, bis boat, his net. He
caught his fish and dried them Tor the
winter planted his corn, gathered 1t,
and cracked 1t into something like meal
The civilized man after long ages
learned the principle of the division of
labor, and perfected its application until
ct last the men who were fitted for the
different works confined Themselves 10
their respective branches of industry
The result is that the better this has
been understood the better the organiza-
ton of society under law, until al last
the fishermen who braves the storm OH
the banks Of New Foundland is virtually
working for the man who Is blowing the
fields OF Iowa and the one who IL build.
ing a ship on the Clyde, for each in com
merce needs the other and as the
division OF labor widens and expands In
manufacture commerce develops 10 an
swer the expansion of demand for ma.
terisl and the increase OF supply for the
product
Upon that simple and practical formula
We have been developing, but ii is a.
plain rs daylight that il is not reasonable
according to that 10 assert that there is
the slightest antagonism between manu-
features and commerce.
The pretended antagonism is in the
minds of those who oppose the CONNER
cial interchange with all countries, sub
1ect only 10 such tax as trade
should pay to support government.
They tax commerce and manufac-
lures both exorbitantly and assert
false theory that foreign goods
should be taxed TO keep them ont, and
foreign raw material taxed to keep 1t out
In order that We may narrow our deyel-
opment 10 our own country instead Of
giving 1t all the scope of which it is
capable