The advocate., 1890-06-11

terests viii lie In the direction Of pro-
tection In the United States, and the
formation Of importers trusts win be q
matter comparatively easy
so far as tho condition Is concerned,
which Ex-Presldent Cleveland said was
confronting the American people, hia
"tteOry' would only aggmvale and in-
tehsify such condition, Instead Of olim-
mating Il. AS the tariff was lowered the
importation Of foreign merchandise
would Increase In moro than CORES
pOndlng ratio, 30 that there would be
more duties (iGrcs) collected from the
American people under low tariff than
under a high one. n under the present
tariff the people pay duties Of more than
62OO,0OO,OOO, what amount would they
pay II the tariff was considerably lOW0rf
Now let ua briefly consider the theory
OF protection or the pr0tecttUe tariff, No
sane man will contend that protection
has anything 20 do with the loGgea OF
labor employed In the protected indua'
tries. The large and steady Influx OF
skilled aud unslIilled labor from foreign
countries must ever have the tendency
70 keep the wages Of American labor
down % the minimum or the "bdB Htb-
sistence" level. But II the respective
policies OF protection and free trade do
not involve the alternative Of high OK low
wages, such policies do Involve pOsaiblll.
Ties OF vastly moro Importance, 70 Witi
Employment or unemployment WORK
OR NO WORK. Every d0llRr'a worth or
such foreign goods aud merchandise Ina
ported as we ourselves produce or manu-
iaCture, deprlvea the American manu-
fRcturer OF Just that much OF his home
market, aud 10 that extent dlsplacea
American labor with that OF other lands,
The trust was organized 10 control prices
by regulating the output, and such Out.
put or production 10 limited by the shut
ting down OF factories, running upon
half time and the wholesale discharge Oi
American workmen. An importation Of
foreign goods 10 equivalent 10 an Increased
| production Of American factories, With
out a corresponding Increase I'm domestic
demand. This calls for decreased pro
duction by American factories and fur
ther discharge of American wOrkmenl
who thus form an addition 10 the vast
army OF nON-cORSuBlipg, Idle men. So
that the exchange of American wheat
and corn for such merchandise aa we
ourselves, produce IL simply an exchange
Of domestic customer for foreign one.
What seems 10 be the proper course
indicated2 First; destroy the trust DI
combine by stringent laws and o peFgecl
system Of aOcumulatlve taxation. Second
admit, duty free, all such articles az we,
ourselves, cannot produce, or produce IN
entirely inadequate quantities; su0h a.
coffee, tea spices, tropical fruits, w01I Qg
certain grades and raw sugar As 20 the
last item II may be stated that In 1885
the American people paid a tax OF g56,.
100000 upon six-sevenths OF the sugar
consumed, while One-seventh was pro,
duced by Louisiana planters. Expert
ments in beet and sorghum sugar pro
duction, with a view OF supplying
Go, 100000 people with sugar, are handy
worthy Of the burden Of a tax Of 958,-
OOO,OOO. As for the Louisiana plantera
/ have before me a pamphlet Issued by 4
real estate firm In Iberia parish, LOuisl-
any, In which elaborate figures are given
10 prove that Mt the present priees f0s
sugar, man can pay for sugar plania.
ton with two or three crops,
Having thus adjusted the free lSst, II
would seem as II an absolutely prOASbi.
'tiUe tariff should be placed upon such
merchandise and products as we produce
or manufacture ourselves In abundant
quantity, and Of unrlvaled quality. This
would secure for the American labOrer
the absolute control Of market Of Co.
100000 consumers for the products d
his toll, and would not prevent the