The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1892-05-25
Lord Salisbury Talks Tariff.

The principle of protection to home
industry numbers an illustrious recruit
in the person of Lord Salisbury, pre-
mier of free trade England. On
Wedn esday of last week he made, at
Hastings, significant speech in which
he said that fifty years ago everybody
believed that free trade had conquered
the world, and prophesied that every
nation would follow the example of
England. The results, however, are
not what had been expected. Despite
the prophecies of the free trade advo-
Gates, foreign nations are adopting pro-
lection. They are excluding England
from their markets and are trying TO
kill her trade. And this state of things
appears to grow worse. We live in an
age of war tariffs. An important point
is that while nations are negotiating to
obtain each others commercial favor,
none is anxious about the favor of
Great Britain because Great Britain
has stripped herself of the armor and
weapons with which the battle is to be
fought. AS to the doctrine of free
trade in the abstract and as to the bear
ing of England's commercial policy on
her trade relations with the United
States, Lord Salisbury said:
"The attitude which we have taken in
regarding it disloyal to the glorious and
sacred doctrines of free trade to levy duties
on anybody for the sake of anything we get
thereby, may be noble but it is not business
like. (Cheers.) If you intend to hold your
own in this conflict OF tariffs you must be
prepared to refuse nations who in ure you
access to your markets. There is an enor-
| nous mass of imports, which are merely
luxuries, on which a diminished consump-
ton could be risked in order to secure
access to the markets of our neighbors. We
complain most of the United States, and it
so happens that the United States mainly
furnishes us with articles which are essen
J tial to the good of the people, and with raw
material which is essential to our manufac-
turers. We cannot exclude either without
a serious injury to ourselves. L am not pre-
pared in order to punish other countries,
| to intlict dangerous wounds on ourselves.
| We must confine ourselves to those matters
whereon we will not suffer much whether
|
While we cannot raise the price of food and
raw material, there is an enormous mass of
| imports, such as wine spirits, silk, gloves
and laces, from countries beside the United
| States, which are merely luXuries, and of
which a diminished consumption could be
| risked in order to secure access to the mar
kets of our neghbors / shall expect to be
| accommodated for propoundng such a
doctrine, but am bound to say that think
the free traders have gone too far"
The free trade doctrinaires on this
side the waters are now busy in cheap
ening the utterances of the British
premier and in explaining that he rep
resents the tory element in England,
while the directing and controlling
power is in the liberal party and among
the people of the middle class. Never
theless, Lord Salisbury has given utter
ance to a great and practical truth; he
has cogently stated some facts that will
fight their way to the front in the en-
pire of free trade and among people
who will not suffer themselves to be
put permanently to disadvantage with
the rest of the commercial world. II
would not be surprising if there should
be "right about face" in the English
industrial policy. Lord Salisbury's &C
cession to the ranks of tariff advocates
will at least strengthen the principle Of
protection in other commercial nations
and confirm the people of tariff nations
in the soundness oftheir policy.