The Republican journal., 1890-01-09
Blaine and Gladstone.

TORY. EXPERIENCE AND NOT THEORY BEST
TEST OF THE QUESTION.
| The New York Tribune printed Dee" 81
| copous extracts from the very notable discus
| sion of Mr.. Gladstone and Mr.. Blaine on "Free
Trade or Protection" which fills a page, of
the North American Review for january. The
following excerpts will convey some idea OF
the scope and briIliancy of what the Review
aptly calls "a duel" Mr.. Gladstone, who orens
the duel, says: "But in America besides the
jealously pasaded field of dear production
there Is vast open eXpan~e of cheap produc-
ton, namely, in the whole mass, to speak
roughly, OF the agricultural products Of the
country. not to mention such @iit> Of the earth
as its mineral oils In raising :hrSe the Amer
lean capitalist will fud the demand of the
world uneXhau>ted. however he may increase
the supply. Why, then, is he to carry hi~ cap
ltal abroad when there is profitable employ
ment Tor It at home. II protection il necessary
to keep American capital at home. why is not
the vast capital now sustaining your domestic
agriculture and raising commodities for Slic at
free trade prices exported to other countries? !?
Or. conversely, since vast capitals tnd an uu-
limited field for employment in cheap domestic
production without protection, it is demon
strated that protection is not required in order
TO keep your capital at home. Let me assume
for the purpose Of trying the issue. that one
nan Mlait ol the >aiahle prn"ucls OF ihe tnlted
3 ,.a1eH are aS'leuiluraI anu "ht-hail mah'iiat-
'uieu' ' a"u 'u"t th" manu- ulHr'urta hnlcty are
covered by protection. while the agricultural
half, since they are articles of large export,
bear only such price as is assigned TO them
by foreign competition in the market where
.neS are Solu: l lahe th'T r"u5h e>i}ihate tor
the sake of simplicity, AMI in the same view [
oVei'oGk the lact mat the sugar Which YOU
gro" Is sun covered as IL used to be covered.
oy ah operative nFutectoh One hail, then. OF
American iaoor Enjoys protective WAGES. the
otheF hail oi tile products % the nitei states
: FURNISHED ny mere free trade loiler>."
Now want 10 ASK Whether inc wages OF the
aSrlculluTai nan are raised by the existence Of
protectNe laws Whlch cover the artisan hali.
ms you cannot possibly affirm, because it j.
an elementary tact that given the quantity Of
iapor IN the market they are governed by the
prices OF the commodities they produce. and
that 1hose prices are tree trade prices. You
nave iree trade tOllers" all over Your coun-
Try, ana ny their SIDE You nave protected art-
sans. ask tnen next tins question: l. tDr re-
muneralon of the free trade to'itr>." all
things taken into account. equivalent To that Of
the protected artisans: Ii it is not. why do
not the agricultural men pass over into the
provinces of demand for manufacturing and
mining labor. and by augmentng the >upulN
reduce and equalize the rate: " hich is ike
asking. how comes it that Il man is content with
one loaf when two are offered him: The
answer would be, he is not content When
ever he can he takes the two and IraycS
the one 1t follows that in this case ther, e.
lists no excess of wage tor him to APPROPRIATE
The youth of America was. t>ptriaIiy in New
England, a youth not of luxury. hut of ditlj-
Guilty. Nature dealt >omeN hat >ternly with
your ancestors, and to their great ADVANTAGE.