Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1890-04-10
WHY ENGLAND HAS FREE-TRApE.
What She Is Doing to Get the American
Market

The only example of so called Free
trade today among the civilized people
of the earth is England, and moment
of reflection gives abundant reason why
she adopted the plan.
Her climate is uniform; her latitude is
limited, while mountains and forests are
comparatively unknown.
In 1881 the population of England,
Scotland and Ireland combined was
81, ,246, ,633, and their whole area only
121, 1,571 square miles, an average popula-
tion of 290 to the square mile, while our
population averages but fourteen to the
square mile.
England cannot be independent except
by importing from abroad. There with
in the narrow limits of her island home,
teeming with humanity and factories
and little else, she is driven by force of
necessity to manufacturing more than
her own people consume, that she may
have something with which to buy food
for her people.
She imports nothing, comparatively,
that could be supplied in sufficient guam
titles at home. She has no broad fields
on which may grow sufficient wheat
and corn, and cattle and hogs; where
may grow the cotton, rye, barley and
oats necessary to supply her population.
The most of these articles she must
buy abroad.
Her imports average about two bill
ions of dollars per year, while we, with
nearly double her population, import
but about seven hundred and fifty mill
ions per year.
Upon the eight hundred millions Of
dollars in value she imports for food
annually, and six hundred and fifty mill
ions of raw material for her factories,
she levies no import duties, because she
cannot produce them herself, and they
do not compete with or break down
home industries.
To buy her food and raw materials
where she can buy them the cheapest,
and to find a dumping ground for the
product of her pauper labor, is her chief
solicitude.
To our own fair land she looks with
longing eyes. She sees our millions Of
happy homes spread out upon our mill
ions of square miles, our mighty possi-
bilities, our purchasing power, our cot
tages of labOring men with carpeted
floors and pictured walls, tables with
food, and wives at home instead of the
factory or in the mine, and children at
school instead Of labor.
She waits for the day when our labor
ing men shall be forced to compete with
hers in wages or find other employment,
for the day when she can make the
United States her marketing place for
manufactured articles; and to such an
end she spends her money in educating
the sentiment of our people.
To that end the English Golden club
was formed, composed of most of the
members of the British parliament, En-
glish cabinet ministers, British manufac-
turers and Free-traders in this country.
To that end their millions of Free-trade
pamphlets are circulated here. Prize es-
says on Free trade at Oxford and Cam
bridge universities in England are dis
tributed here in any manner so that they
may reach our people and be read by
them.
Free trade may or may not be wise
policy for England, but it would be dis
astrous, if not death, to our diversified
industries.
To England we are pointed as the only
example of Free-trade to be found among
the civilized nations.
The experience of the world has DEM
onstrated its folly in other nations, and
benefiting by that experience they have
all of them protective tariffs, protecting
their people and their industries. Dur
ing the last few years many of them have
been increasing their tariff rates upon
imports to give even greater Protection
than they enjoyed before.
France and Germany, after suffering
the blighting effects of Free-trade for
many years, have gone back to Protec-
ton, and even the agricultural industries
of England are clamoring for it.
In the face of history, against all the
experience of the centuries in the old
world, counter to the admonition of all
our greatest statesmen from Washington
down to, but not including Grover Cleve-
land, in the light of our most wonderful
progress under Protection, blinded to all
of these, the wiseacres of the Democratic
party would now plunge this nation into
a cesSpool of Industrial stagnation and
cover it with the slime of Free-trade,
sinking with age and abandonment.