Sturgis advertiser. (Sturgis, Dakota [S.D.]) 1887-1???, 1891-03-12
FREE TRADE I lARIFF.
CALL THINGS BY THEIR RIGHT
NAMES.

z
NAMES.
writer's and speakers should show The
Differences Eetween Free Trade and y
Free-Trate Tariff-Free Trade i Mis-
i sloansr Call ii by Its Right Name, aud
There VIII Re No tlodeing.
Mr.. David Hall Rice Of Boston says
that when the present Democratic Gov
srnor of Massachusetts,, VIM. =. Russc:k
opened his campaign last October, which
resulted In his election, he set his key
note in the following statement:
The Democratic party makes no de-
mand, nor has it ever made any. for
free trade "She raises no
issue as between protection and free
trade, makes no war on q proper, inst
and moderate tariff taxation made in the
interests, not of class, but Of the whole
people.
Then under this pretcatious declaia-
ton he PROCEEDED to advocate tariffs that
were nothing more nor less than free
trade tariffs, and which had every vest
lge of protection eliminated from them,
from ono end of Massachusetts, to the
other. BY these articles he captured
the votes Of men by thousands who won d
never, knowingly, cast their ballots
against protection and for the British
system.
At the same time Roger G. Mills q
Texas was carrying on his campaign
among the farmers OF the West, declar-
Ing boldly for "free trade" as the true
Democratic principle for which they
should vote in oder to abolish all tariff
taxatioa, and procure oil their purchased
necessities cheaper than now. He cap
tured many votes on that preteXt, al
though he knows very well that what the
Democratic party designs, when Il
reaches the power, is to abolish not one
whit more of tariff taxation than thu
Republican party, but to put it on il
another place.. c., upon the commodi
ties which the masses Of the people
must purchase from foreign countries
because we cannot economically produc,
them here.
In other words, he aims at the sam,
system of tariff taxation as Gov Rms
sell, of Massachusetts,, which impose
It's chief burden upon the earnings o
the people, and allows capital to escap
without paying its fair proportion.
Nor is this the whole mischief beip@
DONE There are thousands Of voters IL
New England who take up their pape
and looking through its pages find /
amply demonstrating the evils of "fre
trade. They say at once: ooh, yes.
agree with all that, but it doesn't touch
me. am moderate protectionist, ant
stand with Governor Russell. / am no
for free trade, because go for reason
able tariff" Out West, on the othe
hand, other thousands say: "Oh, fudge
Don't / know that when I have fre'
trade. so that have to pay tariff take
on nothing that buy for necessary use
shall get along cheaper than now?
agree with Mills on that" So neithe
Russell nor Mills is ever put on the de
fensive in the tariff combat, but the.
capture and hold these votes against US
Now, in the language of the late A
Ward, "Why is this thus?" I reply,
lies away back of Russell and Mills l
goes back to the day when Golden il
England, with genius worthy Of Me
phistopheles himself, dubbed the British
tariff system "free trade" and induce
the British nation to call call it by tina
misnomer. 1t goes back to the tim
when the advocates of the American
protective system also accepted this mis-
homer without question, and have sine
employed 1t to designate the British sys
tenn of tariff taxation. The Fundamental
evil lies in calling this British system w
combat by false name, which give
Russell the chance to dodge round 1t on
way in Massachusetts, and Mills tn
chance to dodge around it the other wa
In the West, and so win in both place:
not by fair and open combat on the mel
its, but by trick, device, and evasion c
the facts and the truth. And the wOrs
of 1t is that we, the protectionists, b
our unhesitating acceptance and use {
this misnomer, "free trade" have lai
the foundation for this evasion of tn
real issue, and the fooling of large cor
tingent of the American voters, in spit
of all we can do. I, myself, plead guilt
to having done so in the past, before
study of the subject disclosed the mi
chief.
Now, / ask, what is the obviou
remedy, and l answer, begin by calm
the British tariff system by a corret
name, which will disclose it's essenti;
character. / care not what name s
that it be truthful The term sire,
trade tariff system" is good one, an
"free-tyade tariff, instead of free-trad,
is a good one. These give the averas
American VOL6T ZIG lued dJ ONCE Ol WIZ
the British system actually is. They COZ
yey to the Western farmer the idea thu
Stree trade" does not consist in no tariff
as Mills has left him to believe. They col
vey to the Massachusetts, pinners the idt
that Russell's tariffs may after all be {
the British variety, and that they are NJ
necessarily protective because they a.
tariffs, as he has led them to believ
Best Of all, these designations put bot
Mills and Russell on the defensive, b
cause the Western farmer and the Mass
chusetts spinner will both begin
inquire into the nature of the TART
they propose, and win soon find out TIL
they are both of the British variet
which will compel the farmer and tt
spinner to pay the great bulk of them.
These considerations should be car
fully weighed by every protectiopwrit
and speaker, If we expect to bring Il
enemy to bay.
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