Delaware gazette and state journal. (Wilmington, Del.) 1883-1902, 1890-11-20

Ex-Consul Hale Talks of What He Saw
and Heard in England.


and Heard in England.
New York Times.
Mr.. E. j. Hale, ex-consul of the
United States at Manchester, England,
has recently returned to America after a
residence of 81 years in Manchester. In
that time he was brought into contact
with all classes of Englishmen and
made close study of the British people
and the trade relations existing between
the United States and Great Britain.
The result is that Mr.. Hale is a com
firmed free trader, and is convinced
that a high protective tariff for the
United States is the worst thing that
can happen to this country.
Mr.. Hale said yesterday to reporter
for the Times that he was much sur
prised when he went to England to
find that the British manufacturers
favored the adoption of high protee-
tive tariff in the United States. When
he asked of Sir Joseph G. Lea an ex-
PLANTATION of this fact, that gentleman
replied that high protective tariff in
the United States simply released to the
manufacturers Of Great Britain all the
neutral markets of the world. This was
q sufficient reason for the British manu-
facturers to desire a continuation of the
high protective tariff policy in the United
States
During his stay England Mr.. Hale
made study Of the Lancashire mills and
also went to India to see how the abso-
Lutte free trade relations between Eng
land and India operated. He found
Lancashire machinery imported into
India without any form of tariff, and as
. consequence the manufacture of In
dian raw material in India was going
by leaps and bounds to prosperity A
parallel was found by Mr.. Hale in the
trade relations existing between New
England and the Southern States. The
development and prosperity of the
Southern States and of India required
no barrier of protective tariff, nor could
Mr.. Hale see why like conditions of
trade should not inure to the mutual
advantage of foreign countries as well
as to different sections Of the same
country.
SNOW, as to the trade relations exist
ing between England and the United
States" said Mr.. Hale, there is no doubt
that the greatest market in the world for
our food products is the English market.
Does it not stand to reason that the
more of her products England sells to US
the more money she will have to pay fol-
our products? In the trade of the world
1t is not gold, but the products of coun-
tries, that are interchanged. The Amer,
lean people lose in the English markets
Just so far as the trade between the two
countries Is restricted, The United States
buys in the dearest markets of the world
and sells In the cheapest, and its people
consequently suffer That is, the masses
of the people suffer for the benefit of q
privileged class.
"The trouble with the American
people heretofore is that they have no
understood the meaning of the tariff
They are learning what it means nov
by object lessons under the Mckinley
Tariff bill. They are discovering tina
it costs more to live, that the necessitie
of life are taxed, and that they are no
benefited directly or indirectly by sucf
taxation They are beginning to thinl
about this matter, and as they thinl
their eyes are opening to the disadvan
tages under which they live. The man
ufacturer is protected by the Mckinley
bill at the expense of the consumer,
"Let us suppose that all foreign-mad,
clothing material is shut out from Amer
lean markets. lin that case would tn,
manufacturers share the advantages o
their protection with the consumers
Not at all. They would only use thei
advantage to grind the consumer int,
greater poverty That is just what the,
have done all along and that is wha
they will continue to do so long as the,
are protected, and Just in that proper
ton that they are protected.
II had often wondered why clothin
materials manufactured in America wer
not equal in quality and durability t
those manufactured abroad, until til
cause was explained to me by English
men. Under high protective tariff tn
manufacturer can be careless in manu-
featuring because he knows that he ca
always sell poor and shoddy clothing
and as long as he is assured of this
will refuse to make better clothing.
he were forced into competition with th
rest of the world he would manufactuf
good clothing and the consumer woul
be benefited.
ave have heard a great deal at var
Gus times about the terrible condition {
wage earners and mill operatives !
England, and these alleged hardship
have been attributed to the free trad
policy of Great Britain. This is a
nonsense. AS matter of fact, opert
tives in free trade England earn bette
wages and work a less number Of houl
than do the workmen in German,
Austria, or France, all of which al
protected countries. Let us take fl
example the Consular district Of MAJ
chester In this district are 100000
people and they are the best-clothe
and the happiest people ever say
They worked shorter hours, have mo
holidays, undergo less deprivation, an
suffer less distress than any other PEE
pie. Every man Of them lives in h
own little house and has his own fir
side, There is no community
America that can compare to this in Il
comfort and happiness Of its people,
.aS.."Ail the laws of England tend iowa
the protection of tine wage Garner rath
than the capitalist, and the consequen
is that the English lahoring people a
the best kept and the most satisfied
any of the world, and that in spite
an inherited aristocracy."