New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1892-10-10
PROTECTION IN EUROPE.
HOW CONTINENTAL TARIFFS LOOK TO ONE Nor
BLINDED BY ENGLISH PREJUDICE.
Paris, September %.

paign that the party which is mainly III 1he "i0"e
has at it's disposal certain NUMBER Vi cosy
watchwords representing theory ana ho' V',e
facts of the case Now, in sincere pontics -,
the particular solid facts which ought 70 NC i"'ou'
and not the clouds of dust raised py sonic 5e"
eral theory. II this were persistently done. we
sbould hear less from America about tariff LOT
revenue only
4 continual crossing Of European frontiers ior
many vcars back has convinced me that America
20 tor "a she constitutes q world Of her own, is
hound in practice TO an autonomous tarli'
which being translated is nothing else than ITO
taction for home production :" while, IN SO var
40 she has become prominent factor IN the inter-
national commerce Of the entire world, she Is
bound to those conventional tariffs which result
from treaties Of commerce with the various va
tons and come under the general heau OIL ie'i
.,rooi.,.r And finally. whatever may be the par
tcular defects in tariff legislation OF the MCKINNEY
hill IL is incredible that serious and patrlotlc
thinkers should be willing to cast IL Totally
aside lust when 1t has succeeded In determining
an entire set of international relations In cou'-
merce. Or can it be thought that the mere
advent to power of Mr.. Cleveland and his party
in the United States will bring about an answer
ing change of heart among the legislators OIL I'LL
Europe? ,
| should not venture u optdh Ny 49,
can Law claim to only an ordinary pair Of eyes,
which. however, / have tried honestly TO keep
omen. But have had the advantage of the delp-
crate opinion of specialists, who are supposed to
have mcroscopcal vision, and, what is more TO
the nurpose in so controvcrted a matter, they are
for the most part theoretical Free Traders. Now,
7 have noticed with some alarm that nearly all
that is written for the American press on the
state Of things in Continental Europe seems TO
have been filtered through an English medium.
This can hardly be in the interests of truth, ana
have been careful to address myself To- CONT
mental authorities on the subject.
In the first place. protection for home production
in America is nothing more than the Application
of a principle which has won acceptance in every
nation of Europe except England and Belgium :
and in these two countries the exception is rather
apparent than otherwise. In both OF them more
thon a fourth of the entire population depends
for its subsistence on foreign commerce-f0r the
foreigner they work. with the foreigners money
they ere paid and il is the foreigner, even, who, IN
great part furnishes them with the raw material
of living. IL is evident that the protection OF
home interests among such population will de-
mand much greater liberty Of commercial re-
lations with foreigners than would be the case
in a country like France, where scarcely one
tenth OF the pOpulatlOn uep'l-uS on Noii-
merce for its subsistence Even in England the
MARQUIS of Salisbury and Mr. Balfour have given
their reasons for thinking that Free Trade has
been pushed too far; and in Belgium the re-
establishing of duties on cattle is only the sign
of a reaction which promises to brig it into line
with the other nations of the Continent
II must be remembered that this protection
ist reaction az il is called, comes after period
of relatively Free Trade. Beginning with 1852,
France in successive years modified her former
| tariff until. in 1860 her various treaties of
commerce practically set to work the principles
which Golden had introduced in England. The
neghboring countries, as usual. soon followed
| the lead OF France and this political system of
| commerce prevailed for nearly twenty years 1t
was then that Germany, over whose growth into
one consistent nationality Prince Bismarck was
watching, began the reaction. in which he has
been followed in greater or less degree by every
nation Of the Continent. The Free-Irade men,
Der OF the Reichstag, who has tried to explain
| this sudden change brought about in 1873, and
followed hy brilliant success up to the present
moment, assigned, in his discourse before last
months Economical Congress of Antwerp. four
factors in its observation-disclosures, industries
agrarian interests and the sentiment of nation
atty. The first gives the reason of tariff for
revenue, the second and third for the protection
of home production and the last is clearly as
| applicable in the United States as in the new
born German Empire itself.
This crystallizng Of various elements into one
nationality in the United States the subject
of a memoir lately read by W. Boutmy before the
| French Academy of Moral and Political Sciences.
| II was precisely from the side of the economical
conditions that he considered it. and his conclu-
sons if they amount to anything. show clearly
the reasonable right OF Americans to an autono-
nous tariff As he well remarks, the United
| States constitutes in reality, n world by il
self After pointing ont the hindrances, nat
urally to bc expected from the limitations of many
and distinct regions united under one Government
in the way of single National sentiment, he goes
on to show how these obstacles are being slowly
but surely overcome THE cAigencics of natural
or acquired needs. thc completcr exploration of
| sources of wealth peculiar to each region. and,
since 1850. the extension of the network of rail
roads have rendered infinitely more numerous the
places where each kind Of industry can establish
itself, and can find or fetch its own raw material
while creating outlets for itself and becoming
prosperous These three great facts have broken
and continue to push back those narrow barriers
| OF economical speculation in which each State he
gan by inclosng itself Community and identity
of interests are therefore gaining all through the
lcountry.'
The same great facts evidently Justify that ical
Gus care, or protection, if YOU will call il so.
the part of the general Government against all that
Interference with this united growth of nationality
| which would result from unrestricted and un.
balanced foreign trade. II is curious that just al
this point should come in one OF the main obicc-
tions of the Free Traders and their sympathizers
This is the improperly, or even the iesality. OF
State intervention in the matter Herr Bocme
the member of the ReichStag whom have already
quoted, attributes the advance of the protective
system in Germany largely to faith in such inter
yrnton. This. he says had its rise in State So
cialism. Strangely enough. hitherto unpublished
letter Of CGbdcns has 10 light during the last
q L..