The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1892-01-01
Protector Stimulates oenIus.

TWO DOCKS.
Protection Stimulates Genius.
"The Protective Tariff will be
the sound from the horn Of the Re.
publican party when the great is
sues of the Presidential campaign
are brought to the fore In the new
year which is about to open on US.
It. will be the battle-cry of victory
that will carry terror into the
hearts of the Democrats and make
the Democratic Congress look sick
''af1sthe cruel war is over" "The
PrcV0H Aof American Work
men," the men. who by their acts,
rule the world of trade, has always
been the watchword of the Repub-
lican party, and that party will not
lag this time when the fate of ma
ton, people who are respected
tor their customs and their labors'
all over the world. is at stake. The
"Amercan Economist" ably dis
cusses how protection stimulates
inventive genius in this wav:-
"That progress iu invention, inn
proved machinery and the utilizing
Of natural forces, such al steam, as
electricity, in the work Of produc-
ton have caused a great and al
most universal cheapening of COM
modities is now admitted by every
one. Even the Free Trader, avcxse.
as he il to granting that anything
can become cheaper under PrJtec-
ton; cannot nelp but acknowledge
this, for it is proved hy the indls.
putable evidence of everyday expe-
rience. But to claim that progress
in invention is affected by. or has
any connection with, our Protect
i've system, may seem at best
anomalous. Yet nothing is more
certain. How would our far-famed
Yankee inventive genius ever have
had chance to assert itself had
not protection enabled us to diver.
sify our industry? The inventive
genius which has been exerted in
improving and perfecting machin-
cry would have lain dormant for
centuries to come, in all probabili-
ty, had not manufacturing indus
tries been instituted, competition
engendered, and the skill thereby
developed, which made invention
possible. So that, after all the
chespening Of commodities, as
cribed to this cause, is due, indi-
rectly perhaps, but just as surely,
nevertheless, to our Protective sys-
tenn.
That this is not mere assertion
or theoretical argument Is proved
by the records Of the Patent Office
of the United States. We shall
take basis of comparison the four
teen years from 1916 to 1860, the
"golden era. of revenue tariff.
During that period bur msnufac-
turing industries, which had been
in so fourishing a condition before,
were gradually declining, and we
find that the total number of pat
ents granted was 1894, o renIarka-
bly, small number compared wlth
the record of proceeding and suc-
ceeding years. From 1851 to 1875,
on the other hand, under a Pro-
tective Tariff, despite the fact that
civil war ragged for one-third of the
time, the number Of patents in
creased to 127, 345, or five times as
many as were granted during the
fourteen years from 1846 to 1860.
From 1875 to 1889 there were
granted 23G, 955 patents, more than
nine times as many as during the
low Tariff period. This increase
in the number of patents cannot be
ascribed to the increase in popula.
tion, for it is far more than protor-
tional to that increase. We Gee,
therefore, that invention has pro-
gressed simultaneously with the cs-
tablishment and strengthening d
our Protective system.
| And it Is natural that this should
be so. While Protection cannot
make inventive geniuses outof men
who we're not born SO, 1t gives thai
genius an outlet by diverslfylng in.
! dustrY, multiplying opportunities