Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1892-10-27
ITS EFFECT ON BUSINESS.
The Mckinley Tariff Productive of Conn
merciaI Diseord.

merciai Discord.
When the advocate of the Mckinley
tariff is hard pressed for argument, he
will at last resort to the plea that
whether the tariff is what it should be
or not, it is now. and has been for some
time, in force as the law of the land;
that the business of the country has
adapted itself to, it; that business men
are making their calculations and ar
engagements on the bas is of it's pro-
visions; that a change of system at the
present time would expose the bust
ness world to new and hurtful uncer-
tainties; that there should at last be
some stability in our economic policy
to enable business men to know what
conditions they have to deal with; that
therefore the tariff should remain I'M
touched, at least at present, leaving
such changes as may be necessary for
a more convenient time, and that to.
this end the republican party should be
kept in power. This Plea has a GER
tain plausibility, but candid inquiry
will show it to be essentially fallacious
in several important points.
In the first ,place, the tariff,
whether it ought to be left un-
touched or not, soiU not be left I'M
touched by the protected interests
themselves, if the republican party is
kept in power. A protective tariff is
in its very nature unstable The pro-
tected industries themselves never have
recognized, and never will recognize,
any existing tariff as harmonious, SYM
metrical and generally satisfactory.
Those of them that are put at disad-
vantage by the advantages granted to
others will always move for revision
of duties for their relief. Those which
derive from the tariff the largest bene-
fits win always ask for changes secur
ing to them more certain or still larger
profits. Adventures who, without
sufficient ability and business knowl
edge, have embarked in indus
trial enterprises, allured by the
chances for the rapid acquisi-
ton of wealth, such as the tariff
offers. and then come to grief by their
own mismanagement, will always
-clamor to be helped out of the lurch by
higher duties. In short, if the oppo-
nents of the protective system
were ever so willing to abstain
for awhile from disturbing the
existing tariff, there would be inces-
SAINT tinkering and interminable I'M
rest, making business calculations I'M
certain, caused by its friends them
selves Already the cry for more has
begun to be heard, the insatia BILE shep
herds of Ohio leading the swelling
echorus.
In the second place, is there any SEN
-sible man among those demanding the
continuance of the present tariff on
the ground that business has adapted
itself to it who really believes that the
opponents of protection will ever cease
to question the justice of an economic
system which, by the operation of the
law of the land, enriches small IA
vored class at the expense of a large
majority of the people? Does anyone
really expect that in free country
like ours the voice of the opposition to
a system which puts the government
at the service of the selfish interest of
a favored few, TO the detriment of the
many, will ever be silent? That OPP
position cannot be forced to desist, and
it cannot be persuaded. Nothing is
more certain than that so long as such
a tariff as we have exists there will be
fierce agitation for it's abolition. If
there are business men who advocate
its continuance because their business
has adapted itself to it, there are
great many more business men, taking
the word in its widest sense, who wish
to have it out of the way because their
business interests are injured by it.
The agitation. with all the unrest
necessarily accompanying it, will
therefore continue as long the tariff
exists, and both the friends and the
opponents of the protective system
will do their best to keep the business
world in that state of uncertainty
which those who at present advocate
the continuance of republican rule on
the ground of business stability wish
to avoid
But this is not all. If we are told
that the Mckinley tariff may indeed
not be what it should be, but that it
should not be touched just now be-
cause business has adapted itself to it,
the question arises, looking at the mat
ter from that point of view, when the
time will come for the changes which
may be considered necessary. If bust
ness has adapted itself to the Mckinley
tariff now, year and a half after its
enactment, will not business have
adapted itself to the Mckinley tariff
still more in five, or in ten, or in TWEEN
ty years? And will not this reason for
the undisturbed continuance of the
Mckinley tariff be in twenty years just
as strong as now, and in fact a good
deal stronger? Will not the same plea
hold good forever? Is not, according
to this course of reasoning, the Nc
Kinley tariff to be regarded as per-
manent institution to be held sacred
and inviolable forever, for the reason
that the business of the country, hav-
ing adapted itself to it, would be unset
tied by any disturbance of that institu-
ton? These questions carry their own
answer withsthem.
Evidently, IF there are reasons why
the high protective system should be
done away with, it will be wise to
make the necessary change before the
business of the country, has adapted
itself to that system still more. The
adapting process should not be permit
ted to go much farther. The longe,
we wait with the reform called for, the
greater and more painful will be the
wrench. All things considered, the
most propitious time for doing that
which must be done is now, and we
should not hesitate to give power tc
the party that will do it.-Harper's
Weekly.
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