Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1889-01-09
SCIENTIFIC POLITICS.
Protection and Free Trade Discussed
by AnthrOpOlogists.

by AnthrOpOlogists.
PROF. LESTER A. WARDS ABLE PAPER-PRoTEc-
TON DEFENDED on THEORETICAL GROUNDS
PRESIDENT wELLISG's ExcEPTIoNs-PRorEc-
| TIVE TARIFF A BLOCKADE
Scientific politics reiened at the meeting of
the Anthropological society last evening
which was attended by a large number of visi-
| tors with taste for economics. who were
curious to see how political subject would be
| treated uuder such circumstances The paper
of the evening was by Prof. Lester F. Ward
on the subject of The Sociological position of
Protection and Free Trade" He began with
the proposition that if there is such thing as
! a social science there is no social movement
| whatever that cannot be traced to one of the
! fundaments of that science. Il is evident he
said, that there must be some strong under
currents in society tending to form the condi-
| tions known protection" and ''free trade"
and, assuming that the science of sociology is a
| true science. it follows that those conditions
| are its result. The speaker said that he would
| devote more attention to protection, for it was
| more complex and less understood than free
| trade. He defined protective tariff as a
means adopted to encourage activities that are
] supposed to be beneficial to society. 1t is al
| most universally acknowledged that in theory
the doctrine of free trade is invincible, but the
| questions that were advanced were. Cannot
| protection be defended upon theoretical
! grounds" and lis it not based on as firm
economic principles" Free traders claim that
| their theory is cosmopolitan and charge the
prOtectionists with benefting their own
| country at the expense of others, policy that
| they decry as barbarous. The chief flaw pre-
sented by free trade to students is the great
redundancy of transportation involved in its
| operations, raw materials being carried from
producing country he To ha
manufactured, and then back again to be sold.
IN THE ELECTION.
Prof. Ward referred to the late presidential
| election, and remarked that in every state but
two where these theories were opposed as the
| issue of the campaign the decision was in favor
of protection. Subsidies, bounties. and pro-
| tective duties are acts of essentially the same
nature, being similar to the prizes offered to
the inventor OF the best fre-escape or the dis
| covery of remedy for yellow fever. They
are inducements to individual members of
| society to exertions that are beneficial to
society at large, and are specimen acts of what
is termed attractive legislation" as opposed
| to mandatory legislation" The former is
| more just. more wise, more efficient. and more
easily enforced. There is no social impulse
essentially bad civilization depends entirely
| upon the natural forces. including social
forces, and their direction into useful channels
IMPosT TAXES.
The old system of impost taxes upon articles
in transit across a country, as a means of rails
ing revenue, was bad in principle, and led to
| the theory of ldissez fare which is the cry of
the free-trader and individualist. Free trade is
but one of the applications of this economic
| principle OF ldlssez fare. 1t may be asked if
there really is any such thing as free compe-
tltion, for competition necessitates friction. i'm
pedlments, and finally reorganization into mo-
nopolies. 1t requires an intelligent interfer-
ence to so regulate competition to prevent
| this result. Free trade produces directly the
friction OF competition, for the unrestricted
traffic of the world would tend to- the creation
of vast productive centers, which would in
effect be great trusts. Prof Ward quoted sew
eral examples OF the fall in prices and the rise
| IN wages in a number of industries during the
past thirty years, which he characterized as di-
| rect results Of the operation of protective
tariffs. Protection and free trade, he said. are
not antithetical terms. From the sociological
standpoint free trade represents the untamed
forces of nature, which naturally seem hostile
to civilization, while protection tends to slim
ulate the energies of men and to raise their
civilization.
PRESIDENT wELLING's REMARKS.
The very decided views of Prof. Ward re-
ceived hearty applause and, when silence
came again, DR.. j. C. yelling arose and said
that Mr.. Ward had asked him to be present at
the meeting. He had listened to the arguments,
which he had never heard before with great
interest He thought the references to the
late presidential election out of place. They
were also hostile to Prof Wards argument for
the popular vote of the country showed great
preponderance of sentiment toward free trade
Free trade, he said, has become organic in our
politics, and can never be got out without
changing our constitutional principles With
the great variety of production it would be
as wise to stimulate production in Maine as
against production in California, as to stimu-
late New York as against Canada The pro-
lection enacted in the United States from time
to time Is infinitesimal, and. as theoretical
free-trader the speaker said that there has
never been protective policy in this country
that has ever made ripple on the atmosphere
of free trade that surrounds us. The small
amount of protectiOn-a tassel on the border
OF the country-is lost in the great mass of free
trade going on between this and other nations.
The dislodgment of old economic institutions
is difficult task, but
THE SLAVERY OF LABOR
was at last uprooted, as, prophesied DIR.
Yelling, will also be the system of restrictions
upon the free trade of the world, for the drift
of ages has been toward the removal of all
restrictions. Protection expedites the diver
slhcation of labor, to be sure, but at the ex-
pense of the aggregate production. Bounties
and other acts OF attractive legislation may be
compared with blockade. which stimulates
inventive energy and diversiies the labor of
individuals, but with a constantly decreasing
amount of production. A perfect protective
tariff is perfect blockade
Other speakers expressed their views on the
subject Prof. Dodge the statistician of the
agricultural department, was called upon, but
begged of. after giving the impression that he
believed with Prof. Ward. One gentleman re-
marked that free trade was a beautiful theory,
theory fit only for the contemplation and
needs of angels, but it will not work except in
heaven. As we are not yet angels, he con-
tlnued 1t certainly seems wise to wait until we
have reached heaven and adopted angelic
characters before we put the theory into prac-
tice, before we try to get everything for moth