New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1889-05-20

UoREERS EDUCATING THE PEOPLE.
Free-Trade clubs will soon BIO in operation
in every county, says an organ OF that la'tn'
Nhot arc the ProtectionistS doing? Cheapen-
ING products, supplying American wants at
Io,yar cost. extending industries erecting new
mills and opening new mines which increase
the demand for labor. Results are their reply
to free-trade sOphistrieS, and at present results
have the best Of it. The work OF educating
and informing the people ought not to be and
is not entirely neglected. But whether by de-
sign or without any, the ProtcctiOnstS answer
all hostile theories much more effectively by
the visible and tangible progress Of industries
than in any other way.
The tremendous effectiveness Of this kind OF
reply the Free Traders did not appreciate until
the results Of the last election came in. Per
haps even then the full extent of tho change
wrought in public opinion was not generally
appreciated When the Rebellion began the
country had been governed so long by Free
Traders and their theories that there were com
paratively few who had any definite compre-
hension Of the benefits OF protection. AT the
South only prO-Slavery and free-trade Dcmoc-
racy had been allowed to influence public Opn-
ion. At the North the teachers and textbooks
and all the educational influences OF the col
legeS had been borrowed from England, and
for years had been on the same side. with near
" all the widely circulated newspapers pub
lishcd at the chief centres Of trade. 1t is not
strange that, under such circumstances, the
Young men Of the Nation, and especially most
Of those who had been fitted for public intu-
- ~ a
probation Of protection.
There is no diSposit ton TO belittle the patient
and self-sacrifcing lubors of many earnest men
who have worked nightly within the last
thirty years TO bring about change in public
opinion. Able journals have educated many
statesmen Of power have done what they could
millions Of documents, speeches and tracts have
been circulated. But incomparably the greater
part Of the work Of education has been done
all unc0nsciousy by the grimy handed work
men themselves who roll the iron or Smelt the
ore by those who have been weaving cloth,
and by others in countless other ways Illus
trating every day what marvellous progress is
possible for we'll protected industry. Every
furnace has poured out ideas with the motion
metal. Every mill has drowned host OF
sophistrics with the rattle and roar of its ma
chinery. Every yard of cloth, every pair Of
shoes every glass tunlbler, every plate or knife,
axe or saw has gone ont into the world an
apostle of protection, teaching BUYERS and user
that protected industries secure cheaper good
to consumers at the same time that they giVo
higher wages to workers.
The power Of this practical demonstration
has been incaculable. In every county, every
town, every village, where manufacturing
establishments have grown up, the minds OF
men have been opened 10 comprehend the pro
tectiye system. 1t has educated by what II has
done. The facts Of industrial progress have
convinced thousands. where the reasoning. oi
the best minds have reached units. Wherever
new works have been established under the
stimulus II protection property has risen in
value. and every owner has realized the bone.
fits Farmers for many miles around have
found new demand for their products, md
their farms have become more valuable Labor
has found new opportunities, and wages have
improved These things have been going on
for more than twenty years since the Civil
War constantly and IN every part Of the coun-
try. This is the cause Of revolution in public
Opinion which seems 10 Free Traders 50 IN
credible that. even after Mr. Clcvcands defeat
was known they went on trying 10 persuade
themselves that in some inComprchcnsihle way
the tariff question had nothing to do with it,
While the development and Investigation
OF industry go on, all the arguments Of all the
Free. Trade clubs, though there were one III
every school district, would be Of no avail 4"
reverse the tide Of opinion. Americans have
begun to Judge the tariff by its general re-
suits and like them.