The News-Herald. [volume] (Hillsboro, Highland Co., Ohio) 1886-1973, 1891-09-17
It is tn. 1ns.inc. Of self-Pres.rvation.

30 many of your correspondents nave
declared themselves to be ''protectionists
because they are Americans" that one
might suppose protection to be u duty
(or, impost) inherent in the American
citizen by birthright. But | take leave
to remind your readers that protection,
80 far from being peculiarly American,
is world wide and world old. W
Self-lnterest was invented soon after
Adam lost o rib. Protection is the
guarding of self-interest-th self-inter--
est of an, individual, the self-interest OF
o family, of community, of a nation.
All nations, as we'll as individuals,
make their own self-interest their pri-
mary object and chief care. This is the
instinct of self-preservation. And that
is protection.
Now, since the people of different ma
tions trade with one another, the laws
of each nation are framed to protect and
prosper its own people in the inter-
national traffic. And most of the nations
of the world have adopted, just as this
nation has, the practice of raising the
public revenues by levying taxes on such
imported foreign goods as compete with
goods that are produced or might be pro-
duced at home.
That, then, as a fiscal policy and q
principle of political economy, is pro-
lection. That is the doctrine of the Re-
publican party in America. The doc
trine implies that imported necessaries
and comforts of life not producible in
this country are to be admitted free and
that all other foreign goods are to be
taxed high enough to yield the Govern
ment's revenue, and at the same time to
put the domestic producer on a footing
to compete in the home market with the
foreign producer.
So, protection is a check on competi-
ton. Yet it is said that competition is
the life of trade. Yes-when the COM
petitors come into the market with no
advantages over one another. But,
when one competitor may avail himself
of overgrown capital and cheap labor,
he is apt to make competition the death
of trade for all who oppose him with
scarce capital and high priced labor.
Labor-as it is the, chief element value
in all commodities-labor is the keynote
Of protection in America. A much
higher wage is paid to the laborer here
than in any of the foreign countries that
fetch goods to our market. To pur-
chase their goods without duties is to
employ their laborers at low wages and
any wages. In other words, it is prefer
the foreign workman to the American
workman because we can get him
cheaper. That is, free trade, is free COM
petition to the cheapened labor Of all
the world with the labor of our own
people. But drop that line Of thought.
1t is familiar to your readers. (The talk
on tariff is long, long talk.).
The difference between protection and
what is called free trade (there is no
such thing) is well illustrated in the re-
cent attitude Of this county toward.
sugar and tin. We gave sugar fair
trial with protection. It would not go.
A small strip of land by the gulf conld
not supply our people with sugar. But
sugar is necessary to all the people. So
we have struck off the duty, and the
people get their sugar free-twenty
pounds for 81.
But we have been paying some $50, ,000,-
900 year abroad for tin. 1t is thought
that we have the tin in this country for
the manufacture Of our tinware. Yet
foreigners, with established plants, ac-
cuInulated capital, and cheap labor,
have had the market. We have applied
protection, and propose to save the man
ufacture of tin for our own workmen
and the $50, 0,0OO, ,OOO year for our own
people. It already looks like go, and
promises results as gratifying as those
recounted by your correspondent, Mr..
Richard Smith, of the experiment with
steel and paper.
have mentioned that there is no such
thing as free trade. One party proposes
to raise the Governments revenues by
protection, as have defined it, and the
other party proposes to raise them by the
British method-that is, by levying
duties on such imported goods as will
yield the greatest revenues without pro-
lection; to-wit, the goods not producible
at home but necessary to all the people,
rich and poor alike, such as coffee, tea
and sugar. Both parties are agreed that
we must derive the public revenues
mainly from duties on imports. l go
with the party of protectionists because
what our own labor can not produce
want free, and what our own labor can
produce Ilwant SO taxed against the for
eigner that American labor can make an
American living in producing it.
COATES KINNEY.
n,1,J To Ont nf CirCuIat;ou