The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1892-09-02
nARp.up FREE rRApEhs.
They Are Driven to thA Arguments o.
CobGon Used Under Very DiaOrsRt Cir

cobGOn Used Undo Very DiaOrsRt Cir
cnniAtRncsL
P.Gg5urch Di.pa.eh,
With the abandonment OF my pre-
tense Of protection for American indus
try, and the open avowal Of free trade
doctrines, Democratic orators and or
gans arc resorting to tho arguments Of
Golden and Bright in the British Par
Lament forty years ago to help Mr..
Cleveland i canvass in the United States
in this year OF grace 1892.
To buy always the cheapest is the IA.
vorite dictum OF the freq traders. All
excess OF cost temporarily created by
protective tariff is spoken OF as an I'M
constitutional wrong. The after results
must not count. Even II by building
up home ihdustries, prices are after a
while greatly reduced on the protected
articles-as has been the case with the
most notable OF them, such us steel,
plate glass, silk, carpets and many
other articles which could be men.
tioned-that must not count at all. II
millions OF our people are supported by
manufacturing industries which have
grown up under the protective system,
that is not to be considered. Ii wages
in the United States are so to 200 per
cent greater than in free trade England,
that cues no figure either. None OF the
visible benefits which 20 along with the
protective system arc TO weigh against
distractions and theories.
EinIi,a, in Tim hia.
tory or present or recent condition OF
the United States excepting what 10
fair evidence of the utility OF protec-
ton, all that remains is to rehash Cob
denis arguments as the best bolster for
the free trade canvass. But it should
be remembered that Cobden's arGu-
ments arose from different conditions.
The agitation in which he and his col
leagues engaged was primarily for TAX
ing tho duty off corn IN EngIand--to
get CHEAP food for the workingmRn. An
enormous duty virtually prohibited
foreign corn, though England was I'M
able itself to produce sufficient supply
TO ward of famine. That was the con-
dition which led to Cobden's success in
England. A necessary OF life was ex-
cluded, the country could not produce
enough OF that necessary to keep the
people alive, so public indignation
against u stupid and unbendlng policy
in the presence OF actual famine swept
away the corn laws and with them all
tariffs. The abolition OF tariff on man.
ufactured goods was only incident to
the greater and more vital agitation for
free corn.
Tho American tariff is not framed
with the disregard for local conditions
shown in the English corn laws. The
aim OF our tariff system has been to fos.
ter home industry, but not to create
conditions oppressive to the masses OF
the peohIe. The effect Of the tariff upon
American manufactures has been to
eventually cheaper the prices OF pro-
tected articles by inviting capital into
these manufactures, thus leading to
large production as well as to improved
mechanical and economical methods.
But the tariff on corn in England in
the time OF Golden could bring no such
advantages. II could not add an acre
to England's tillable ground, nor could
it make two ears OF corn grow where
only one grew before.
On the one hand, therefore under the
encouragement OF protective tariff,
we have had the visible evidence all
around lis OF an immense growth and
expansion of American manufactures
and OF articles cheapened in conse-
quence. This expansion must go on as
the numbers and demands Of the popu-
lation increase. Opposed tothis We see
that the tariff on corn in England ii
Cobden's time necessarily became
odious, because such expansion and
consequent cheapening OF the protected
product there were utterly impossible.
The arabic ground OF England could
yield SO much corn snd no more; and
when that quantity became insufficient
for the demands OF life, "a it did in
1916, there was naturally tremendous
Indignation against the corn duties,
which prevented the inflow OF foreign
corn.
To attempt now to apply as infallible
and suitable the arguments which Cob
den found applicable under different
circumstances in another country fifty
years ago is to show how far. back and
away the free traders have to go Tor any
sort OF support for their case.