The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1892-08-28
PROTECTION A FRAUD
A Republican Writer Reports
Some Stale Falseh0odS.
Exports Pay for Imports american labor
the Most Productive and Best Paid,
Provided Ii Has Free Market.

The Brigham City Report contains from
time to time letters from writer who
signs himself "Protectionist'
Two Quotations from that author will be
sufficient TO show the truth-yalue of his
articles. The Report will do its readers q
real service by copying the following.
s'Protectionist" says:
But England has not always been free trade
country, as she is now called. For more than
The ports or her colonies were open TO no
country but England, except Tor things she
could not produce and these had tC be carried
in English vessels.
shipping, until her merchant marine cleared the
seas and the ships of other nations lay rotting
at the quays- During the last twenty years of
her protective system-from 1926 to lS46-her
wealth ana commerce grew more rapidly than
in any two decades before or since.
But the facts are:
F'irst-Great Britain had protection for
800 years, not 100
Secono-Her wealth per head in 500 years
of protection reached $o25
Third-t'rom 1900 TO 1910, thorough era
OF protection, her wealth per head declined
from 1925 to $3.50.
FourLn-Free trade was not adopted by
England in 1916. but in 1860
Fifth-The wealth of Britain in 1877 had
been increased in seventeen years of free
trade to 81, $50 per head of population, an
increase of 5000 per head since lS40.
Sixth-This increase of wealth in seven
teen years Of free trade exceeds the total
increase under protection from the time
of the Norman conquest TO 1912.
Seyenth-The average wealth Of each
OF the rich class in England has declined
SIS, 000 since 1910, but its numbers have
trepled.
Eighth-The average wealth Of the
middle class has declined &, no since lS4O,
but its numbers have more than doubled.
Ninth-The average wealth of The poor
class has doubled, increasing from SEQ IN
1910 to $430 in 1877. Tue nambers OF the
"poor class" are notperceptibly increasing,
but they are joining the middle class and
the middle class are joining The rich class.
Tenth-These facts are from "Mulhalps
Dictionary of Statistics standard
authority the world over.
Then Protectionist says:
will just say In closing that during the period
of low tariff-1946 to 1960-by far the greater
portion Of the immense amount II gold and sill
yer dug from our mines had TO be shipped to
foreign countries TO pay of the balance OF trade
caused by our imports being far in excess OF our
exports. And had it not been for this great
wealth shoveled out of the earth, this nation
would have been ''swamped.
l would not like to have to answer for
the ''pr0bectlOnl6L
The director of the mint in the reports
of the Bureau Of Statistics for 1890, page
80, reports that from 1850 to 1869 our total
production of gold was s60l, 900, 900. Our
total expectation of gold for this period
was s34, 900, 900; our total importation of
gold, $50, 600 900. During these years more
silver also was imported than exported.
That is. during the years in which PRO
tectionist" says ''by far the greater por-
IA tk-At
countries" the actual fact is that we kept
all this gold and added to il So, 000 600 from
abroad.
Win ''protectionistn admit now that he
was in errors
The above claims, that England grew
rich under protection and then adopted
free trade, and that during free trade in
this country, from 1850 to 1860, our gold
and silver were sent abroad to pay the
''balance of trade against u.s." have been
repeated by every Republican paper have
ever read. The Tribune, the Times and the
STANDARD, and, if / remember rightly, the
Enquirer, have repeated these falsehoods
again and again. So frequent has been
| the repetition of those two stock assertions
of Republican papers that many people
have come to believe them. though there is
not word of truth in either assertion.
! Will any Republican dare to face the
| facts!
In another letter this same "Protection-
| list" has the brass to mention wire nails,
| saying that the tariff has made them cheap.
! The facts are that some thirty years ago,
according to the testimony of Backman ,
the Oldest wire-nail maker in this country,
wire nails were all imported. Their price
then was 50 per keg. After the tariff was
put upon wire nails, the price went up to
Sc and over per keg, and remained at an
extortionate figure till within the last few
years. Then the profits OF wire-nail man
ufacture being so high, and the
process so simple, large numbers
went into the business, the trust
could not maintain itself. and prices fell.
Today wire nails are selling according to
the best information can get. at an aver