The morning call., 1892-07-12
THE BENEFITS OF PROTECTION.

a free-trade contemporary permits q cor
respondent to say: THE benefits of pro
lection are something like the sea serpent
they are always somewhere else. The
benefits OF protection are here aud some
where else also. No section OF the country
has a monopoly of them. The iron OF Ala
bama is protected to the same extent as Is
the iron of Pennsylvania. But every State
does not produce iron. California, for ex-
annie mas not yet engaged extensively IN
that Industry. Our free-trade friends assume
that because State does not produce iron
it has none Of the benefits Of the protection
on iron But California produces other
protected articles which find their market
among the workers in the directly protected
industries. Is not this share in the bene-
fits OF protection? Is not a market for
products at fair prices all either workers or
employers have right to ask? The person
who does not prosper under such conditions
must be lacking in thrift or industry. 1t is
q practice among free-traders to divide the
industries OF the country into two classes
the protected and the unprotected. The
work which must of necessity be performed
at home is classed as unprotected. An
American horse engaged in daily labor can
not be shod in Europe. but its owner may
be. Hence hOrseshoeing is claSsed as un-
protected, while the making of boots AMI
shoes for human wear Is protected. But
when it is shown that the horsesh0er earns
as good wages as the operative in boot and
shoe factory the free-trader replies that the
tariff can have nothing to do with fixing the
rate of wages, for the reason that wages in
the unprotected industry are equal to those
in the protected industry. Wages in all
industries are ultimately fixed by the law
of demand and supply. The whole body of
workers constitute in an arlthmetieal
sense the diyisor. the whole amount
of work in the country being the
sum to be divided. Increase the
amount Of the divisor without change in
the sum TO be divided and the quo:ient will
be less. But II the sum 10 be divided can be
increased without prOportionate increase
in the diyisUT, the Quotient will be greater.
The object of n protective tariff is to in
crease the amount OF work to be done in the
country. This object can best be accom-
plshed by adding duties to the cost of the
production Of such foreign goods as we can
produce, and thereby increase the amount
OF work done in this country. This propo-
siton so far IS as plain as a problem in
mathematics. IL is in fact a problem In
mathematics. The only element Of uneer-
talnty is in the introduction of foreign
labOrers. which may swell the diyisor. III a
number of workers are introduced into the
country spending to the increase in the
work to be done the benefit to the individual
worker is lost But large as has been our
immigration, il has not Kept up with the
increase OF work in consequence OF the pro-
tective policy. 1t should be borne IN mind
also that the increase of workers to an ex-
tent increases the amount Of work TO be
done. Every immigrant consumes Amer-
can grain and meat wears American made
clothes, and is in a general sense a con-
sumer of American products to the extent
Of his earning capacity. There are in fact
no unprotected industries in the country.
| There are industries which are directly
protected and others which are indirectly
protected, but the one derives as much
benefit from our protective policy as the
other.